BUSPH's Malcolm Bryant to Head APHA's International Health Section
In his 25-plus years as a public health physician, Malcolm Bryant has devoted much of his time to designing and implementing maternal and child health programs around the world. Now, he will be putting his expertise to use shaping global health programming and policy in a new way beginning this November.
Bryant, MBBS, MPH, an associate professor of international health at Boston University School of Public Health, will be taking on leadership of the International Health Section of APHA, an active community of more than 1700 professionals engaged in global health policy development, advocacy and the exchange of scientific knowledge and experience. The IH Section is one of 27 discipline-based sections that comprise APHA.
In his role as chair, Bryant will help guide the strategic direction of the Section, and, in turn, APHA’s involvement in international health issues by helping the association develop its Annual Meeting program, draft relevant resolutions for it to support, and garner participation for various APHA boards and councils.
In recent years, the IH Section has lent its support to the reauthorization of PEPFAR 2 (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 2), which will continue the United State’s commitment to treating and preventing HIV/AIDS globally. The IH Section is currently leading APHA’s efforts to develop a position for the association on global trade and public health.
As chairman, Bryant says he’s looking forward to connecting the experience that the United States has gained in international health work in the last 40 years to new efforts in global health policy and advocacy. He also aims to strengthen the Section’s ties with APHA’s state affiliates and with students, who make up a large segment of the association’s membership.
“Working closely with students is a perfect opportunity to generate enthusiasm for international health,” Bryant said. “It also raises their awareness of the relevance of their work.”
Bryant — who will officially take on the chairmanship next month at APHA’s Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado — has held leadership roles within APHA and the IH Section since 2002. He served as scientific chair of the annual program for two years, which involved coordinating more than 50 scientific sessions and five poster sessions each year. For the past four years he has served as a governing councilor on APHA’s Governing Council, the organization’s primary decision-making body.
Bryant has been an instructor at BUSPH since 2008, but recently took on the role of deputy project director of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Comprehensive Action Research Project (OVC-CARE) for Boston University’s Center for Global Health and Development (CGHD), which is based at BUSPH. The project is USAIDS’s primary instrument to scale up services for the 145 million children around the world who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS or other causes.
Prior to his work with CGHD, Bryant has worked as a consultant in international health systems and was the director of the Center for Health Outcomes at Management Sciences for Health. He has worked in communities throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Submitted by Michelle Salzman