Joseph Kolars, MD

Director, Center for Global Health Equity
University of Michigan

Joseph Kolars is the Leslie D. Yamada and Tachi Yamada M.D. Director of the Center for Global Health Equity and former director of the medical school’s Global REACH program. He serves as the  Professor of Medicine and Health Professions Education in the U-M Medical School, Professor of Health Management and Policy in the U-M School of Public Health, a consultant to NIH’s Fogarty Center and their AFRE health initiatives in Africa, and as co-director of the Joint Institute for Translational and Clinical Research (PUUMA).

Kolars' global work focuses on strengthening health systems in low-resource countries to improve the education and training of healthcare workers. His interests in global health equity align with the Center theme of strengthening systems for health. Kolars’ research assesses teaching quality within the medical curriculum, examines educational outcomes, and aims to improve patient care.

Patricia Garcia, MD

Professor, Public & Global Health
Cayetano Heredia University, Peru

Dr. Patricia J. García, is a Professor at the School of Public Health at Cayetano Heredia University (UPCH) in Lima-Peru. She is the former Minister of Health of Peru, Dean of the School of Public Health at UPCH, and former Chief of the Peruvian National Institute of Health (INS). She is recognized as a leader in Global Health. Has been member of the PAHO Foundation Technical Advisory Group (FTAG), board member of the Consortium of Universities in Global Health and President of the Latin American Association Against STDs (ALACITS). She is affiliate Professor of the Department of Global Health, at University of Washington and of the School of Public Health at Tulane University. She is actively involved in research and training in Global health, Reproductive health, STI/HIV, HPV and medical informatics. She has been recently appointed member of the United States National Academy of Medicine, becoming the first Peruvian professional with such a distinction.

Wael Sakr, MD

Dean, Wayne State University School of Medicine

Dr. Sakr oversees the Office of Medical Education, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the recruitment and evaluation of department chairs, the recruitment and evaluation of School of Medicine-based center directors, and the development and implementation of compensation models for faculty.

Dr. Sakr is a nationally recognized academic pathologist with a track record of independent and collaborative National Institutes of Health funding and with seminal contributions in the field of genitourinary neoplasia, prostate cancer in particular. He has also assumed leadership roles in professional and community-based organizations, including the National Arab American Medical Association and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.

He has been interested in the histopathological and biological traits of preneoplastic changes of the prostate. His work contributed to a current consensus that high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasm is a precursor of prostate adenocarcinoma. Dr. Sakr has been involved in numerous clinical trials as an expert pathologist. In other clinical studies, he is evaluating genetic changes and expression profiling as markers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. In addition, Dr. Sakr is an active investigator on several funded basic research projects on the underlying molecular mechanism of prostate tumor progression and metastasis.

Shane Quinonez, MD

Interim Director, Global REACH 
University of Michigan

Dr. Shane Quinonez is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, specializing in Genetics, Metabolism, and Genomic Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan and then completed his residency in Pediatrics, followed by a residency in Clinical Genetics and a fellowship in Clinical Biochemical Genetics, all at the University of Michigan. In addition to his role as Interim Director of Global REACH, Dr. Quinonez is currently an Associate Program Director of the Pediatric Residency Program and Co-Director of the Global Health and Disparities Pathway in the medical school.

Dr. Quinonez’s international efforts focus on the introduction of medical genetics services in low- and middle-income countries and include active projects in Ghana and Nepal. In addition to his clinical and educational roles, Dr. Quinonez co-directs the Michigan Medical Genetics Biochemical Laboratory and serves as the Service Chief of Pediatric Genetics, Metabolism, and Genomic Medicine. He is dedicated to reducing health disparities globally and mentoring medical students and house officers with this same interest.

Timothy Johnson, MD

Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology
University of Michigan

Timothy R.B. Johnson, M.D. served as Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Bates Professor of Diseases of Women and Children at the University of Michigan from 1993-2017.  He remains an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Professor, Women’s Studies, and Research Professor, Center for Human Growth and Development.  His education and training have been at the University of Michigan, University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins. He is author of over three hundred articles, chapters and books and has served on numerous editorial boards, study sections, professional committees, societies and boards.

Timothy Johnson’s global work focuses on sustainable capacity building in women's health, reproductive rights and reproductive justice, sexual rights and human rights. His interests in global health equity align with the Center themes of empowering women and communities and strengthening systems for health. Johnson’s research focuses on principles of prenatal/postnatal care and global women's health practice within low- and middle-income countries. He has worked extensively in sub-Saharan Africa to build health systems capacity and assisted in the development of professional medical educational societies.

Krishnan Raghavendran, MD

Professor, Surgery Director, Center for Global Surgery
University of Michigan

Dr. Raghavendran is a Professor of Surgery in the Division of Acute Care Surgery. He received his medical education in India and immigrated to the United States in 1991, wherein he completed his Surgical Residency and subsequent fellowship in Surgical Critical Care.

He has a long-standing interest in global health and established research collaborations between India and the University of Michigan medical school. He is the director of the Center for Global Surgery and serves as one of the lead physicians for the University of Michigan India collaborative, a distinct platform under Global Reach. The collaborative extends across multiple sub-specialties and is currently working with many institutions across India. He has also been working on similar collaborative efforts in Ethiopia and Taiwan.

Akbar Waljee, MD

Assistant Dean, Global Health Research
University of Michigan

Akbar K. Waljee is the assistant dean for global health research in the University of Michigan’s medical school. He works closely with the dean of the Office of Research to accelerate U-M’s partnerships in global health discoveries in research and advancements in health solutions internationally. His global work focuses on delivering high value care through data-science in low- and middle-income countries or low resource settings. His interests in global health equity align with the center themes of addressing social and environmental determinants of health and providing technical solutions. Waljee uses data science to address disparities in healthcare delivery and utilization. By using artificial intelligence methods such as machine learning, he is able to tailor his work to facilitate the delivery of efficient, effective, and equitable care, especially in areas with limited resources.

Ghazi Zaatari, MD

Chair, Department of Pathology
American University of Beirut

Dr. Ghazi Zaatari is the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut, Environment Core Laboratory Director at AUB, Chair of WHO’s Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg), Executive Committee member of the Tobacco Laboratory Network (TobLabNet), and Director of WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking. Dr. Zaatari is the Vice-President for Asia for the International Academy of Pathology (IAP), Secretary of the Arab Division of IAP, and President of the Arab Board of Pathology. He is a member of other regional and international pathology societies and has contributed to the publication of several WHO technical reports on a wide range of tobacco product regulation related matters.  Dr Zaatari is skilled at translating science and research into policy and has worked very closely with WHO and the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on policy reports for regulators. His academic interests include the study of the molecular profiling of lung cancer and the in vitro effect on cell lines and in vivo effects on the lung of novel tobacco products.

Ernest Kenu, MD, PhD

Professor of Epidemiology,
University of Ghana School of Public Health

Dr Ernest Kenu currently serves as the Program Director of the Ghana Field Epidemiology Network and previously chaired the Board of Directors of the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) and has long been recognized for his groundbreaking work in public health education and capacity-building. Throughout his tenure as Program Director of the Ghana Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Prof. Kenu has been a driving force behind the advancement of public health training and practice in Ghana. His leadership has fostered innovation and excellence, shaping the next generation of epidemiologists and public health professionals.

Quentin Eichbaum, MD, PhD

Quentin Eichbaum was born and raised in Namibia and South Africa. He initially studied law at the University of Cape Town and then completed his MD, MPH, PhD/postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston followed by residency and fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is currently Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and immunology and Professor of Medical Education and Administration at Vanderbilt University where he also directs the fellowship in pathology, as well as the Pathology Program in Global Health and the Vanderbilt Pathology Education Research Group. He serves on numerous national and international global health education and pathology committees.  For example, he chairs the Global Transfusion Forum at AABB, and the International Affairs Committee at ASFA. He is on the Board of Directors on the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH - the largest academic global health organization in the world with over 180 institutions and a network of 30 000) and is the Chair of the CUGH Education Committee. He co-founded the Consortium of New Sub-Sahara African Medical Schools (CONSAMS) and is involved in health professional education and clinical medicine in several African countries.

Robin Petroze, MD

Clinical Associate Professor,
Section of Pediatric Surgery

Dr. Petroze is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa. She is also an active member of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, the Association for Academic Surgery, the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery, the Canadian Association of Pediatric Surgeons, the Association of Women Surgeons, and Women in Surgery Africa.

Dr. Petroze serves as the Vice Chair for Global Surgery for the Department of Surgery. A previous National Institutes for Health Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellowship awardee and then mentor, Dr. Petroze continues to focus her research, teaching, and advocacy on access to equitable care in underserved populations both internationally and domestically.

Cheryl Moyer, PhD, MPH

Associate Professor, Learning Health Sciences
Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Dr. Moyer’s research focuses on understanding the social and cultural factors that impact maternal and newborn health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa, with a primary focus on Ghana. Her research includes both qualitative and quantitative methodology, as well as mixed methods, and she has extensive experience navigating the challenges of conducting qualitative and mixed methods research across cultures, languages, and in low-resource settings. She has co-led five Fogarty International Center (FIC)-funded training grants, and she has mentored more than 100 trainees from Ghana, Uganda, and the U.S. on research addressing maternal and newborn health.

Olajumoke Oladipo, MD

Jumoke Oladipo is an Associate Professor of Pathology, Medical Director of Hematology/ Coagulation, associate director of the automated testing laboratory and vice chair for quality and safety at the Pathology and Lab Medicine Department of Penn State Health Hershey Med. Center, Hershey, PA. She is the chair of the Africa Working Group of the ADLM.

She obtained her medical degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. She completed a Pathology/Lab Medicine residency, and a Masters in Clinical Pathology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital/College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria before embarking on a Clinical Chemistry fellowship (Washington University, St. Louis, MO) and residency in Clinical Pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX.

She is board certified in Clinical Pathology (American Board of Pathology) and Clinical Chemistry (American Board of Clinical Chemistry) and a fellow of the AACC Academy. She is also a fellow of the West African College of Physicians (Lab. Medicine) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.