University of Memphis announced Wednesday that Ashish Joshi will begin Aug. 1 as the new dean of the School of Public Health
Joshi, 46, hails from New York where he currently works as City University of New York’s Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy’s senior associate dean of Academic and Student Affairs and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, a U of M news release said.
He succeeds James Gurney, who returned to faculty after about three years as dean. Currently, Marian Levy sits as interim dean.
“The U of M is a top-tier research institute that is driven by a commitment to inclusion as a core value and diversity as one of its strengths,” Joshi said.
“I hope to build upon it and advance knowledge through educational excellence, innovative research and preparing a community of learners and leaders to improve the health and well-being of populations of the state and worldwide through the lens of inclusivity, diversity, equity, accessibility and sustainability.”
Joshi, born in India, joined CUNY in 2014 and was appointed to his current position in 2018.
He received a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from Punjabi University in India, a Master of Public Health from Boston University and a Ph.D. in health informatics from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the release said.
Before CUNY, Joshi held an associate professor position at the Department of Health Services Research and Administration at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health.
His latest work includes engaging in the local and global response to COVID-19. Joshi led CUNY’s School of Public Health’s collaboration with the Housing Recovery Office of the Mayor of New York City to secure a nearly $10 million grant contributing toward implementing the city’s test and trace program, the release said.
The program assisted New York communities and ensured individuals are connected to necessary community resources.
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He also participated in global health projects in India, Haiti, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Brazil and Egypt where he implemented nearly two dozen health technological interventions in areas of population surveillance, health interventions, consumer health informatics and population health dashboards, according to the release.
Joshi pursues his passion for research, scholarly work and innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives as the principal investigator and co-investigator on several research projects funded by the city, state, National Institute of Health and other international foundations and scientific agencies, the release said.
He also formed the SMAART (Sustainable, Multisector, Accessible, Affordable, Reimbursable and Tailored) model to advance sustainable development goals and presented his work at the World Health Organization, United Nations and several other government agencies worldwide, according to the release.
Recently, the Open Society Foundation also funded Joshi to establish the first-of-its-kind Population Health Informatics Regional Hub at the James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University Bangladesh, the release said.
The hub works to train students with population health informatics skills to enhance data and research capacity among the public health practitioners in Bangladesh and the region, the release said.
Joshi published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles on population health informatics and designs, developed and implemented technological innovations and interventions on clinical care and population health to enhance people’s well-being, the release said.
The release also said Joshi co-authored the first global book on “Population Health Informatics: Driving Evidence-Based Solutions into Practice.”
Joshi chairs the Global Health Informatics Working Group at the American Medical Informatics Association and is a member of the DEI committee of the American Medical Informatics Association, the release said.
“I aspire that School of Public Health at the U of M becomes a hub of interdisciplinary education and innovative, impactful and sustainable solutions to enhance community well-being,” Joshi said.
Dima Amro covers the suburbs for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @AmroDima.
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