University of Washington Department of Global Health

The University of Washington Department of Global Health is a department jointly run by the schools of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Its aim is to provide a multidisciplinary venue to address issues of global health at the university.

The department was begun with funding supplied by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Jim Yong-Kim, formerly of Partners in Health and the WHO HIV/AIDS program, was originally a candidate for director of the department, but was not selected.

A controversial second selection process involving three new candidates took place in late 2005 and early 2006. The process was criticized for not being open, and there is continued concern among the student body and faculty about the chosen chair. Some fear that the department will be too heavily oriented towards biomedical research and biotechnology (e.g. vaccine development) and will neglect the broader issues of public health, such as social justice, health disparities, prevention,promotion, human resources in health, and public policy. Some also fear that the areas of education and service will be sacrificed for a research agenda, and point to the fact that one of the first steps in implementing the department was the leasing of a large facility off campus in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood - an area being developed as a biotechnology hub.

Those within the process argue that planning has been open and that the department will be multidisciplinary and will live up to its stated vision of taking a broad approach to global health. They also note that while the department will have some facilities off campus, it will be primarily based at the university; the deans of the schools have committed to finding on-campus space to house the department's administrative offices, although much of the lab space will be located in a building in the Eastlake neighborhood.

In Spring, 2006, Michael Merson of Yale University was offered the position of director. However, in July of that year it was announced that Merson had been appointed direct of Duke University's Global Health Institute.

On September 8th, University of Washington announced Dr. King K. Holmes, a world leader in AIDS and infectious disease research and training, to become the first chair of the University of Washington's new Department of Global Health. His leadership in global health research and training, and experience as a public-health practitioner, will serve Holmes well in leading the Department of Global Health, according to Paul G. Ramsey, dean of the School of Medicine. Holmes' experience in bringing together many groups at the UW will be invaluable in helping the interdisciplinary department build on links with other departments, organizations, and communities, said Patricia W. Wahl, dean of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.