M. Monica Sweeney, MD, MPH, FACP, appointed as Director of the Center for Global Health
M. Monica Sweeney, MD, MPH, FACP, has been appointed director of the School of Public Health’s Center for Global Health. Dr. Sweeney, who is vice dean for global engagement of the School of Public Health, will provide leadership for the Center’s many globally-engaged teaching, research, and service activities both locally and internationally. She brings to this position a comprehensive and sensitive understanding of population health challenges nationally and internationally. She has dedicated many years to addressing these challenges, and to achieving health equity and improving health care access for those who are disadvantaged.
Dr. Sweeney is the immediate past chair of the Downstate Council, and served as the assistant commissioner for the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In her role as a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) and as co-chair of the Physician Advisory Council of the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute, she has greatly contributed to controlling the disease.
In Dr. Sweeney’s role as medical director and vice president for medical affairs of the Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center in Brooklyn, she broadly approached the issues of health equity and equity in health care access. In so doing, she greatly contributed to improving the health of the population of Brooklyn.
The Center for Global Health, which was established in 2011, functions entirely on extramural funding. Its educational and service programs have enabled some 400 College of Medicine fourth-year students to study and serve overseas in 41 resource poor countries. Medical students also participate in the Center’s longitudinal Global Health educational elective, and Master of Public Health students perform their practical field experience overseas in several resource poor countries. The Center recently established the Peace Corps Master’s International Program, which combines overseas service with the MPH degree.