Dean’s Global Health Lecture Series, a panel discussion: The Lancet Commission Report 2022 on the Future of Health Professions Education Globally

Introductions by Bei Wu, PhD, FGSA, FAAN (Hon.), Dean’s Professor in Global Health, Vice Dean of Research, NYU Meyers

Opening Remarks by President Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, PhD, University of Miami

Moderated by Dean Eileen Sullivan-Marx

Panelist bios:

Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, PhD

Julio Frenk has been president of the University of Miami since August of 2015. He also holds academic appointments as Professor of Public Health Sciences at the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Professor of Health Sector Management and Policy at the Miami Herbert Business School, Professor of Sociology at the College of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Health Studies at the School of Nursing and Health Studies. Prior to joining the University of Miami, he served for almost seven years as Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development, a joint appointment with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Frenk was appointed Federal Secretary of Health of Mexico in 2000, a position he held for the full presidential term until 2006. In that position he pursued an ambitious agenda to reform the nation’s health system and introduced a program of comprehensive universal coverage called Seguro Popular, which expanded access to health care for more than 55 million previously uninsured persons. He was the founding director-general of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, one of the leading institutions of its kind in the developing world. He also served as executive director in charge of Evidence and Information for Policy at the World Health Organization and as senior fellow in the global health program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, among other leadership positions. His scholarly production, which includes over 193 articles in academic journals, as well as many books and book chapters, has been cited over 31,000 times. In addition, he has written four best-selling novels for youngsters explaining the functions of the human body. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico, and El Colegio Nacional. Dr. Frenk holds a medical degree from the National University of Mexico, as well as a Master of Public Health and a joint Ph.D. in Medical Care Organization and in Sociology from the University of Michigan. He has received honorary degrees from 11 universities.

Lincoln Chen, MD

Dr. Lincoln Chen is President Emeritus, China Medical Board (CMB) where he served as President from 2006-2014. He was at the helm in 2016 when CMB announced a partnership with the Atlantic Philanthropies to launch Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in Southeast Asia/The Equity Initiative. From 1973-1987, he represented the Ford Foundation in India and Bangladesh. In 1997-2001, Lincoln served as executive vice-president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In 2008, he became chair of the board of BRAC USA, after two terms as chair of the board of CARE/USA in 2007. He served as co-chair of the advisory committee to the FXB Center on Health and Human Rights at Harvard. Lincoln has also served on the board of the Social Science Research Council, the Institute of Metrics and Evaluation (University of Washington), the Public Health Foundation of India, and the UN Fund for International Partnerships; and was Special Envoy of the WHO Director-General in Human Resources for Health (2004-2007), and founding chair of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (2006-2008).

Stephanie L. Ferguson, PhD, RN, FAAN

Dr. Stephanie Ferguson is the Director of the Harvard Global Nursing Leadership Program and Professor of the Practice of Health Policy and Management in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, MA.

Dr. Ferguson is a global health care leader who has worked in 100+ nations as a technical advisor, consultant, and facilitator for organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the International Council of Nurses, and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

For more than 20 years at WHO’s headquarters, regional offices, and PAHO, Dr. Ferguson developed strategic plans and initiatives to strengthen and evaluate health care delivery systems, human resources for health and regulations, population health outcomes, and nursing and other health professional education, leadership programs and services. At ICN, based in Geneva, Switzerland, for 10+ years, Dr. Ferguson directed the ICN Leadership for Change Program™, the ICN-Burdett Global Nursing Leadership Institute™, and served as an ICN Consultant for Nursing and Health Policy.

Dr. Ferguson is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and served on the NAM Nominating Committee. She was an appointed member on the NAM’s recent Consensus Study on Global Health and the Future Role of the USA.

Dr. Ferguson is an elected Fellow, American Academy of Nursing (AAN) and chairs the AAN’s

International Task Force. She is a former chair of the Advisory Council for the AAN’s Institute for Nursing Leadership. Dr. Ferguson is a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow in the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Ferguson was a White House Fellow in 1996-97 in President Clinton’s Administration and served at the US Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Secretary.

Her many board appointments, honors and awards include the 2014 HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which recognized her significant contributions to health care across borders and exceptional dedication to nursing. She is also the recipient of the American Academy of Nursing’s 2020 Civitas Award for her extraordinary dedication to excellence in promoting quality care in nursing worldwide.

Dr. Ferguson received her PhD in 1996 and her BSN in 1985 from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. Her MS/Nursing degree in 1987 is from the Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia, in Richmond, VA.

Cindy L. Munro, PhD, RN, ANP-BC

Dean Cindy L. Munro joined the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies as dean and professor in August 2017. Dr. Munro received her Ph.D. in Nursing and Microbiology and Immunology and post-master’s Adult Nurse Practitioner Certificate from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was also a postdoctoral research associate. She has an M.S. in Medical-Surgical Nursing from the University of Delaware and a B.S.N. from Millersville University in Pennsylvania.  

A leader in nursing research and education, she is motivated by her vision for novel, optimistic, world-changing solutions in patient care and public health. Her role as dean includes oversight of the school’s academic, research, and service initiatives, including activities in the 41,000-square-foot Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education (S.H.A.R.E.™), Biobehavioral Research Laboratory, and PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Education and Workforce Development.

Dr. Munro is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). She was named an AAN “Edge Runner” for her groundbreaking work in reducing hospital-acquired infections among critically ill adults and in 2016 was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame by Sigma Theta Tau.

Dr. Munro’s research includes over 200 professional articles and funding support from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research, and U.S. Department of Defense, among others. Findings from her twenty-year NIH study of oral care interventions for ventilated ICU patients resulted in life-saving changes to national practice guidelines for preventing infection. Among three patents held by Dr. Munro is a vaccine to prevent streptococcal endocarditis. Her most recent NIH study, Family Automated Voice Reorientation (FAVoR), addresses ICU-related delirium. 

Since 2009, Dr. Munro has served as coeditor-in-chief of the American Journal of Critical Care. She is a member of the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research (founding ambassador), National Academy of Inventors, Florida Association of Colleges of Nursing (chair), Nursing Now USA Coalition and Steering Committee, and is a past president of Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS). Among her awards are the, American Association of Critical Care Nurses Distinguished Research Lecturer and the SNRS Leadership in Research Award.