Improving the overall health and functional well-being and promoting equity in health outcomes among people around the world

The overarching goal of the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health within the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine is to improve overall health and functional well-being and promote equity in health outcomes among people around the world. The institute aims to present a coordinated, comprehensive and sustainable infrastructure for the Heersink School of Medicine, UAB and international partners, to foster educational opportunities, conduct high-quality biomedical research, and provide multidirectional services, capacity building and mutual support toward mitigating the most pressing and complex global health challenges. Transdisciplinary collaboration with other schools/disciplines engaged in global health is essential for success.

Today, we face a global health paradox: In a world where technological advances, ranging from cell phones, inter-continental travel to cell biology, have touched lives everywhere, there has never been as broad a divide in health status and outcomes across the world.

The health challenges of our world are enormous and perspectives on these inter-connected challenges are often confined to discrete categories of geographic location, diseases, and disciplines. The complex problems linked to inequity and the health disparities among the world’s most vulnerable populations require new and comprehensive approaches–a comprehensive health strategy that is integrative and embraces a multidimensional vision of global health.

Where We Work

Meet the Team

Alan Tita, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Global and Women’s Health
Director, Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health

Lynn Matthews, M.D., MPH

Associate Director for Research and Partnerships, Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health

Michelle Feese, MPH

Administrative Director

Patricia M. Smith, MSc

Program Associate

Michelle Lee, A.A., B.S.

Administrative Assistant