“One of my top goals for Gillings is that everything we do culminates in a positive, tangible difference in the world.”
I am honored to serve as the eighth dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), I was fortunate to count Gillings School scientists as colleagues and friends, and I followed the ground-breaking and life-saving research coming out of the school. Now, as dean, I look forward to focusing with the Gillings community on important initiatives already underway to enhance our work in public health practice, global health and inclusive excellence, among many other topics.
[Get to know Nancy Messonnier. Read interview.]
My 25 years at the CDC gave me a catchphrase to which I often return: Vaccines on a shelf are 0% effective.
This is one area where the Gillings School, the No. 1 public school of public health and second overall, is making a difference. Whether it be through vaccines, policy, research or education, we must continue to take a leadership role in a way that involves all our departments and draws on all our strengths to put life-saving tools into effect.
As we move forward, I want to set the school up for success through a consistent focus on follow-through and forward-looking action. Scientific discovery is incredibly important. Equally, the lessons our faculty teach must always come back to practical application, because what is true for vaccines is true for all public health interventions: They can only be effective if they can be implemented well.
One of my top goals for Gillings is that everything we do culminates in a positive, tangible difference in the world.
We must use these action-oriented approaches to dismantle structures of systemic racism that result in disproportionate suffering among communities of color. We can’t just examine the outcomes of injustice; we must detail the drivers and use that evidence to push for policy change, even when it seems to lie beyond the borders of public health. Housing and transportation, for example, may seem outside our scope, but they are pivotal determinants of well-being and access to health care.
Today’s students must learn how to dialogue across difference and find common values. I want to encourage a culture of reality around what practicing public health is like outside the University. The more clearly students can visualize the twisty path from idea to outcome — and the more landmarks we offer them for course correcting along the way — the better prepared they will be to arrive at a place of meaningful impact.
Here’s to forging a path to better health for all — together.
Nancy Messonnier, MD
Dean, Gillings School of Global Public Health
