The top candidates to fill the position of director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) come from emergency medicine, nutritional sciences and pathobiological sciences.
The four finalists will give virtual, public one-hour presentations, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (CST), that will include their visions for GHI and time for Q & A. The recording will be made available upon request to globalhealth@ghi.wisc.edu. All recordings will be posted to this page on February 28.
Here are the finalists and their presentation dates:
February 17: 
James Ntambi, Ph.D., M.Sc., “Leveraging Research, Medical Intervention, Education, and Outreach to Advance Equitable and Sustainable Global Health.” Ntambi is the Steenbock Professor of Nutritional Sciences and a professor of Biochemistry in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. His research interests focus on the use of animal models to understand the genetic and molecular basis of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic non-communicable diseases. He established the global health field courses in Uganda and received a GHI Seed Grant to study the impact of introducing livestock at a rural Uganda demonstration center. He has also served as acting assistant dean for academic affairs in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and as chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences. Watch the video here. (Passcode AmG27hW#)
February 21: Jorge Osorio, DVM, Ph.D., M.S., “Connecting GHI to the World through One Health.” Osorio is a professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine. Osorio has had a lengthy career in medical sciences, including virology, field epidemiological studies, vaccinology, antivirals and vector control programs. He is also the co-director of a Colombia-Wisconsin One Health Consortium, a joint effort between the University of Wisconsin and Universidad Nacional in Colombia that is studying emerging diseases and one-health issues. Osorio recently founded VaxThera, a Colombian-based company that will produce vaccines and biologicals for Colombia and the region. He was also a co-founder and chief Scientific officer of Inviragen, a biotechnology company that developed a novel chimeric tetravalent dengue vaccine that recently completed successfully Phase 3 clinical trials. He also developed vaccines against chikungunya, influenza, rabies, plague and many other emerging infectious diseases. Osorio also has served as vice president of Research and vice president of Government Affairs for the Vaccine Business Division of Takeda Pharmaceuticals. His industry career also included positions at Heska Corporation (Ft. Collins, Colorado), Merial LTD (Athens, Georgia), and Chiron-Powderject Vaccines (Madison, Wisconsin). He has more than 30 years of research and industry experience with more than 130 scientific publications in international journals and 32 patents. Watch the video here. (Passcode: xvj2dHY^)
February 24: Janis P. Tupesis, M.D., “Global. Health. Community. Development. The Changing Paradigm of Academic Global Health.” Tupesis is an associate director at GHI, a faculty member in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the School of Medicine and Public Health, chair of UW Health’s Graduate Medical Education Global Health Committee and an emergency physician. He is involved in projects to establish graduate medical education programs in resource-limited settings, including Liberia, Ethiopia and South Africa. He works with the World Bank and the Association of African Universities on the Africa Centers of Excellence for Development Department and has been a volunteer technical consultant for the World Health Organization’s Emergency, Trauma and Acute Care Programme. He serves on several international global health education committees and was inducted into the Order for the International Federation of Emergency Medicine in 2020. He received a GHI Seed Grant to develop an app that provides needed information to emergency physicians. Watch the video here. (Passcode: M=yf9A+P)
February 25: Sherry Tanumihardjo, Ph.D., M.S., “Connecting the Global Health Institute to our Stakeholders: North to South and East to West.” Tanumihardjo is a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences in CALS and director of the Undergraduate Certificate in Global Health. Her research focuses on vitamin A assessment methodology and carotenoid bioavailability and looks at issues related to vitamin A toxicity and deficiency. Her team has conducted studies in the U.S. and across Africa. Her work shows the value of vegetables and fruits to health and well-being. Tanumihardjo has served on the World Health Organization’s Expert Advisory panel on Nutrition and received the 2013 CALS Excellence in International Activities Award. She received a GHI Seed Grant to study the vitamin A status of children dying from multiple causes. Watch the video here. (Passcode: P7J%^rbt)