Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences to welcome new chair in July
Following a national search, Dean Thomas LaVeist announced today that Dr. Akilah Dulin will join the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine as chair of the Department of Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences, effective July 1st.
“We are very fortunate to have attracted Dr. Dulin to Tulane for this role,” LaVeist said in the announcement. “As a researcher she works collaboratively with community members and research partners to identify the neighborhood contexts of diet, physical activity, obesity, and related comorbidities among children and racial and ethnic minorities.” She also explores the interplay of psychosocial stressors and multilevel resilience on cardiovascular risk factors and HIV outcomes, which will complement existing SBPS research. To support her work, she has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and United Way of Rhode Island.
Dr. Akilah Dulin comes to SPHTM from the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University’s School of Public Health, where she is an associate professor. She is also affiliated with Brown’s Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity.
“Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is such an incredible institution,” says Dulin. “Its vision and mission position it as a national leader in public health and health equity. I am impressed by the school’s commitment to optimal health and well-being for all and the innovative strategies in place to advance health equity locally, nationally, and globally. The work being done at the school can serve as a national model for other institutions.”
“I am so thrilled to join the dynamic and vibrant faculty, staff, and students in the Department of Social, Behavioral and Population Sciences,” she added. “I look forward to applying principles of shared leadership in pursuit of the mission and values of the department and school. Being a fairly new department, there are so many exciting opportunities to create processes and systems in support of the academic, research, and service missions while promoting equity and well-being and building community. In my first few months, I plan to hold a number of listening sessions and introductory meetings, get a sense of Tulane’s culture and engage in a series of collaborative planning meetings to inform the roadmap for year one and beyond at SBPS.”
In his announcement, LaVeist also recognized Dr. Gretchen Clum, who served for two years as interim chair of the department, including emergence of the department from the division of the former Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences.
