Interim Director, Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health

Interim Director, Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health, The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario.

Following the approval of the Provost Dr. Michael Strong is delighted to announce that Dr. Mohammad Abdur Rab has been appointed as Interim Director of the new Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health in the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, January 16, 2012 through to December 31, 2014.

Dr. Rab completed his MD at the University of Punjab, Pakistan in 1973. He went on to Public Health by obtaining a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK in 1977. Dr. Rab completed his Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University in 1984 and his PhD in Clinical Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK in 1994.

Dr. Rab led the development of the first Masters Degree in Public Health (MPH) program for the government of Pakistan at the Health Services Academy (HSA) in Pakistan. The program was offered by the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islambad. He was a Guest Professor at Heidelberg University in Germany in 1998 training international post graduate students in applied epidemiology and field research.

Dr. Rab has worked with the World Health Organization as a Regional Advisor, Research Policy and Cooperation from 2001-2006, as a WHO Country Representative in Sudan from 2006-2010 and most recently as the Regional Advisor, Research Policy and Cooperation in Cairo. In Sudan, Dr. Rab served as a policy advisor to the Minister of Health, and assisted the Ministry of Health with the development of the first Masters of Public Health program. He advised and supported the Ministry of Health development of Health Academics at federal and State levels. Dr. Rab led a major humanitarian effort in Darfur and in South Sudan during his stay in Sudan as WHO country head. As Regional Advisor for the Eastern Mediterranean Region of WHO, Dr. Rab assisted in building research capacities, supported essential national health research, served as the focal person for ethics in health research and organized special grants and training programs for health researchers.