College leadership attends cornerstone public health conference in Mexico organized by the leading government public health institute
Dean Iman Hakim and Dr. Gabriela Valdez with the delegation from the US Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) at the conference in Mexico.
Leadership from the college attended the Congreso de Investigación de Salud Pública conference, hosted every two years by the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública of Mexico, and joined a delegation from the US Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, a visit that reinforced existing partnerships with public health leadership and universities in Mexico.
Dr. Iman Hakim, Dean of the Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, and Dr. Gaby Valdez, Director of Global Education for the college’s Global Health Institute (GHI), travelled to Mexico to attend the Congreso de Investigación de Salud Pública (CONGISP), hosted every two years by the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (INSP), a foundational scientific public health meeting for Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Dr. Hakim and Dr. Valdez attended as part of a delegation of Deans and Directors from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).
At the INSP’s Congreso, Dean Hakim contributed as a panelist in a discussion about collaboration and exchange among schools of public health internationally. Dr. Valdez participated in two poster sessions with one poster about the college’s short term summer program for students from Universidad del Valle de Mexico (UVM) and collaboration with the Pascua Yaqui tribe for that program. The other poster focused on Dr. Valdez’ research project Botiquin Fronterizo.
Attending the conference was a great opportunity for Dr. Valdez to continue building the college’s strong partnership with the INSP. They have hosted GHI Scholars from our college for several years, and the connections continue to expand. Before the conference, Dr. Valdez also met with students and leadership at the Coyoacan Campus of the Universidad del Valle de México (UVM) to promote participation and engagement in the dual degree program with UVM, including the medicine-public health, dentistry-public health, and biotechnology-public health dual degrees.
Dr. Gabriela Valdez visits with Mary Anny Colin Gascon, Director of Internationalization at UVM, Jessy Mariel Escopbar Cantero, National Director of Medicine and Dentistry at UVM, and a group of UVM students at the UVM Coyoacan Campus.
This was the most recent of several visits to Mexico focused on expanding existing partnerships with public health agencies and building the dual-degree program with UVM.
“Our college has always had strong partnerships with Mexico,” said Dr. Hakim, “It was a privilege to go to this important conference with the ASPPH delegation, and we are very grateful to our hosts from the INSP and for the vital, innovative work they do in Mexico and the region.”