BGU has begun the process of creating a School of Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences. The School is part of the faculty's strategic planning and was approved by the faculty council, the coordinating committee, and the University senate.
The school will include the following faculty departments and programs: The Department of Public Health which includes graduate studies in public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, gerontology and the sociology of health, the Department of Health Systems Management, the emergency and disaster management program, and the research centers in the fields of nutrition, health and environment and the study of aging.
Faculty of Health Sciences Dean Prof. Amos Katz has appointed Prof. Nadav Davidovitch (pictured right) as the first head of the school for a period of two years. His deputy will be Prof. Natalia Bilenko, head of the MPH program.
Prof. Katz: “Creating the school is one of the flagship projects of the Faculty of Health Sciences. The process will advance and empower the research activities in the field of public health, strengthen ties and increase visibility nationally and internationally, and advance public health teaching while attracting students from Israel and abroad. An important and challenging mission has been laid on Prof. Davidovitch's shoulders and I have no doubt that he will make a success of it."
Prof. Davidovitch is a medical doctor specializing in epidemiology and public health, serves as the Assistant to the Dean for External Affairs, is head of the Association of Public Health Doctors in the Medical Union and a member of the executive committee of the European Association of Public Health. He served as head of the Department of Health Systems Management prior to this appointment.
“The newly established School of Public Health is based on excellent existing departments, programs and research centers comprised of researchers from a variety of disciplines thus creating a unique inter-disciplinary environment, committed to continue and develop new innovative programs and research initiatives.
“Based in the Negev area of Israel, the school is deeply embedded in the local community, committed to the development of Israel's southern periphery. The area's diverse population which includes kibbutz members, Bedouin villagers, and city residents presents a unique social fabric and an exciting opportunity to develop public health interventions with wide global applications," says Prof. Davidovitch.
