Two Reproductive Health Experts to Join Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Amy Tsui, PhD, a distinguished expert in global population and reproductive health, and Jane T. Bertrand, PhD, an international leader in the assessment and communication of population and public health programs, will join the faculty of the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Tsui will assume the positions of professor in the department and director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. Dr. Bertrand will become a professor in the department and director of the School’s Center for Communication Programs (CCP). Both individuals will bring years of leadership, experience, and expertise to the department.

By joining the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dr. Tsui and Dr. Bertrand will be continuing a longstanding professional partnership. Both studied together at the University of Chicago and have worked closely together on the USAID EVALUATION and the MEASURE Evaluation Project.

"We are absolutely thrilled to attract these two outstanding scholars in population and reproductive health, particularly as they will be continuing what has been a career-long collaboration," says Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS, and dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It will further strengthen the already close working relationship between the Gates Institute and CCP," adds Dean Sommer.

Dr. Tsui comes to the School from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, where she is currently professor of maternal and child health and director of the Carolina Population Center. With degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Hawaii, Dr. Tsui is a leader of fertility and reproductive health issues. Among the many recognitions of her work, she has received the Robert J. Lapham Award from the Population Association of America and a Certificate of Recognition from the Illinois House of Representatives.

When she joins the faculty, Dr. Tsui will succeed founding director Laurie Schwab Zabin, PhD, as head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health. The Gates Institute was established in 1999 with a $20 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is dedicated to strengthening the capacity in countries of the developing world to design and maintain their own programs and policies in family planning and reproductive health.

"We could not have found anyone better. Dr. Tsui shares our vision—to combine the science and scholarship of the academic community with a real-world, caring investment in service and human potential. This has characterized her work—and it's a hard combination to find. We look forward to the unique strengths she will bring to that mission," says Dr. Zabin, who will remain a member of the faculty.

Dr. Bertrand, a graduate of Brown University and the University of Chicago, is a respected expert in the fields of international family planning, applied research, and information-education-communication. Fluent in French and Spanish, she has dedicated the majority of her career to research on family planning in developing countries. Dr. Bertrand has demonstrated strong leadership in her 22 years at Tulane University. From 1994-99, she chaired the Department of International Health and Development, the largest department within the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine both in terms of student enrollment and sponsored research. She will earn her MBA from Tulane University in August 2001.

"Jane Bertrand is a distinguished leader, whose research and evaluation work has established worldwide benchmarks for quality services and communication in the field of reproductive health," says Phyllis Piotrow, PhD, current director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. "Jane’s expertise complements the existing skills found at the center, which was recently recognized by the U.S. Agency for International Development as a global leader in health communication," adds Dr. Piotrow. Bertrand will join the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as professor of population and family health sciences, and then succeed Dr. Piotrow as director of the Center for Communication Programs. Dr. Piotrow will remain a member of the School faculty.

Established in 1988, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs is a pioneer in the field of strategic, research-based communication for behavior change and health promotion that has helped transform the theory and practice of public health. The center's programs focus on a variety of public health issues, including family planning, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, child survival, maternal health, and the environment. With an annual budget that exceeds $40 million and representatives in more than 30 countries, the Center for Communication Programs has developed and managed over 300 country-based projects and contracts in 50 countries involving more than 200 local organizations and subcontractors.

"Both Dr. Tsui and Dr. Bertrand bring leadership and expertise to our well established department. Together, we will continue to work toward improving the lives of millions of women, children, and families throughout the world," says Bernard Guyer, MD, MPH, Zanvyl Krieger Professor of Children’s Health and chair of the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "I think they will make a tremendous contribution to our faculty and students and I look forward to working with them both," adds Dr. Guyer.