Johns Hopkins Launches Center for Global Women’s Health and Gender Equity
A new center at Johns Hopkins University will work across Johns Hopkins’ divisions and in the field to tackle the most pressing issues facing women and girls today. Buoyed by global momentum and deep faculty expertise, the Center for Global Women’s Health and Gender Equity will address key issues including gender-based violence, economic and social empowerment, and equitable norms and health systems.
Led by Michele Decker, ScD, MPH, Bloomberg Professor of American Health in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, the Center will be guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5–to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030–and will harness the exceptional research and training resources of Johns Hopkins University. Decker is also core faculty in the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Bloomberg School.
The Center will unite practitioners, leaders, and advocates from around the world and within Johns Hopkins to advance progress through applied research and training aimed at addressing impediments to gender equity. The Center will also provide training and mentoring opportunities for Johns Hopkins students and global professionals, and strengthen a collaborative community of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and leaders in the field.
“The Center is strategically built to address the contemporary challenges in gender equity, lending Johns Hopkins’ exceptional expertise and training capabilities to enhance scientific excellence and expand the talent pool of applied researchers and evidence-informed leaders for sustained impact,” says Decker.
The Center amplifies and unites Johns Hopkins’ current gender equity and global women’s health research, training, and knowledge-sharing, while pushing the field forward with rigorous science and translation.
“Pursuing gender equity is fundamental to building a safer, healthier world. I am thrilled that our new Center will draw on our existing strengths while pushing us in bold new directions, accelerating the pace of research and fostering diversity within the field,” says Bloomberg School Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, ScM. “By focusing on innovation and empowerment, we can build a future where all women and girls can thrive.”
In its first year, the Center is launching its Evidence Accelerator cohort, a scholars program designed for global professionals and practitioners working in applied gender-equity topics. The program will provide selected coursework and mentoring from Center faculty within a cohort experience to cultivate the next generation of global leaders in this space.
