Professor
Ager is new
director
of global
health
institute
In July, Professor Alastair Ager,
a specialist in global health and
humanitarian response, left his
position at a New York university
to take up the post of Director
of International Health and
Development at QMU.
Professor Ager has worked in the field
of global health and development for over
twenty-five years and has previously held
positions in Scotland, England, Malawi and
the USA. Until recently, he was Professor
of Population and Family Health at the
Mailman School of Public Health at the
Columbia University in New York, where he
ran a doctoral programme on Leadership in
Global Health and Humanitarian Systems
supporting mid-career professionals in
leadership development.
A major focus of his current research is
evaluation of humanitarian programming
for refugee children (funded by DFID,
the Wellcome Trust, UNICEF and World
Vision), which has recently involved
studies of Somalis displaced to Ethiopia,
Congolese displaced to Uganda and
Syrians displaced to Lebanon, Jordan and
Iraq. His current research also addresses
health systems resilience in contexts of
adversity (studies in the Middle East, West
and South Africa) and the engagement of
local faith communities in humanitarian
response – the latter involving local faith
group engagement with refugees in
Jordan.
Professor Ager was formerly Head of
the Department of Psychology at the
University of Malawi, Director of the Centre
for International Health Studies at QMU,
and Senior Research Manager for the UK
Department for International Development,
with responsibility for the agency's global
portfolio of health and education research.
He has wide international experience as a
lecturer, researcher and consultant across
sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, Europe
and North America, working with a range
of inter-governmental, non-governmental
and governmental agencies. On re-joining
QMU, Professor Ager will continue
his academic affiliation with Columbia
University with a view to facilitating
research collaboration between both
institutions.
Dr Fiona Coutts, Dean of Health
Sciences at QMU, said: “We are delighted
that Professor Ager will be returning to
QMU. Over the years he has gained a
wealth of experience in global health
and development and has an impressive
background in the leadership of education
programmes and in research. We believe
that he will build on the excellent work
achieved by the Institute over the last
few years, and that the progressive
work of the team will continue to have
an impact on the lives of thousands of
people all over the world – those who
have been displaced, are seeking
asylum, are affected by disaster
or conflict or communities which
require improvements to healthcare
systems.”
Professor Ager’s appointment
underlines QMU’s aim of being a
socially relevant university which
responds to some of the most
pressing needs of society, and its
commitment to improving quality of
life. ❒
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QMYOU / Health & Rehabilitation