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WVU NAMES FINALISTS FOR SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DEAN

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Christopher Colenda, M.D., M.P.H., chancellor for health sciences at West Virginia University, has announced the four finalists for the post of dean of the School of Public Health.

They are:
•    Craig N. Carter, Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky, Colleges of Agriculture and Public Health
•    Alan M. Ducatman, M.D., interim founding dean of the WVU School of Public Health and professor in the WVU Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences
•    Philip C. Nasca, Ph.D., dean and professor of epidemiology, State University of New York – University at Albany, School of Public Health
•    James Studnicki, Sc.D., Irwin Belk Endowed Chair in Health Sciences Research, professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina – Charlotte

“I want to thank the search committee members, led by Dean Art Ross of the School of Medicine, for their diligent work in bringing these excellent candidates to the University,” Dr. Colenda said. “I’m looking forward to introducing them to our faculty, students and staff and moving to the next stage of the selection of a dean for the School of Public Health.”

Dr. Carter, a veteran of the United States Air Force, earned his Ph.D. in veterinary public health from Texas A&M University. He is a professor of epidemiology in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Veterinary Science, where he established a new section of epidemiology. Carter is also a joint faculty member in the University of Kentucky College of Public Health. In 2007, he was appointed director of the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, where he oversees 70 faculty and staff. He recently oversaw a two-year, $28.5 million expansion and renovation of the laboratory. His research focus is on infectious and parasitic disease epidemiology with emphasis on zoonotic diseases. As a colonel in the Army Reserve, he served as the senior public health veterinarian and Department of Defense executive agent for food and water safety for the military serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
    
Dr. Ducatman is the interim founding dean of the WVU School of Public Health. He earned his M.D. degree from Wayne State University and his M.Sc. in environmental health from the City University of New York. He completed his residency training at Brown University and at the Mayo Clinic, and he is board-certified in internal medicine and occupational medicine. He served as chair of the Department of Community Medicine within the WVU School of Medicine from 1997 to 2012. His national leadership includes service as chair of the Residency Review Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Committee in Preventive Medicine. He has also served as chair of the National Environmental Health Center and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Board of Scientific Counselors through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ducatman’s research interests include occupational and environmental toxicity and prevention of diseases potentially related to environmental exposures.

Dr. Nasca is the dean of the State University of New York – University at Albany’s School of Public Health and professor of epidemiology. Prior to assuming his current position in Albany, Nasca was a professor of epidemiology, chair of the department of biostatistics and epidemiology and associate dean for graduate academic affairs in the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s School of Public Health and Health Sciences. He also previously served as associate dean for research in the School of Nursing. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, the Annals of Epidemiology and Public Health Reports. He is a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and served as president of the college from 1995-1996. He is also a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and has been the recipient of two Fulbright Fellowships and the New York State Medical Society Medal for scientific writing. Nasca’s research interests focus on etiological studies of cancers of the breast and female reproductive organs and childhood cancers.

Dr. Studnicki is currently the Irwin Belk Endowed Chair in Health Services Research and professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte’s College of Health and Human Services. Studnicki holds both doctor of science and master of public health degrees from Johns Hopkins and a master of business administration degree from the George Washington University. He was the first director of the Master of Health Science Program in Health Finance and Management at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, where he served as a faculty member for 13 years. Subsequently, he was chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management and director of the Center for Health Outcomes Research at the University of South Florida Health Sciences Center. He has been a frequent contributor to the health services research and public health systems and services research literatures. Studnicki’s research has focused on the use of large scale databases and associated information technology in analyzing outcomes at the patient, hospital and community levels.

As a part of the selection process, faculty, staff and students will be invited to meet the candidates at open forums on the Health Sciences campus. Nasca will visit Oct. 8; Studnicki, Oct. 11; and Carter, Nov. 26. Ducatman’s forum will be Nov. 29.

Each forum will be at 5 p.m. in the Learning Center, room 1905, except for Studnicki’s, which will occur in room 1909. After the sessions, receptions will begin at 6 p.m. in the Learning Center Commons.