Usha Ramakrishnan interim chair of Hubert Department of Global Health

Usha Ramakrishnan, PhD, has been selected as interim chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health. Ramakrishnan will step into the position on November 1, 2019, following Carlos del Rio’s departure.

Ramakrishnan has been part of the Rollins faculty since 1994 when she joined as a research associate in what was then known as the Department of International Health. She brings with her an immense knowledge of the department’s operations, and will ensure a smooth transition in the department's leadership and continued growth.

She is a tenured professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health, vice chair of the department, and director of the Doctoral Program in Nutrition and Health Sciences. She’s been a member of the department’s admissions committee since 1997, and holds adjunct faculty positions at the Instituto Nactional de Salud Publica in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research in Chennai, India.

At the University level, Ramakrishnan is a member of the admissions committee for the MD/PhD program and is also a graduate of the Woodruff Leadership Academy. Most recently, she was appointed to the Emory University Faculty Council.

Ramakrishnan’s research expertise focuses around maternal and child nutrition. Her specific interests include the functional consequences of micronutrient malnutrition during pregnancy and in young children. She has directed large randomized controlled trials to test the benefits of multiple micronutrient supplements before and during pregnancy, and early childhood for child growth and development, and has worked to identify strategies to address anemia and iron deficiency in many developing countries.

Ramakrishnan will continue to hold her current roles at Rollins in addition to her interim chair function.