About the Medical College of Wisconsin Office of Global Health

The Medical College of Wisconsin has institutional memberships to local and international consortiums for global health.

Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH)
MCW is a member of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (UCUGH). CUGH is the largest consortium of academic institutions in the world involved in global health. With over 19,000 individual members and 145 institutions worldwide, MCW is part of this interdisciplinary network whose mission is to facilitate the sharing of knowledge to address global health challenges by creating equity and reducing health disparities. In line with MCW’s four missions, CUGH promotes mutually beneficial, long-term partnerships dedicated to building human capital across education, research, and service.

The Office of Global Health's mission is to advance MCW’s mission of education, research, patient care, and community engagement through multi-institutional collaborations. Our vision for MCW to be a leader in global health that promotes health equity across neighborhoods and nations.

Our goal is to develop a sustainable framework for multidisciplinary collaboration that integrates and advances the global health sciences.

Strategic Objectives

• Establish credible local and global partnerships with community-based organizations, universities, medical schools, and healthcare delivery sites that offer education, research, patient care, and community engagement opportunities for MCW faculty, medical and graduate students, residents, and fellows.
• Implement standardized agreements with local and global organizations to assure credit and excellence for trainee and faculty participation.

Guiding Principles

• Collaboration
• Credibility
• Health equity
• Multidisciplinary
• Partnership
• Reciprocity
• Social justice
• Sustainability

View MCW Global Health 2021 Facts (PDF)

For the past three decades, the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area has been an advocate for and leader in global health research, education, training, and technology commercialization. Companies, universities, nonprofits, civil society organizations, and government agencies have worked together to strengthen health and safety locally and globally, with the goal of reducing disparities and inequities, for the world's diverse populations.

To measure the breadth and depth of greater Milwaukee's global health activities and to communicate the sector's impacts on the regional economy, the Milwaukee Global Health Consortium commissioned an inaugural economic landscape study by RTI International.

Based on the data provided by these organizations, RTI estimates that the greater Milwaukee global health sector generated direct employment of 6,132 people and $2.901 billion of economic activity. When the secondary and tertiary impacts of spending by greater Milwaukee global health organizations and employees are included, the greater Milwaukee global health sector supported 16,961 total jobs, $1.308 billion in labor income, $4.671 billion in economic output, and $143.8 million in state and local taxes for the state of Wisconsin.

Global Health Student Organization
Faculty/Role: Taylor Sonnenberg, Faculty Advisor
Academic Home: Emergency Medicine
Trainee Group: All students

Global Surgery Student Organization
Faculty/Role: Chris Dodgion, Faculty Advisor
Academic Home: Surgery
Trainee Group: Medical Students

Master of Science in Global Health Equity
Faculty/Role: Laura Cassidy, Director; Constance Shumba, Associate Director
Academic Home: Institute of Health and Equity
Trainee Group: Graduate

Medical Students’ Global Health Pathway
Faculty/Role: Kirsten Beyer, Co-Director; Megan Schultz, Co-Director
Academic Home: Institute of Health and Equity; Pediatrics
Trainee Group: UME

Dr. Elaine Kohler Summer Academy Global Research
Faculty/Role: Stephen Hargarten, Director
Academic Home: Emergency Medicine
Trainee Group: UME

Pre-departure training for Short-term Global Health Efforts
Faculty/Role: Mac Longo, Co-Director; Steve Humphrey, Co-Director
Academic Home: Radiation Oncology; Dermatology
Trainee Groups: UME and GME

Pediatrics’ Global and Community Health Track
Faculty/Role: Demarco Bowen, Director; Constance Gundacker, Associate Director
Academic Home: Pediatrics
Trainee Group: GME

Family Medicine’s Global Health Track
Faculty/Role: Bryan Johnston, Director
Academic Home: Family and Community Medicine
Trainee Group: GME

GME Scholars in Global Health
Faculty/Role: Steve Humphrey; Mac Longo
Academic Home: Clinical, Surgical
Trainee Group: GME

Department of Emergency Medicine | Division of Global and Population Health

Ashley Pavlic | Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Co-Chief of the Division of Global and Population Health

Taylor Sonnenberg | Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Co-Chief of the Division of Global and Population Health

Department of Medicine

Lolia Abibo | Assistant Professor of Medicine
Global Health Assistant Director

Alexandria Phan | Professor of Medicine
Global Health Director

Subspecialty Leads:

• Endocrinology & Molecular Medicine – Dr. Abubakr Mohamed
• Gastroenterology & Hepatology – Dr. Kulwinder Dua, Dr. Francis Edeani
• General Internal Medicine – Dr. Theodore MacKinney, Dr. Jing Xu, Dr. Lolia Abibo
• Geriatric & Palliative – Dr. Jordan Baumann
• Hematology & Oncology – Dr. Sailaja Kamaraju, Dr. Othman Akhtar, Dr. Alexandria Phan
• Infectious Disease – Dr. Nathan Gundacker
• Nephrology – Dr. Mukoso Ozieh, Dr. Ira Blau
• Pulmonary – Dr. Uzair Ghori
• Rheumatology – Dr. Singla Shikha

Department of Pediatrics | Global Child Health Program

Megan L. Schultz, MD, MA | Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Director, Global Child Health Program

Lolia Abibo, MD | Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

DeMarco Bowen, MD | Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Jane Rivas, MD | Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Kellie C. Snooks, DO | Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Department of Surgery

Chris Dodgion | Associate Professor of Surgery
Director of Global Surgery

Libby Schroeder | Associate Professor of Surgery
Associate Director of Global Surgery