About Us
History of International and Global Health at the Medical College of Wisconsin
Message from the Associate Dean Stephen Hargarten, MD, MPH
The Office of Global Health was established in January 2010 at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Our vision for MCW is to be a leader in global health that promotes health equity across neighborhoods and nations. Our mission is to advance MCW’s mission of education, research, patient care, and community engagement through multi-institutional collaborations. Our goal is to develop a sustainable framework for multidisciplinary collaboration that integrates and advances the global health sciences.
MCW is uniquely positioned to address this goal. We have nearly 200 faculty from virtually all departments participating in or who have participated in global health activities across 80 countries. We are committed to assisting faculty in formalizing their existing partnerships and creating new collaborations locally and worldwide to address global health from neighborhoods to nations.
MCW offers a wealth of interest, expertise, and resources in global health efforts. Intentional interdisciplinary collaboration across our departments could increase sustainable funding opportunities, create credible and educational learning environments for MCW faculty and trainees, and synergize efforts to address health disparities locally and worldwide.
As the catalyzing agent, we take advantage of the diverse skills and experiences of our faculty and trainees. Together, we strive to improve the health of those most in need locally and worldwide.
I look forward to keeping you informed of our ongoing progress as we build the Medical College of Wisconsin's Office of Global Health. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me at hargart@mcw.edu.
Steve Hargarten, MD, MPH
Associate Dean, Global Health
Professor, Emergency Medicine
More Information
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.
Office Leadership
Faculty
Stephen Hargarten, MD, MPH
Associate Dean for Global Health
hargart@mcw.edu | (414) 805-6454
In January 2010, the Medical College of Wisconsin named Stephen Hargarten, MD, as associate dean of the Office of Global Health. Dr. Hargarten is also professor of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Hargarten’s international experience began in medical school when he selected a two month elective clerkship in Nicaragua. In 1980, he volunteered at the Tom Dooley Heritage Hospital in Thailand, caring for refugees from Laos. He served on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Indochina Refugee Relief Fund and also on the Board of Tom Dooley Heritage. As an outcome of his MPH at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dr. Hargarten has extensively investigated US citizen deaths (initially Peace Corps Volunteers) that occur outside the United States and is a leading expert in this area of global health.
Along with colleagues in emergency medicine and in collaboration with the Center for International Health, a collaborative of several institutions, including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University, Dr. Hargarten has served as co-principal investigator on large emergency medicine services (EMS) training projects in Poland, Croatia, Latvia, and China.
Currently, Dr. Hargarten serves on the Violence and Injury Prevention Mentoring Committee for the World Health Organization and serves on the board of directors of the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT). Dr. Hargarten has a long history of extramurally funded research in injury prevention, and has published over 100 research articles, editorials and chapters.
An alumnus of the Medical College, Dr. Hargarten joined the faculty in 1989. He completed an internship at the Gorgas Hospital in Panama, and previously served as a staff physician in the emergency departments at St. Joseph’s, St. Mary’s and St. Luke’s Hospitals before joining the College and the staff at the County Hospital and Froedtert Hospital. Dr. Hargarten completed his MPH at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Hygiene in 1984 and is a member of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars which is a honor for those who have shown distinction and excellence in their field of study.
He is an examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine and has received numerous awards in recognition for teaching excellence, research in injury prevention, and public service. He is the founding president of the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, and a past president of the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, as well as having served on many expert committees and advisory task forces. Most recently Dr. Hargarten was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences. Election to the IOM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. In 2014, Dr. Hargarten became the Director of the Milwaukee Global Health Consortium (formerly Center for International Health) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Staff
Tifany Frazer, MPH
Manager
tfrazer@mcw.edu | (414) 955-4763
Tifany Frazer joined the Office of Global Health as Program Manager in September 2010. Tifany works closely with Dr. Stephen Hargarten, Associate Dean for Global Health, in developing a sustainable platform of local and international partnerships to support the education, research, clinical, public and community health training of the College’s faculty and trainees. Prior to developing the Office of Global Health, Tifany served as a program manager in the College’s Department of Pediatrics, Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children where she administered programs in community-based pediatric resident graduate education, clinic-based early literacy promotion and community academic partnerships that addressed pediatric oral health care access, medical/legal collaborations and faith-based emergency preparedness in Milwaukee. Prior to coming to the College, Tifany worked in three different continents holding international positions with the United States Peace Corps, and United Nations program of UNAIDS, and UNICEF in El Salvador, Peru and Thailand respectively. Tifany received a master of public health degree in International Health from Tulane University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Health Education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Amber Rios, BA
Coordinator
arios@mcw.edu | (414) 955-5646
Amber Rios joined the Office of Global Health as Community Program Coordinator in July 2018. Prior to joining the Office of Global Health, Amber worked with the Center for International Education’s Institute of World Affairs (IWA) at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she served as an Outreach Coordinator intern. In that role, Amber supported the development and implementation of K-12 student and educator workshops, seminars, simulations, and conferences offered by IWA. She also worked to help educate students in the Milwaukee Public Schools district about international education and its importance. In her freshman year of college, Amber wrote a piece regarding the Dream Act and undocumented students within America, titled “A D.R.E.A.M. Deferred”, which was later published in The University of San Francisco’s academic journal, Writing for a Real World. Prior to attending college, Amber worked extensively with Milwaukee Area Health Education Center’s Youth Health Service Corps, where she volunteered over 100 community service hours working to educate under-represented communities about the importance of public health. During her time in college, Amber completed a short-term capstone immersion where she traveled to Costa Rica to study Intercultural Communication and Sustainable/ Eco-Tourism. Amber received a Bachelor’s Degree in Global Studies and International Affairs from Alverno College.
Madeline Burke
Intern
mburke@carrollu.edu
Madeline Burke joined the Office of Global Health as a Public Health Intern from Carroll University in January 2021. She has enjoyed working among many different groups on campus as well as various countries. On Carroll’s campus, Madeline is the Public Relations Officer for the Public Health Club and is also a member of Future Healthcare Executives. She has immersed herself within different cultures to better familiarize herself with values and beliefs that may differ from her own.” In 2016, Madeline traveled to the Dominican Republic to play and coach softball with local teams. In 2020, she was an intern at The Hunger Task Force in the Advocacy Department on a project to address school lunch eligibility and stigma. These experiences facilitated a passion for Global Health. Madeline will graduate in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health with a minor in Healthcare Administration.
Allison Kriegler
Intern
Allison Kriegler joined the Office of Global Health as a Public Health Intern in January 2021. Throughout her undergraduate education at Carroll University, she has served as a founding member and on the executive board for their Public Health Club. She serves as a Campus Connector through the Wisconsin Public Health Association. She enjoys participating competitively on the university’s Swim and Dive team. Allison is an AHEC Scholar, a competitive two-year program designed to enhance and broaden a student’s healthcare training offered by the Wisconsin Area Health Education Center (AHEC). Allison will graduate in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health and will be continuing her education in occupational therapy afterwards.
Department Liaisons
Designated by their Department Chair, each department and select Centers have a faculty member who serves as a Global Health Liaison to act as the main contact person for communications between MCW Office of Global Health and their departmental faculty and staff. Each liaison holds the following roles and responsibilities:
- Act as main contact person for communications between MCW Office of Global Health and their departmental faculty and staff.
- Provide the MCW Office of Global Health with their departmental faculty’s current global health clinical care, education, research, or public health efforts.
- Refer any faculty interested in global health clinical care, education, research, or public health efforts to the MCW Office of Global Health.
Faculty liaisons for each department, institute, and center
Ehab Abourashed, PhD, MS, BPharm
Associate Professor
Pharmacy
Kirsten Beyer, PhD, MPH, MS
Associate Professor
Global Health Pathway
Kristen Bunnell, PharmD
Assistant Professor
Pharmacy
Bruce Campbell, MD
Professor
Otolaryngology
Laura Cassidy, PhD
Director, Professor
Graduate School
Jenifer Coburn, PhD
Professor
Medicine (Infectious Disease), Center for Infectious Disease Research
Chris Dodgion, MD
Assistant Professor
Surgery
Leonard Egede, MD
Professor and Division Chief
Medicine
Beth Erickson, MD
Professor
Radiation Oncology
Bert Forster, PhD
Professor
Physiology
Stephen Humphrey, MD
Assistant Professor
Dermatology
Roger Johnson
Associate Professor
Cancer Center
Bryan Johnston, MD
Assistant Professor
Family and Community Medicine
Caitlin Kaeppler
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics
Jeff Kelly, PhD
Center Director & Professor
Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, CAIR
Judith Kosasih, MD
Professor
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Peter Langenstroer, MD, MS
Professor
Urology
Qing-song Liu, PhD
Professor
Pharmacology and Toxicology
John “Mac” Longo, MD
Professor
Radiation Oncology
Jonathan S. Marchant, MA, PhD
Marcus Professor & Chair
Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy
Seema Menon, MD
Associate Professor
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ahmed Obeidat, MD
Assistant Professor
Neurology
Dr. Stephanie Olivier-Van Stichelen, PhD
Assistant Professor
Biochemistry
Lars Olson, PhD
Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
Ashley Pavlic, MD
Assistant Professor
Emergency Medicine
Francisco Quiroz, MD
Professor
Radiology
Honey Reddi, PhD, FACMG
Chief Medical Director Clinical Diagnostics
Associate Professor Pathology
Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine Center
Jim Sanger, MD
Professor
Plastic Surgery
Megan Schultz, MD, MA
Assistant Professor
Global Health Pathway
Jeffrey P. Schwab, MD
Professor
Orthopaedic Surgery
Hesham Soliman, MD
Assistant Professor
Neurosurgery
Taylor Sonnenberg, MD
Assistant Professor
Emergency Medicine
Saul Suster, MD
Professor
Pathology
Susan Taylor, MD
Associate Professor
Anesthesiology
Sergey Tarima, PhD
Associate Professor
Institute for Health & Equity
Dr. Bipin Thapa, MD
Assistant Dean
Kern Center
Jeannette Vasquez-Vivar, PhD
Professor
Biophysics
Rebekah Walker, PhD
Assistant Professor
Center for Advancing Population Science
Doriel Ward, PhD
Director, Assistant Professor
CTSI
Geoffrey Wilkes, MD
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology
Tom Zahrt, PhD
Associate Professor
Microbiology & Immunology