Collins Airhihenbuwa
Professor Health Policy & Behavioral Sciences- Education
Ph.D in Public Health Education, The University of Tennessee, 1983
MPH in Health Planning and Administration, The University of Tennessee, 1981
B.S. in Health Planning and Administration, Tennessee State University, 1980
Certificate in Health Administration and Planning, Meharry Medical College, 1980
- Biography
Dr. Collins Airhihenbuwa leads the interdisciplinary team known as the Global Research Against Non-communicable Disease (GRAND) Initiative at the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. He is also a Professor of Health Management & Policy.
Dr. Airhihenbuwa is an expert in creating solutions to promote health equity in national and global health and has more than 30 years of experience advancing research on culture, identity and health to inform strategies for training young professionals to conduct health behavior and public health research and intervention. Prior to joining the school, he was dean of the College for Public Health and Social Justice at Saint Louis University in Missouri and authored a cultural model (PEN-3) that is used in several countries to develop programs and interventions to address health inequity.
He also has served as a visiting scholar to UN agencies such as the World Health Organization and major universities, including Purdue and Boston University, and has served on boards of Saint Louis City and Hospitals, the National Advisory committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Scholars, the Global Philanthropy Alliance, and the board of Scientific Counselors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Airhihenbuwa has authored more than 130 articles and book chapters and six books, including “Health and Culture, Beyond the Western Paradigm” in 1995 and “Healing Our Differences, the Crisis of Global Health and Politics of Identity” in 2007. He is a former President and Distinguished Fellow of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and a fellow of the American Academy of Health Behavior and the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research.
He is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Scholar of the Year by the American Association of Health Education, the symbol of H.O.P.E award by the American Journal of Health Promotion, the Outreach award by Penn State University, the David Satcher award for leadership in reducing health disparities by CDC and DHPE, and the Mentor award by SOPHE.