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New chair impressed by role alumni have in HSPM's 'teaching, learning and training mission'
October 26, 2011
Dr. M. Mahmud Khan joins the Arnold School as chair of the Department of Health Services Policy and Management.
The opportunity to have a critical role in shaping the future of the Department of Health Services Policy and Management led Dr. M. Mahmud Khan to the Arnold School of Public Health.
Khan, who became the department's chair in September, said he was impressed by the steps taken by the school and the university to place it among the top-tier educational institutions of the country. "The Arnold School of Public Health is going through significant changes that are greatly strengthening the school," he said.
"The Arnold School is expanding its faculty and is attracting high-level researchers," Khan said. "The alumni from the Department of Health Services Policy and Management are well-placed in various healthcare institutions of South Carolina and the nation, and that alone speaks volumes on the quality of graduates the department has produced over the last two decades.
"Many of the graduates remain intimately involved with teaching, learning and training mission of the department and such supportive environment is not there in many other peer-institutions."
After 23 years at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Khan brings an established record of teaching and scholarly success to the Arnold School, said Dr. Tom Chandler, Arnold School dean.
"With a strong background in economics and public health, Dr. Khan is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in healthcare economics and finance. His academic achievements and record of leadership at Tulane University qualify him to lead a department that is critical to shaping future health policy for our state and beyond," Chandler said.
Dr. Khan earned his master's degree in economics in 1980 from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and joined the university as an economics lecturer in February 1980. He began his graduate studies at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, in 1981 and earned master's degrees in economics and applied economics. After completing his Ph.D. in applied economics in 1987, he became an assistant professor in the School of Public Health at Tulane University in 1988. He was promoted to the associate professor rank in 1994 and to full professor in 2003.
Khan was appointed interim chair of the Department of Health Systems Management of Tulane University in 2007 and served in this post until June 2009.
"South Carolina appears to be taking important steps towards improving the health of its citizens. One example of positive steps adopted is the creation of a health-related databank that combines data sets from different sources," Khan said.
"For public health researchers interested in health system strengthening, it is no less than a 'gold-mine,' " he said. "Both the public and private sectors are working together to create this databank, and I am sure Arnold School of Public Health and the Department of Health Services Policy and Management can further strengthen this collaborative relationship by deriving empirical evidence-based policy alternatives.
"A number of faculty members in the department are already involved with similar activities, and this type of policy-relevant, exciting research agenda attracted me to the school and the state," Khan said.
The beauty of the campus was appealing to him, too. "It reminded me of the neatly kept campus of my alma mater, Stanford University."
After living in Bangladesh and New Orleans for so many years, Columbia's "famously hot" summers will not be a challenge, he said.
In addition to continuing his research interests at the Arnold School, Khan wants to be an active teacher, as well as administrator. "I love teaching, and the student interaction," he said.
In addition to teaching a seminar course for graduate students, Khan would like to develop a course for students in the Arnold School's undergraduate program. "Undergraduates should be exposed to all faculty, including senior faculty," he said. "This will help us attract top undergraduate and graduate students to our public health program."
Over the past 20 years, Dr. Khan's research has included the economics of childhood immunization, the burden of disease on healthcare costs, healthcare financing, measuring health facility performance, economic evaluation of alternative interventions for chronic care and care of the elderly, malpractice lawsuits and physician behavior, and WHO's Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses module.
He was named Outstanding Faculty of Tulane's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 1994 for excellence in teaching and received the teaching scholar award of Tulane's School of Public Health in 2003. Dr. Khan has been a consultant for numerous organizations, including the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, Sanofi Aventis, USAID, the Swiss Red Cross, and a number of foundations and consulting firms.
