NCMHD Announces New Director for Extramural
Activities and Scientific Programs
Award-winning epidemiologist and academician Francisco Sy, M.D.,
Dr.P.H., has been appointed as the new director of Extramural Activities
and Scientific Programs at the National Center on Minority Health
and Health Disparities (NCMHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH),
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“Dr. Sy is a unique public servant. He combines the rigor of a
bench scientist with the fervor of a public health advocate. The
NCMHD is proud to have him lead our scientific programs,” said
NCHMD Director John Ruffin, Ph.D.
“Establishing equity within the healthcare system has long been
a passion of mine. I am humbled and thrilled at being given this
opportunity to have a leadership role in shaping the NIH’s research
agenda on this issue,” said Dr. Sy.
Prior to being promoted to his new position, Sy oversaw several
programs at the NCMHD: the Community-Based Participatory Research
Initiative, Loan Repayment Programs and Research Endowment Program.
In addition, he has represented the NCMHD and the NIH on a number
of trans-NIH and HHS workgroups and committees.
Before coming to the NIH, Sy served as a senior health scientist
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta,
GA, where he was the team leader in the Program Evaluation Research
Branch in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. In 2003, as a member
of the CDC’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak
investigation team, Sy led community outreach efforts in Asian-American
communities. In 2004, Sy organized the Asian and Pacific Islander
employees at the CDC and became the first president of the Association
of Asian/Pacific Islander Employees of the CDC and Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry.
Sy was a tenured professor at the University of South Carolina
(USC) School of Public Health where he taught infectious disease
epidemiology for 15 years and served as director of the Master
of Public Health program.
Sy is a prolific scientific writer and editor. In 1996, he wrote
and published the book AIDS Prevention in Multicultural Societies,
and he is the founder and editor of the peer-reviewed journal AIDS
Education and Prevention — An Interdisciplinary Journal.
Sy earned his Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.) degree in Immunology
and Infectious Diseases from Johns Hopkins University; Master of
Science in Tropical Public Health from Harvard University; and
Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the Philippines.
His achievements have earned him high honors in public health.
Sy is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine;
Scientific Fellow of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and
Immunology; and, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene. He has received several accolades in his career including
the following selected awards: Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service for outstanding community
outreach work during the SARS outbreak (2004); CDC/National Center
for Infectious Diseases Honor Award for outstanding service in
the SARS outbreak investigation (2004); Excellence in Teaching
Award from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public
Health (1991); and Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Johns Hopkins
University School of Public Health (1990).
The NCMHD (http://www.ncmhd.nih.gov)
is a component of the NIH. The NCMHD promotes minority health and
leads, coordinates, supports and assesses the NIH effort to eliminate
health disparities. The NCMHD programs focus on expanding the nation’s
ability to conduct research and to build a diverse, culturally-competent
research workforce to eliminate health disparities.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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