Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 31, 2005 | 3:00 p.m. | 894th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Robert Blum, John Groopman, Martha Hill, Robert Lawrence, Edward Miller, Jonathan Samet, and Donald Steinwachs.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag, Laura Morlock, and Patti Gravitt; Professor Stephen Teret; and Ms. Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: Dean Alfred Sommer convened the meeting at 3 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 893rd meeting on February 17, 2005 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Provost Knapp reported that the Baltimore City police have arrested a suspect in the recent murder of an undergraduate. The suspect is not a student but was known to students living in the building where the murder took place. A number of security measures are being initiated in the Homewood campus area.

He then announced the death of University Trustee Emeritus Sol Linowitz, a prominent statesman and advisor to several JHU presidents. On another topic, several Hopkins affiliates are expected to move into highly visible national and internationally-prominent positions. Former SAIS dean Paul Wolfowitz is expected to be confirmed as president of the World Bank, and Michael Griffin, head of APL's Space Department, has been tapped to head NASA.

Dr. Knapp then updated the Advisory Board about stem cell issues being considered by the Maryland State legislature and by the US Congress. It is not yet certain what the outcomes of their deliberations will be. The Sellinger program and capital requests by Hopkins to the Maryland legislature seem to be faring well this year.

The search for the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences has begun; Dr. Barry Zirkin, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has joined the search committee. The search for the dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health is also proceeding well.

Other Business

Proposal to establish an Interdepartmental Program in Applied Public Health

Dr. Yager noted that the second report on the proposal was discussed at the most recent Committee of the Whole meeting, where there was consensus to move forward with a proposal for an interdepartmental program. He reviewed the history of the deliberations, and then reviewed the proposal. A chair would be designated who would represent the program on the School's Advisory Board and chair the faculty committee overseeing the Program. There would be 1.0 FTE core part-time faculty positions that would be partitioned in up to 10 .1 FTE appointments, and 1.0 FTE core full-time faculty. The chairs were asked to commit to the appointment of Program-associated faculty in an academic department appropriate to their expertise. Dr. Yager then clarified that the Program chair would be appointed by and report to the Dean.

Dr. Black expressed support of the program, but asked for further definition of its mission and for clarification that the program would be shared among interested faculty in all departments who are engaged in applied public health, as well as with its core full-time and part-time faculty. Dean Sommer commented that the program's purpose is to facilitate the interaction between all segments of the School and government organizations. The name of the proposed faculty oversight committee could be confused with other committees so a different name will be identified.

In response to a question, Dean Sommer commented that a search probably would not be undertaken for the program chair; rather a current member of the faculty would be designated so the program could begin quickly. The program will necessarily start on a small scale with the anticipation that its success will lead to expansion. The first priority will be to identify the core-part-time faculty from among governmental and other external agencies.

Dr. Black further requested that the program be reviewed annually. Nominations for faculty members to serve on the oversight committee will originate with the department chairs and will be appointed by the Dean.

After further discussion about several new modifications of the proposal, it was approved by the Advisory Board. Dr. Yager will circulate the revised version to the members of the Advisory Board.

Follow-up to the DrPH Review Report

Dr. Morlock joined the Advisory Board meeting. She reviewed the DrPH program milestones over the past 18 months as discussed at the recent Committee of the Whole meeting. The principal activity in which the DrPH Executive Committee has been engaged is a substantial revision of the DrPH PPM that will enable departments to offer an explicit part-time DrPH degree in partnership with the DrPH program office. Several departments presently offer a full-time DrPH program although many of the students become part-time after completing some of the program requirements. The revised PPM specifies that part- time programs will have defined curricula and timeline that may differ from the full-time program; departments that are interested will come forward with such programs.

Dr. Morlock noted that the Department of Health Policy and Management now has 2-3 years of experience with the School's first explicitly part-time DrPH program which is carried out in conjunction with a few local "partnering agencies." The expectation for students in a part-time DrPH program is that they will be employed in agencies and organizations where they can complete some of their program requirements as part of their positions, with oversight and approval by School faculty. Development of a form letter from the employer indicating support or awareness of the student's engagement in DrPH studies will be investigated.

In response to a question from Dr. Black about restricting admissions to summer or fall of each year, Dr. Morlock stated that the DrPH Executive Committee wants to create "cohorts" of students that will take required seminars together. Dr. Black suggested alternative ways to create cohorts that do not include restricting admissions to specified times during the year.

Dr. Zeger felt that the membership of the DrPH Executive Committee should be expanded to include departments that teach core courses required for DrPH students, and should explicitly link to the MPH and new Applied Public Health programs. Department chairs will be asked to nominate a faculty member from their department to serve on the DrPH Executive Committee. The importance of close interactions between the DrPH program, the departments and the MPH program was stressed, as was the need to maintain the skills needed to complete the degree over an extended period of time (up to 9 years for a part-time DrPH.)

After further discussion, several additional changes in the draft of the revised DrPH PPM were suggested. Dr. Morlock will convey these suggestions to Dr. Guyer and the present DrPH Executive Committee and will return to the Advisory Board in the near future.

Interdepartmental Program in Molecular Epidemiology and New PPM Academic Programs #18 — Master of Science for Doctoral Degree Candidates

Dr. Gravitt joined the Advisory Board meeting. She reviewed the concept behind the development of the Molecular Epidemiology program. The program will enable doctoral students in the departments of BMB, EHS and MMI to obtain a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology and, conversely, will enable doctoral students in the Department of Epidemiology to obtain a Master of Science degree in BMB, EHS or MMI.

The Program will be important to the future of public health research as it incorporates laboratory sciences, genomics and proteomics with critical population-based tools through cohesive cross-training. Students will write one dissertation that will include a chapter representing their ScM work which is fully incorporated into their doctoral research.

Dr. Gravitt reported that there are some unique funding opportunities to support this innovative educational program. She then noted that the School presently has no policy for students in doctoral programs to obtain a Master of Science degree concurrently, while a similar model for a concurrent Master of Health Science degree exits. The proposed new PPM outlines the Master of Science degree for doctoral degree candidates.

Dr. Krag and Dr. Griffin acknowledged the important contributions of Dr. Gravitt in developing this program. After further discussion, the proposal for the Interdepartmental Program in Molecular Epidemiology and the new PPM Academic Programs #18 — Master of Science for Doctoral Degree Candidates were approved by the Advisory Board.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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Last updated 04May05 by dgips@jhu.edu