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Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), is a pediatrician and public health academic with a deep commitment to public service and community engagement. He is an established researcher in the field of infant mortality reduction in minority populations. Dr. El-Mohandes’ funded research focuses on population-based interventions in underserved communities both locally and globally. His publication record includes innovative approaches towards improving perinatal and neonatal outcomes in high-risk populations.
Dr. El-Mohandes has been actively engaged in the response to COVID-19 here in New York City and around the world. Since the pandemic first struck in March 2020, his CUNY SPH team has been monitoring the experiences and perspectives of NYC residents through an ongoing tracking survey. He is also collaborating with an international consortium to assess and respond to Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide. His work in this domain has appeared in Nature Medicine, The Lancet, and the American Journal of Public Health.
Dr. El-Mohandes has served as a senior consultant on multiple global health services and public health interventions funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Asia Development Bank, and the Government of South Africa. These projects included the “Healthy Mother Healthy Child” program in Egypt to upgrade obstetric and neonatal services in the districts with the highest infant mortality, a “Health Services Program” in Indonesia, and establishing the first school of public health for black students in South Africa.
Dr. El-Mohandes stepped down as the Chair of the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health Board of Directors (ASPPH) in March 2023, and continues as a board member of the ASPPH. He serves on the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Advisory Council and is an elected member of the American Pediatric Society and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
CUNY SPH has undergone dramatic transformation since Dr. El-Mohandes became Dean in 2013. Under his leadership it became an independent school within the CUNY system and received full re-accreditation in 2016. Six new institutes and centers have been launched—with an accompanying surge in research activity and funding—and an active working partnership with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has been formed. The CUNY SPH instructional portfolio has expanded similarly, with a range of new certificate programs and master’s and doctoral degrees, many of which are available fully online. CUNY SPH rose to number 15 out of 202 schools and programs of public health nationwide and number 17 in health policy on the 2023 U.S. News and World Report rankings, marking the school’s rise to the top 10% of all public health schools in less than 10 years.
