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CUNY SPH is delighted to announce that Professor Diana Romero has been named director of the Center for Immigrant, Refugee and Global Health (CIRGH), effective at the beginning of the fall 2025 semester.
“The background and research experience of Dr. Romero make her the right choice to lead CIRGH,” says CUNY SPH Dean Ayman El-Mohandes. “Under her leadership, CIRGH will continue to build the reputation of CUNY SPH in migrant and global health. Supported by a strong team of faculty and students, Dr. Romero will ensure CIRGH rises to the critical challenges facing public health today.”
Created as an interdisciplinary effort of CUNY SPH, CIRGH serves as a catalyst and collaborative hub for research and projects on a range of global and migrant health issues. Since its inception, CIRGH has grown significantly, expanding its focus areas, diversifying and strengthening its projects, and developing a broader network of local, national, and global partners.
At the global level, CIRGH was an anchor partner of the USAID-funded Health Evaluation and Applied Research Development (HEARD) Project for almost six years. In that capacity, CIRGH produced the first-ever review of country experiences and lessons learned following Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) in 22 countries. It also supported innovative research in mental health and psychosocial support in six countries across four regions through its association with the CUNY SPH Center for Innovation in Mental Health (CIMH).
Other key global partners include: the Lebanese American University (with which CIRGH co-led a study on the impact of gender on refugee access to health care); the World Health Organization (to which it provided technical support in developing indicators related to maternal and newborn health); and the Global Research Network on Migrants in Big Cities (which CIRGH co-founded with 10 like-minded universities in Australia, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East).
At local and regional levels, CIRGH has worked closely with migrant-serving organizations (MSOs) across New York City (NYC) and State (NYS). With funding from the Oak Foundation and Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, it co-developed with MSOs a migrant health resource hub – the NYS IMPACT (Immigrant Provider Action) Center – to provide a comprehensive source of NYC/S migrant health data, research and policy information. CIRGH also partnered with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on two multi-year projects focusing on access to health care and food assistance for immigrants: the Health Equity and Access to Care Project (including a qualitative study on breast cancer care) and a Qualitative Evaluation of the Groceries to Go Program (in collaboration with the CUNY SPH Urban Food Policy Institute).
“I am thrilled that Dr. Romero will be CIRGH’s next Director,” says Distinguished Lecturer and current CIRGH director Kathleen Cravero. “Dr. Romero has been active in developing CIRGH since its beginnings. She has been invaluable in getting us to where we are today and is the perfect person to lead its next phase. I look forward to supporting Dr. Romero’s leadership and to being part of CIRGH’s exciting future.”
“This is both an important and challenging time for the health of immigrants in the United States as well as populations in other parts of the world,” says Dr. Romero. “I look forward to working with CUNY SPH faculty and students to build on the many important achievements made under the leadership of Dr. Cravero and Dr. Jim Sherry, CIRGH Founding Director.”
Dr. Diana Romero is a tenured Professor of Community Health and Social Sciences and directed the Maternal, Child, Reproductive and Sexual Health specialization since its inception over a decade ago. She has engaged in research and evidence-based advocacy related to reproductive, maternal and child health over the past 20 years. From her early research on factors affecting contraceptive decision-making and continuation among women of different racial/ethnic backgrounds, to the differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pregnant persons in NYS, she has focused on these experiences among marginalized groups by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic and related structural factors. Dr. Romero serves on the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Advisory Board for the CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey, and she has served on the FDA Obstetrics and Gynecological Devices Advisory Panel, as well as on the board of directors of several non-profit research and advocacy organizations addressing reproduction, gender and health. She teaches graduate courses in research methods, community health, and reproductive and sexual health policy. She received an MA in scientific journalism from New York University, and MA and PhD in sociomedical sciences from Columbia University.
