CGHE Welcomes Dr. Gauri Desai as new Co-Director

The Community for Global Health Equity (CGHE) is excited to welcome our new co-Director, Dr. Gauri Desai, to her new role. Dr. Desai brings a wealth of global health experience and passion for mentorship and engagement to this new role. She currently serves as Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health and Health Profession’s Undergraduate Public Health Program and the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health.
 
While her role as co-Director is new, Dr. Desai has been affiliated with CGHE for many years - starting as a graduate assistant in 2015 and later as a faculty in 2020, contributing to research on toxic metal exposures, children’s cognitive and physical health outcomes, and nutrition’s role in mitigating these effects with a specific focus on populations in the US and Uruguay. Her work has won awards, including the Dr. Rebecca James Baker Award from the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology and the Saxon Graham Award for Excellence in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health and Health Professions here at UB.

In acknowledging the great work of former CGHE leaders who laid the foundation, she looks forward to promoting the mission of CGHE including fostering more interdisciplinary collaborations, seeking new and innovative funding sources, and promoting and contributing to research to address myriad inequities globally as well as locally.

Dr. Gauri Desai’s long standing work in the field of global health and her existing connections within CGHE coupled with her passion for engagement and mentorship are all testaments to her abilities to serve in CGHE leadership. We look forward to seeing all that you will achieve in your new role.