CDC division director named new dean of UIC School of Public Health

Dr. Wayne Giles, director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will become the dean of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, effective September 1, pending formal approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

Dr. Wayne Giles will be the new dean of the UIC School of Public Health.

Giles, 56, follows Paul Brandt-Rauf, who served as dean of the school from 2008 to January 2017.

The Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention works to improve cardiovascular health through public health strategies and policies that promote healthy lifestyles and behaviors, healthy environments and communities and improve access to early and affordable detection and treatment.

Giles’ past research and scientific work has included examining the prevalence of hypertension in Africa, studying racial differences in stroke incidence, and leading clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of cholesterol-lowering agents.

“The School of Public Health is a critical part of UIC and its mission is dedicated to protecting and improving the well-being of the people of Chicago, the state of Illinois, the nation, and the world through education, research, policy and service,” said Dr. Robert Barish, vice chancellor for health affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “I am confident that Dr. Giles will advance the mission of the college and expand its impact. He will be a great asset to our University and our local and global community.”

Prior to directing the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Giles led the Division of Population Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for six years. The Division focuses on programmatic and research activities in community health promotion, arthritis, aging, health care utilization and racial and ethnic disparities in health.

Giles has more than 150 publications in peer reviewed journals. He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Charles C. Shepard Award in Assessment and Epidemiology and the Jeffrey P. Koplan Award.

Giles holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Maryland. He earned his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis and completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a residency in preventive medicine at the University of Maryland.