New partnerships for public health between UIC, Cuban university

As the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba proceed, the UIC School of Public Health and Cuba’s national public health school signed a partnership agreement.

The UIC School of Public Health and Escuela Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuba’s national school of public health in Havana, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a partnership between the two schools that will include the exchange of students and faculty, as well as research and collaborative opportunities.

“It started when I met the dean of the Cuban school of public health at a meeting in Washington, D.C., last year and talked to him about UIC’s Global Health Program,” said Paul Brandt-Rauf, dean of the School of Public Health. “He invited me to come down to talk more about how we could work together in anticipation of the normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuba.”

Brandt-Rauf and Peter Orris, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, traveled to Cuba last spring to sign the memorandum of understanding. Cuban public health officials visited UIC Nov. 4 for a lecture, reception and further discussion about collaboration.

Brandt-Rauf said students in the Global Health Program will travel to Cuba to participate in public health projects.

“We have programs and expertise in areas that Cuba has determined are among their public health priorities, such as maternal and child health, and we are as eager to share our knowledge with them as they are with us,” he said.