UIC SPH Alumni Association Board Strengthens Membership

The Alumni Association of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health is pleased to announce the election of three new members to its board of directors. Emily Anderson, Mamta Malik and Stephen Thompson were elected at the association’s annual meeting on June 3.

Anderson is currently project director of the Illinois Prevention Research Center at the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy. She received her PhD in health care ethics from Saint Louis University in 2007 and her MPH (health education and behavior) from UIC SPH in 2000.

Anderson’s research interests include research ethics, specifically with vulnerable populations; ethical issues in public health and health disparities and those related to emerging biotechnologies; and community-based participatory research.

“I have had the opportunity to hire and collaborate with many public health graduate students, not just those from my own cohort,” Anderson said. “Watching them graduate and embark on unique career paths is one of the greatest rewards of my job, especially when I get to help by giving advice, writing recommendation letters, or simply listening.”

A medical doctor, Malik received his MPH in health policy and administration from UIC SPH in 2007. Malik is currently working under a fellowship as associate director in international emergency medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

“I understand that the school is increasing and formalizing its global health commitment. I look forward to contributing a perspective, informed by my global public health activities, and to undertake projects which link alumni and student interests,” Malik said.

Thompson received his PhD in health policy and administration from UIC SPH in 2000. He is currently an associate professor at National-Louis University in Skokie, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in research methods, health policy, and supervisory and managerial behaviors.

For the past 30 years, Thompson has held numerous positions in health care organizations and educational institutions. He began his career as a respiratory therapist, working in administration and teaching future practitioners. Before teaching at National-Louis, he served as the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I returned to teaching to engage more fully with students,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to have had an outstanding experience at UIC SPH in the doctoral program. While the program was an arduous one, there were individuals who encouraged, pushed, and in some cases, pulled me across the finish line. It was their dedication to the mission and values of a healthy society that internalized those values in me.”

Anderson, Malik and Thompson join Sherry Weingart(board president), Kingsley Weaver (treasurer), and David Amarathithada, who will serve as president-elect. Outgoing members Kusuma Madamala (past president), Barbara Giloth, Stephanie Brown and Lisa Amoruso were also recognized at the annual meeting for their dedication and service.

>> Tina Daniel