Skype Links Students to Incoming President of Doctors Without Borders
4/14/2010
On Tuesday, April 13, in preparation for the Spring 2010 University of Oxford-Cushing Academy Discussion on the 21st Century Challenges and Opportunities in Global Health, students in Global Health joined Dr. Unni Karunakar via Skype for a 50-minute video conversation.
The incoming President of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) - Doctors Without Borders -- spoke about the humanitarian mission of MSF, the role of Doctors Without Borders in the larger global health picture, and the opportunities and challenges in this century, going forward.
Dr. Karunakara joined MSF in 1995. He has worked in Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Colombia, Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. Dr. Karunakara worked in the medical department of MSF’s Amsterdam office for several years and was the medical director for MSF’s Access to Essential Medicines Campaign. Prior to his appointment at President of the MSF, Dr. Karunakara was Deputy Director of Health at the Earth Institute at Columbia University for the Millennium Villages Project and a Professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.