In this M3 Conference Breakout Session, Matthew Dacso, MD, MSc, FACP, Director of Academic Partnership for the UTMB Center for Global and Community Health, discusses building collaborations between academic and faith-based organizations to strengthen health systems in an era of pandemics.
The past several decades have seen profound shifts in the global burden of disease, which has strained health systems and highlighted the need for investment in greater global collaboration. The recent global experience with COVID-19 has demonstrated the fundamental interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, and the need for an adaptive and responsive healthcare workforce. As we continue through an “era of pandemics,” academic and faith-based organizations have great potential to improve health for all by collaborating and enveloping deeper partnerships.
Dr. Matthew Dacso is the Chair ad interim of the Department of Global Health and Emerging Diseases and an Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine. He also serves as Director of Academic Partnership for the UTMB Center for Global and Community Health and as the Director of the 4-year Global Health Scholarly Concentration in the John Sealy School of Medicine. He is a general internist and global health practitioner who has extensive field experience forming partnerships with institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean that are rooted in relationships, respect, and reciprocity. To learn more about Dr. Dacso and his work, click here.