Mentor - Rachel Moresky, MD, MPH

Dr. Rachel T. Moresky is an Associate Professor in the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health - Program on Forced Migration and Health; Columbia University Department of Emergency Medicine; and an Honorary appointment at the University of Rwanda - College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Moresky has collaborated with governments and local institutions to improve complex adaptive emergency care systems (CAECS) in settings with limited health resources. Dr. Moresky's background in engineering, emergency medicine, and public health, drove her to work on CAECS in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. In 2004 this culminated in the Columbia University sidHARTe - Strengthening Emergency Systems Program. The sidHARTe Program partners with governments, local universities, and NGOs through technical exchange, implementation support and science in India, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Honduras, and Cambodia. The University of Rwanda and the Ministry of Health partnership culminated in developing the specialization of Emergency Medicine in Rwanda. Currently, sidHARTe is collaborating on a USAID supported implementation science program: Acute Care and Emergency Referral Systems Program to decrease maternal morbidity and mortality in rural Ghana. In 2006, Dr. Moresky founded the Columbia University Global Emergency Medicine Fellowship, which mentors future leaders in humanitarian action, disaster response, and health systems research. The fellowship has produced many global leaders in the WHO Global Health cluster, IRC, MSF, CDC Ethiopian MoH and many Global EM Fellowship Directors. Dr. Moresky teaches the MSPH Communicable Disease in Complex Emergencies course, Globalization and Global Health at MSPH, Fundamentals of Global Health in Sustainable Development at Columbia College.