NEWS

On Friday, January 13th, the CDC Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) Regional Office, chaired by the Regional Director, Charles Vitek, met with leadership from the Ilia State University, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health Program, and Computing Center to learn about newly established graduate level programs and identify opportunities for future partnership. This visit is part of a larger effort by the CDC EECA regional office to better understand the current landscape of graduate level academic program for strengthening the public heath workforce.

Opportunities to modernize and strengthen national health systems across the region continue to emerge for public health services, functions, and workforce development. The CDC EECA Regional Office is committed to supporting networks of national public health institutes and university partnerships for developing the public health workforce and strengthening national and regional capacity to combat priority diseases in the region. The CDC EECA Regional Office provides strategic direction and technical support to CDC programming in 10 former Soviet countries, including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The meeting and discussion involved Ilia State University Rector, Prof. Nino Doborjginidze, ISU Faculty of Natural Sciences and Medicine leadership, led by the Dean, Prof. Elene Zhuravlova, Public Health Program Head and Faculty, ISU Computing Center, ISU Development Office and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Eastern European and Central Asia office representatives: Charles Vitek, Regional Director, Steven Becknell, Regional Deputy Director, Joel Stanojevich, Associate Director for Policy and Communication, Tushar Singh, Regional Advisor for Workforce Development, Lia Gvinjilia, Senior Technical Advisor.

2023