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Elizabeth Fair: Making a Greater Impact in Global Health
 UCSF postdoctoral scholar Elizabeth Fair is helping to shape the future direction of Global Health Sciences (GHS).
Since Global Health Sciences began only three years ago with the vision of Executive Director Haile Debas, Fair has been working alongside about 65 researchers from UCSF and UC Berkeley on strategic planning to determine the institute’s mission and future goals, as well as to devise models for applying basic science to global health work over the next five to 10 years.
To start, GHS, based at Laurel Heights, is creating long-term partnerships with institutions in less developed countries to train and invest in new leaders dedicated to global health. Currently, there are three visiting fellows from the Tanzanian National Institute for Medical Research and Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, UCSF Global Health Sciences’ partner university, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Fair is also contributing to curriculum development in GHS for master’s and PhD degrees in global health sciences. And she is organizing a postdoctoral society in global health to create opportunities for postdocs to combine their scientific research with their interest in improving health worldwide.
“I’d like to set up a roster showing who’s working where and what they are doing, so that they can be available for referrals or consulting,” says Fair. “The majority of UCSF postdocs are from outside the US, and many return to their home countries to apply what they learned. I want to develop opportunities to tap into this knowledge base and formalize a network of scientists to make a greater impact.”
After attaining a joint bachelor’s degree in anthropology and African studies from Harvard University, a master’s in public health degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in epidemiology from Stanford University School of Medicine, Fair came to UCSF specifically to work with Philip Hopewell, a well-respected pulmonary physician who has worked with tuberculosis (TB) in San Francisco and internationally for 25 years.
Working in the United States and abroad, Fair, 33, helps bring UCSF research and resources directly to the countries that need it most.
“I hope to bridge the gap between research and those living with TB in other countries. We have all this great science, so my question is: How do we apply it practically?” says Fair, a native of Cambridge, MA. “My primary focus is translational research, which is translating basic science to applicable programming, policies and interventions in the field.”
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