Letter From the Director Spring 2026
Dear Friends,
In what has been a turbulent year globally and locally, the Program in Global Health Studies continued on its mission to help students and wider publics put the tumult into historical and analytical context, providing nuance to the noise and helping folks think about the implications of current events and rapidly changing policy landscapes in new ways. Through it all, we’ve worked to enhance one another’s skills in communicating across differences, and to imagine ways to address thorny problems where solutions are not obvious.
One GHS moment that stuck with me this year was when an alumni, Dr. Daniel Wozniczka (WCAS ’10), attended one of our guest speaker events. Dr. Wendland presented her research on the life of an early 20th century global health ancestor, Dr. Daniel Sharpe Malekebu, Malawi’s first physician. The talk took us through the remarkable journeys of some well-traveled African intellectuals who pushed back against prevailing racial hierarchies of the time.
Dr. Wozniczka asked, “What general lessons do you think can be applied from this story in the 21st century as we try to learn from mistakes and learn from the things your work has shown?” Dr. Wendland’s thoughtful response, like the entire talk, is worth a watch, but she summarized her point by stating, “I think [these histories of global health ancestors] can have practical implications just on our durability, maybe on our persistence in the face of reversals. These folks worked for decades and decades to get something done, and they did. And it was quiet, and they were forgotten. But they made a real difference.”
The desire to make a difference, and to make the kinds of differences that can actually improve wider wellbeing for more people, is one shared by the faculty, staff, and especially students in our program. As a program that values interdisciplinarity, we endeavor to help future change-makers develop a strong intellectual foundation for understanding complex global problems, and their historical roots and ethical entanglements, in order to enhance students’ skills in research, critical thinking, and expression.
If we do our jobs well, our students emerge understanding that making meaningful change is a slow, arduous process, requiring people to understand context before they act, and work with others across differences to tackle complex challenges. We also want our students to emerge feeling change is possible, even when doing so is difficult, even when the work to get it done is often invisible—an evergreen message for everyone concerned about the state of the world and hoping to do something meaningful to make things better.
At the close of the 2025-2026 academic year, we have a lot to be grateful for and to celebrate. I hope you’ll take a moment to check out the wonderful endeavors and accomplishments of the people who make our program the dynamic and engaged space that it is.
Thank-you for being part of our community!
Noelle Sullivan
Director, Program in Global Health Studies