Jim Thomas, MPH, PhD

Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology
Gillings School of Global Public Health
Fellow Emeritus, Carolina Population Center

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Dr. Thomas brings together a unique set of skills to address this era’s most challenging public health issues. With experiences that encompass both academics and practice, he has:

  • Advised the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state of North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina on the ethical control of pandemics.

  • Directed large projects to strengthen health information systems in more than 40 low- and middle-income countries.

  • Developed and implemented evaluations of complex systems in North Carolina, Ethiopia, Thailand and elsewhere.

  • Translated theory to practice by using his knowledge of complex systems to found and direct Africa Rising, and organization that strengthened African community-based organizations by networking them together.

  • Addressed practical public health issues in locations ranging from the Congo rainforest, to American prisons, to Hollywood film studios.

  • Integrated his practical experiences into the textbook Epidemiologic Methods for the Study of Infectious Diseases.

  • Led the writing of the first code of ethics for public health adopted by the American Public Health Association and other national organizations.

Current projects

  • Retired from UNC in September 2021 (now an Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology)

  • Researching and writing a book on unlearning colonial ways of doing good.

  • Teaching courses annually on global health at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique, Paris.

  • Participating in European and Australian efforts to articulate regional public health ethics.

 
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The more than 40 countries in which Dr. Thomas has worked as an epidemiologist or ethicist.

 
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Published by Oxford University Press

Links