Mark Steinhoff, MD, retires; Russell Ware, MD, PhD, leads Global Health Center
Mark Steinhoff, MD, director of the Global Health Center since 2007, retired from Cincinnati Children’s on September 30. Steinhoff, whose work focused on research and training in under-resourced countries, is recognized as an international leader in studies of maternal vaccination and its effects on the fetus and the newborn, particularly for infections like influenza. He was one of the first to observe highly beneficial effects of influenza immunization, not only for pregnant women but also for their infants, who had significantly higher birth weights. These findings have encouraged a re-evaluation of vaccine policy in many nations.
Under Steinhoff’s leadership, the Global Health Center worked with P&G to establish the Bang Bao program. Now known as Nurturing Child Development, this program hosted 19 scholars and 45 observers from China, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Global Health also partnered with Charles Schubert, MD, director, Residency Global Child Health, to set up training for residents and fellows in several countries, including Malawi. A Cincinnati Children’s physician is stationed at the large Central hospital there year-round, funded by Global Health.
In addition, Steinhoff and Schubert founded an innovative Global Health Plus fellowship program that enables participants to carry out their fellowship research at global health sites. Steinhoff’s own research won wide support from prestigious organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes for Health.
Russell Ware, MD, PhD, succeeds Steinhoff as director of the Global Health Center. Ware came to Cincinnati Children’s in 2013 from Baylor College of Medicine, where his studies of sickle cell disease in sub-Saharan Africa garnered considerable funding and attention. Ware’s emphasis on capacity building for the diagnosis of sickle cell disease and his pioneering studies in the use of hydroxyurea have greatly improved the infrastructure and treatment for these patients. He recently received a $3.5 million NIH grant to study the safety and benefits of hydroxyurea in four countries within sub-Saharan Africa.
Ware’s impact in the field of sickle cell disease has also led to clinical trials using hydroxyurea for stroke prevention in the Caribbean. This includes an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial in Jamaica and a new prospective open-label trial in the Dominican Republic.
Ware excels in mentorship and brings to his leadership of resident education in Global Health the same commitment to scholarly rigor that has infused his own work. He has also taken stock of Cincinnati Children’s widespread efforts in Global Health by identifying more than 1,000 published articles each year between medical center investigators and international colleagues from over 100 countries.
