Switzerland: Global Health and Development Policy
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Faculty and Staff
Christian Viladent, Academic Director
Dr. Christian Viladent has a doctorate in pharmacy from Paris XI University (France) as well as a certificate in pharmacoepidemiology from the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Additionally, he holds a PhD in economics, with a concentration in management, from HEC, University of Lausanne, Switzerland; his dissertation was a socio-economic assessment of HIV/AIDS interventions in countries with a generalized HIV epidemic. Dr. Viladent has a master of international business administration from Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In recent years, he has worked as faculty at Webster University and in the College of Health Sciences in Geneva teaching courses such as quantitative health methodologies, statistics in health services, and business ethics. He is closely aligned with several important global health networks with colleagues from Webster’s International Relations Department and also with organizations such as the academic hospitals in Lausanne (CHUV) and Geneva (HUG); international organizations such as the WHO and IOM; and NGOs such as GAIN, Green Cross International, and the International Red Cross. Dr. Viladent’s current research topics include risk reduction and compliance enhancement in medicinal drug usage in frail populations.
Recent publications include:
- Assessment of the impact of circumcision in countries with generalized HIV epidemic.
Viladent C., van Ackere A. Proceedings of the Operational Research Applied to Health Services Annual Meeting, Genoa, Italy. 19-23 July 2010. - A deterministic model to assess the impact of HIV/AIDS interventions in countries with generalized HIV epidemic. An application to Botswana. Viladent C. PhD dissertation April 20, 2010.
- An epidemiologic approach of financial markets. Viladent C. in Globalization and the Reform of the International Banking and Monetary System. O. Hieronymi editor. Palgrave MacMillan, New York. 2009.
- HIV tri-therapies in Botswana, socio-economic consequences. Viladent C. System Dynamic Society International Conference, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, July 2006.
- Pharmacogenomics, marketing strategy or therapeutic innovation? Viladent C. Working paper, INSERM Marseille, December 2005.
- A deterministic simulation model to assess HIV/AIDS interventions. Viladent C., van Ackere A., Institute for Operations Research and The Management Sciences (INFORMS) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, USA, November 2005.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Viladent engages in volunteer activities including promoting the cultural heritage of a 13th century village in the south of France by creating sculptures and through educational programming.
Review Dr. Viladent’s complete CV.
Nezha Drissi, Academic Coordinator
Nezha Drissi was born and raised in Morocco. She received her BA in information and communication focusing on librarian studies from the University of Nancy II in France. She earned a master’s degree in political science with a focus on migration issues in Europe from the University of Geneva. She taught economy and law during eight years in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Being multilingual, Nezha is grateful for getting the privilege to be immersed in different cultures. She collaborates as a freelance interpreter and conference speaker for CERMAM (Studies and Research Centre for the Arab and Mediterranean World). Involved in interfaith and intercultural dialogue, she has organized and participated in various events in Switzerland, her second home. She also researched and lectured on different topics such as women’s roles in the economic development of Morocco, gender and migration in French-speaking Switzerland, and tourism and water management in the Sahara.
Nezha has been active in global solidarity since 2002. She founded the nonprofit Althea Foundation, which focuses on health and education in outreach rural areas in Morocco, Chad, Mauritania, Egypt, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Althea organizes medical campaigns such as cataract surgeries, refractive corrections for children, dental health, and preschool programs. Fighting avoidable blindness and making a positive change in the lives of others are among Nezha’s main contributions toward making this world a better place for all.
Lecturers for this program typically include:
Professor Nidal Salim, PhD
Dr. Salim is director and co-founder (2007) of the Global Institute for Water Environment and Health (GIWEH) based in Geneva. Founded with a group of colleagues and scientists, GIWEH was formed in response to a recognized need for a new, broad-based interest in the interdisciplinary subjects of hydrology, environment, and health, in direct response to the recent, tremendous increases in threats to environmental safety.
Before forming GIWEH, Dr. Salim was involved in collaborations with different research institutes, universities, and international organizations, such as the Middle East Peace Process/Water Working Group/EXACT, the World Health Organization (WHO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP), and many others. Prior to joining the University of Geneva in September 2002, he worked as a director at the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), which involved many separate hydrological projects on local and regional scales. Dr. Salim has an extensive bibliography of publications and participates actively in international conferences and workshops.
A Palestinian citizen, Dr. Salim obtained his undergraduate degree from Damascus University (1993) in applied geophysics; his master’s degree in groundwater hydrology from UNESCO-IHE, Delft, The Netherlands (1998); and a doctorate in the application of remote sensing and GIS in the water cycle from the University of Geneva, Switzerland (2006).
Dr. Astrid Stuckelberger
Dr. Astrid Stuckelberger is a scientist, teacher, and writer recognized internationally for her work and publications on different areas of public health including policy, gender, ageing, technology, human rights, and ethics. She is currently a senior lecturer and researcher at the Public Health Medical School of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva.
She is currently working on a joint e-learning program lead by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the University of Pretoria, Georgetown University, and the University of Geneva for health ministries around the world and WHO regional offices. She has published several books and more than 100 scientific articles, policy papers, and governmental or UN reports.
She holds a master’s of science from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Geneva with a specific focus on cross-cultural psychology, media, and anthropology as well as an advanced master’s of science on cross-cultural health psychology. Her Ph.D. was on the determinants and mechanisms of a population health assessment with a gender perspective (cross-sectional study of the ageing population of the Canton of Geneva).
She has advised the United Nations (UN), the European Commission, and the Swiss government in different areas related to public health. She worked for the Geneva State Health Department as deputy director of the Department’s National Research Programme on Ageing. She received awards from the UN Secretary-General in 1999 for her work and in 2009 was recognized as being among the 100 leading personalities in Switzerland.
Dr. Stuckelberger recently conducted a joint project developing a training manual and casebook on international research ethics with the WHO and Harvard University. She is chair of the UN-affiliated NGO committee on ageing and convenor of the working group on education development at the UN. She has represented two nongovernmental academic organizations at the UN for the last ten years. She currently serves on the board of the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Philippe Sudre, MD, PhD
Dr. Sudre is currently serving as chief medical officer for infectious diseases in the Department of Regional Affairs, Economy and Health, Republic and Canton of Geneva. His main responsibilities include infectious disease prevention and surveillance and outbreak investigation and control. He is also an assistant professor in epidemiology and public health at the University of Geneva’s School of Medicine.
Dr. Sudre studied epidemiology and biostatistics at McGill University. He obtained his M.D. at the University of Toulouse, France and his Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Université de Tours, France. Dr. Sudre has worked at the World Health Organization (Geneva office) as a medical officer in the tuberculosis surveillance and evaluation program. Additionally, he has worked as an epidemic intelligence service officer at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Duration: 15 weeks
Program Base: Nyon/Geneva
Language Study: French
Prerequisites: Coursework in development studies, public health, or the social, economic, or political sciences. Read more...
View Student Evaluations for this program:
About the Evaluations (PDF)
Fall 2012 Evaluations (PDF)
Spring 2012 Evaluations (PDF)
Fall 2011 Evaluations (PDF)
Phone:
888.272.7881 (toll-free in US)
802.258.3212
TTY:
802.258.3388
Fax:
802.258.3296
Mailing Address:
PO Box 676, 1 Kipling Road
Brattleboro, VT 05302 USA