About Us

Our Mission

"Study and advance best practices in global health care delivery, facilitate dialogue in health public policy, and promote prevention, population-based skills, health care management, health economics, and leadership among health professionals and organizations."

Our Vision

"Play a leadership role in transforming the United States health system to the best in the world by advancing prevention at all levels, assuring universal access, applying human and physical capital efficiently, recognizing resource constraints, focusing on evidence-based technology and practices, and obtaining optimal individual and population outcomes."

Center Team

James R. Ebert, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., F.A.A.P.
Oscar Boonshoft Chair and Director, Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy
Program Director, Master of Public Health Program
Program Director, Boonshoft Physician Leadership Development Program

James R. Ebert, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.H., F.A.A.P., is an associate professor of community health and pediatrics in the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University and the lipid clinic lead physician at Children’s Medical Center of Dayton. Dr. Ebert was named as the Oscar Boonshoft Chair and Director of the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy and the program director for the Master of Public Health Program in January 2009. Dr. Ebert also serves as the program director of the Boonshoft Physician Leadership Development Program at Wright State University.

Dr. Ebert was an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and served on the clinical faculty of Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine for 16 years before joining the fully affiliated faculty. He holds the Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management, has done advanced course work in operations research and biostatistics at Case Western Reserve University, and has completed the Carnegie Mellon University program in executive leadership. He was enrolled in one of the final W. Edwards Deming seminars in 1992, and taught Deming management and quality improvement for several years.

Dr. Ebert is a retired colonel in the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force, Dr. Ebert served as chief of medical staff and commander of medical operations at Wright-Patterson Medical Center. He played a leading role at Wright-Patterson in the rollout of the federal military managed care transition known as TRICARE, participated in the implementation of three different electronic medical information systems, and traveled as a surveyor with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. He also served as director of medical education for seven years, and participated by invitation in the Department of Defense's Healthcare 2020 strategic planning group in 1995-1996.

Dr. Ebert is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (A.A.P.) and a past president of the Uniformed Services Chapter of the A.A.P. He is a member of the Society for Adolescent Medicine and the American College of Physician Executives. His clinical credentials include board certification in pediatrics and adolescent medicine. His interests include performance improvement, leadership development, medical education and childhood and adolescent health promotion.

John McAlearney, Ph.D.
Health Economist, Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy
Program Director, Health Care Management Certificate Program
Public Health Management Director, Master of Public Health Program

John McAlearney, Ph.D., is an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Boonshoft School of Medicine and the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University. Dr. McAlearney serves as the program director for the Health Care Management Certificate Program and is a health economist in the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy. Dr. McAlearney is an instructor for the Master of Public Health Program, where he teaches economics of health and health policy. He holds a Ph.D. in health policy with a concentration in health economics from Harvard University. He has more than 18 years experience in the health care and health insurance sectors and has worked for the Ohio Department of Health, the RAND Corporation, the Health Care Financing Administration (now Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), and the Travelers Insurance Company (now United HealthCare).

Dr. McAlearney's professional background and formal training have emphasized a multi-disciplinary approach to health services research supplemented by a broad exposure to many specific areas of health care and policy research. Dr. McAlearney's experience and training qualify him to undertake research or provide assistance in case studies and other qualitative research, program design and evaluation, cost analyses, decision analyses, cost-effectiveness studies, survey design and analyses, economic estimation and modeling, outcomes and quality research and general data analyses. His research focus includes the study of technology adoption, health care applications for geographic information system (GIS), health care costs and global health care system comparisons.

John D. Bullock, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc., F.I.D.S.A., F.A.C.E.
Infectious Disease Epidemiologist, Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy

John D. Bullock, M.D., M.P.H., M.Sc., F.I.D.S.A., F.A.C.E., is a clinical professor of community health and professor of mathematics and statistics at Wright State University. Dr. Bullock is an instructor for the Master of Public Health Program, where he teaches infectious disease epidemiology. He held a clinical faculty position at Stanford University before coming to Wright State, where he served as professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, professor of physiology and biophysics, associate professor of microbiology and immunology, and the Brage Golding Distinguished Professor of Research. As a clinician, Dr. Bullock’s patients included numerous physicians and their families, Fortune 500 CEOs, and a Head of State. In his role as a teacher, two of his past fellows became department chairs of major medical schools and one served as the CEO of a world renowned medical center.

Dr. Bullock, a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School, completed an internship in internal medicine at Washington University in St. Louis before serving in the United States Navy, where he was trained in the signs and symptoms of biowarfare and chemical warfare agents. After residency training in ophthalmology at Yale University, he completed fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco and the Mayo Clinic. He later received a Master of Science degree in microbiology and immunology from Wright State University and a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, where he studied epidemiology and bioterrorism. He then completed additional specialized course work at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr. Bullock is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications, predominantly related to infectious diseases, toxicology, and trauma. He discovered three new causes of blindness and elucidated the etiology and/or description of six different retinopathies. His research influenced the market withdrawal of two general anesthetics, a warning label for a pharmaceutical agent whose inappropriate use resulted in blindness, and a Consumer Products Safety Commission-mandated warning label. He is or was a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American College of Epidemiology. He is or was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the American Ophthalmological Society, the American Osler Society, the John Snow Society, the Cogan Ophthalmic History Society, the American Association for the History of Medicine, the American Public Health Association, the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the American Society for Microbiology.

Dr. Bullock received a Heed Fellowship from the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation, the Marvin H. Quickert, the Merrill J. Reeh, and the Wendell Hughes Lecture Awards from the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the Senior Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He has been recognized as “One of Ohio’s Finest Citizens” by the state legislature and was listed in the “Best Doctors in America” publication. He has been nominated for the Pizart Lifetime Achievement Award from Lighthouse International and the Gen-Probe Joseph Public Health Award from the American Society for Microbiology. In addition, he has been consulted as an expert in over 500 medical-legal cases.

Dr. Bullock has given more than 500 lectures throughout the world, including a number of distinguished lectureships. He has served on the editorial boards of seven medical journals, was a manuscript reviewer for 18 journals, and served as president and secretary/treasurer of two international medical societies. His research interests include ocular infectious disease epidemiology, ophthalmic and medical history, the history of the germ theory of disease, the mathematics of HIV/AIDS transmission, and bioterrorism. His historical investigations have included the blindness of the Biblical St. Paul, Dom Perignon, Louis Braille, and John Milton.

Kenneth C. Dahms, J.D., M.A.
Assistant Director of Public Health Service, Master of Public Health Program

Kenneth C. Dahms, J.D., M.A., is an assistant professor in the Boonshoft School of Medicine. He serves as the assistant director of public health service and is an instructor for the Master of Public Health Program. Ken’s responsibilities include the coordination of the master of public health student practice placements. He was the director of administration for the Montgomery County Combined Health District from 1999 until his retirement in 2004. Prior to that time, Ken was the health district’s in-house legal counsel. In his capacity as the director of administration for the Montgomery County Health District, he managed a department of 40 employees and was responsible for an agency budget of $32 million. Throughout his 28-year career in public health, Ken was a frequent lecturer and panel participant on a broad variety of public health topics. Ken received his B.A. in political science from Oklahoma State University in 1968, and his M.A. in government from American University in 1971. Ken also received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1973.

Christopher Eddy, M.P.H., REHS, RS
Assistant Program Director, Master of Public Health Program

Christopher Eddy, M.P.H., REHS, RS, serves as assistant program director of the Master of Public Health program. He serves on the faculty of the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Department of Community Health, where he teaches Introduction to Public Health and Population Based Management. He accepted his appointment with Wright State University in August 2008 after serving the public for 14 years as the director of environmental health with Hamilton County Public Health in southwestern Ohio. He obtained a B.S. degree from Ball State University, Registered Sanitarian status in Ohio and Indiana, Registered Environmental Health Specialist status from the National Environmental Health Association, and an M.P.H. degree from Wright State University. He is trained extensively in “all-hazards” disaster preparedness and emergency response. He has organized several regional task forces dedicated to the preservation of public health infrastructure and early detection of disease. Mr. Eddy is recognized throughout Ohio public health circles as an expert in public health information systems, zoonotic disease and food safety. He has lectured on a regular basis to his peers in the Ohio Environmental Health Association and other organizations. He has comprehensive knowledge of hazardous substance and waste characterization, management and risk communication concerns gained during his employment with the Department of Energy and through private sector consulting. Mr. Eddy brings 22 years of experience in public health and environmental health science practice to his position at WSU.

Mark Gebhart, M.D., EMT-P, F.A.A.E.M.
Emergency Preparedness Director, Master of Public Health Program

Mark E. Gebhart, M.D., is an associate professor of emergency medicine at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. Dr. Gebhart serves as director of the National Center for Medical Readiness and is the director of the emergency preparedness concentration in the Master of Public Health Program.

Dr. Gebhart completed his undergraduate studies at Wright State, earning a B.A. in biological sciences. He earned his M.D. degree at Wright State in 1997. He also completed his residency and served as chief resident in Wright State's Emergency Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Gebhart is a diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, and disaster preparedness is a specific interest and strength of his. Dr. Gebhart has responded to numerous national level emergencies, including the most recent hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast states.

Visit Dr. Gebhart's Emergency Medicine Faculty Page

James W. Gross, M.P.H.
Clinical Faculty, Master of Public Health Program

James Gross, M.P.H, serves on the clinical faculty in the Master of Public Health program. As the current health commissioner of Montgomery County with a total of 30 years of local public health experience, Mr. Gross provides practical insights to the M.P.H. program and is a primary communication link between the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy and the Miami Valley community. As the chief executive officer of Public Health—Dayton & Montgomery County, he oversees approximately 75 public health programs, 400 employees and an annual budget of almost $40 million. He also holds executive level positions in numerous local organizations, including the Human Services Levy Council, the Family and Children First Council and the Community Health Centers of Greater Dayton. Mr. Gross has also served as assistant health commissioner and held management positions with the Regional Air Pollution Control Agency. He received his B.S. degree in earth science education from Wright State University in 1977 and was one of the first graduates of WSU’s Master of Public Health program in 2005.

Marietta Langlois, Ph.D.
Health Promotion and Education Director, Master of Public Health Program

Marietta Langlois, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at Wright State University. Dr. Langlois serves as the director of the heath promotion and education concentration in the Master of Public Health Program. She was a 2005 recipient of the Wright State University Presidential Award for Excellence in Early Career Achievement. Dr. Langlois’ research involves risk reduction in children and adolescents. She collaborates with a local school district in a federally funded project to increase the activity level of children and has been invited to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to present her research in tobacco prevention.

Dr. Langlois completed her doctorate in health promotion and education, with a cognate in health care administration, at The Ohio State University. She has an M.A. from Morehead State University and a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to coming to Wright State, Dr. Langlois worked for Middletown Regional Health System and implemented community-based risk reduction programs throughout southwest Ohio. Dr. Langlois is a member of the American School Health Association; the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; and the Society for Public Health Education.

Sabrina Neeley, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Community Health

Sabrina Neeley, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Community Health at Boonshoft School of Medicine, with an appointment in the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy. She is the course director for the population medicine competencies in the medical school and participates in ongoing collaborative research and teaching at the center.

Dr. Neeley joined the faculty at Wright State University in 2009, following previous faculty appointments at Miami University and Texas Tech University. Trained as a social psychologist, her research is focused on understanding the socio-cultural, environmental and individual factors that influence people's health decision-making and behaviors, particularly those of children. She brings extensive experience working on a variety of health-focused survey research projects, including studies of environmental risk perception, health insurance coverage, college students' tobacco use, health information gathering, health literacy and satisfaction with health services.

Dr. Neeley completed her Ph.D. in marketing at the University of Tennessee in 1999, specializing in consumer behavior. She received an M.A. in sociology from the University of Tennessee, with concentrations in social psychology and research methods, and a B.B.A. in marketing from Texas A&M University.

Sara J. Paton, Ph.D.
Epidemiologist, Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy

Sara Paton, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of epidemiology in the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy and has a joint appointment with the WSU Department of Community Health and the Montgomery County Combined Health District. Within the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy, Dr. Paton is an instructor for the Master of Public Health Program, where she teaches epidemiology and participates in ongoing research. At the Montgomery County Combined Health District, she serves as an epidemiologist. Her research there focuses on low birth weight babies and juvenile chlamydia within Montgomery County, Ohio. She has been at Wright State since 2001, initially in a post-doc appointment in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, before becoming an assistant professor in the Department of Community Health. Her research in pharmacology and toxicology was funded by a Department of Defense grant. It investigated the effect of sarin nerve gas, pyridostigmine bromide and stress on biochemical disorders believed to exist in some veterans of the Gulf War. Dr. Paton completed her Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky in 2001 specializing in nutrition. She received a M.S. in animal science at Angelo State University, and a B.S. in biomedical science and animal science at Texas A&M University.

Cristina Redko, Ph.D.
Culminating Experience Course Director, Master of Public Health Program

Cristina Redko, Ph.D., is assistant professor of community health at Boonshoft School of Medicine. Dr. Redko serves as the culminating experience course director in the Master of Public Health Program. She enjoys orienting students through their applied research projects and teaching a variety of research methods. Dr. Redko has developed a vast research experience, including investigating the lived experience of people suffering from mental illnesses, people with substance abuse problems, people with cancer and those who suffered from injuries in the workplace. She has conducted research in United States, Brazil and Canada.

Dr. Redko has been working at Wright State University since 2003. Initially, she collaborated with the Center for Interventions, Treatment and Addictions Research research team conducting epidemiologic and ethnographic investigations of people with substance abuse problems. This experience solidified her conviction of the potential and significance of doing interdisciplinary and mixed methods research in public health.

Dr. Redko holds a Ph.D. in medical anthropology from McGill University and a M.Sc. in clinical epidemiology from McMaster University, both in Canada. During her post-doctoral work in health services research at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, she also completed clinical training in brief therapy at the Hincks-Dellcrest Institute. She earned an M.A. and a B.A. from Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.

Dr. Redko collaborates with the ongoing research initiatives of the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy. Her current research interests intersect the areas of mental health, international health and emergency health services.

Janet Rickabaugh, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Community Health

Janet Rickabaugh, Ph.D., associate professor within the Department of Community Health, Boonshoft School of Medicine, teaches the graduate-level courses focusing on environmental health. Dr. Rickabaugh has over 30 years of professional experience in both the academic setting and the applied setting of public health. She stepped back into the academic setting after retiring as the health commissioner in Clermont County.

Dr. Rickabaugh received her Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati (UC), College of Engineering in Environmental Engineering. While on the faculty at UC, she performed research on treatment processes for drinking water and wastewater as well as solid and hazardous waste. Dr. Rickabaugh served as faculty research advisor to more than 60 master's and Ph.D. students and co-authored papers with many of them concerning their research.

After leaving the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Rickabaugh was appointed health commissioner by the Clermont County Board of Health, where she served for 12 years. During that time she also served on several boards at both the local and state level, including the Board of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners and the Ohio State Board of Sanitarian Registration.

Dr Rickabaugh’s current research interest is workforce development for public health.

Ruvie Rogel, M.Sc.
Instructor, Master of Public Health Program

Ruvie Rogel, a resident of northern Israel, is an expert on emergency management, populations under stress and community-based approaches that can be used to reduce those stresses in a community. During the Lebanese War rocket attacks in the summer of 2006, he lived and worked in a bomb shelter. As deputy CEO of the Community Stress Prevention Center, Ruvie is tasked with dealing with the psycho-social impacts of mass traumatic events on the population. He previously served as the director of the International School for Community Emergency Management at Tel Hai College in Israel. Ruvie came to Dayton in 2007 to present a series of workshops designed to guide participants through various psycho-social issues surrounding risk communication and traumatic media announcements. In Ohio in 2008, he presented a series of workshops for first responders designed to enhance understanding of the psychological issues faced by those experiencing the emergency and their own psychological issues as they provide care and assistance to those in need. When in Dayton, Ruvie also lectures on terrorism to students in the emergency preparedness concentration of the M.P.H. program. Mr. Rogel received his B.A. in psychology from the Tel Aviv University, Israel in 1983, studied at the Communication Institute of Jerusalem Hebrew University in 1984, and earned his M.Sc. in human resources management and training from the University of Leicester, UK, in 1999. He is currently defending his Ph.D. in educational management and leadership from the University of Leicester, UK.

Sylvia Ann Ellison, M.A.
Research Assistant, Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy

Sylvia Ann Ellison, M.A., is experienced in survey research, statistical data analysis and research grants. Sylvia is originally from Washington, D.C., and holds an M.A. with concentrations in demography and gender, work and family from the University of Maryland. Before joining the Center, Sylvia was a research analyst for Westat, Inc., a social science analyst for the National Institutes of Health, and a health statistician for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Maryland. She is involved in statistical analyses and advising, grant and research paper writing. Sylvia's research interests include the cultural determinants of infant feeding practices, and how those practices affect maternal and child health and wellbeing.

Lori Metivier
Interim M.P.H. Program Coordinator and Grants and Contracts Specialist 2
Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy

Lori Metivier serves as full-time administrative support for the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy and is the program coordinator for the Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management. She has been with Wright State University since 1998, previously supporting the Center of Community Programs within the Dean's Office of the Raj Soin College of Business as a senior secretary. Ms. Metivier's knowledge of the university system, as well as her knowledge in managing conference events and database skills, is utilized to support the work of the Center. Her professional experience prior to coming to the university included 12 years as an administrative assistant at Bank One, Dayton. She holds an executive secretarial degree from Sinclair Community College.

Jennifer Webb
Program Coordinator, Boonshoft Physician Leadership Development Program

Jennifer Webb serves as the program coordinator for the Boonshoft Physician Leadership Development Program. She supports the center using her previous experience in event set up, planning and problem solving. Before joining the Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy in November 2006, she obtained four years of administrative experience at the Victoria Theatre Association. Ms. Webb holds a business degree from Ohio Northern University.

Pam Mondini
Office Assistant, Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy

Pam Mondini has worked for Wright State University in the School of Medicine and in the College of Liberal Arts. She worked full time in the School of Medicine's Word Processing Center from 1980 to 1988 and she continued to work there on a part-time, on-call basis until 1990. She returned to WSU on a part-time basis from 1997 to 1999 as the secretary for the newly created Women’s Studies Program. Before and after her WSU positions, Pam has volunteered and worked part-time in the public school system and her church, filling in for both school librarians and secretaries. In 2000, she accepted a part-time position with the Greene County ABLE Program, serving as secretary/teacher's aide for a grant-funded GED and ESOL program. Pam has been with the Center since July 2005.

Erin N. Farr
Program Assistant, Global Health Systems Program
Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy

Erin N. Farr has been a member of the Wright State University community for more than eight years. She currently serves as program assistant of the Global Health Systems Program, providing research and administrative support to Eriko Sase, Ph.D. She is also a pre-doctoral student in Wright State University’s School of Professional Psychology. She graduated from WSU with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2005. Her research interests include health and rehabilitation psychology, human security, health care disparities and disability and human rights.

For more information, contact:
Center for Global Health Systems, Management, and Policy
Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine
3123 Research Blvd., Suite 200
Kettering, OH 45420

Campus Mail: 200 Tech Center IV; Research Park
Phone: (937) 258-5555
Fax: (937) 258-5544
E-mail: lori.metivier@wright.edu