Kavanagh Leads Global Health Department

(September 1, 2026) — Matthew M. Kavanagh, PhD, a political scientist and global health scholar whose work focuses on the intersection of health, policy, law and politics, has been selected chair of the Department of Global Health at Georgetown University’s School of Health.

Kavanagh, an associate professor in the Department of Global Health, succeeds Jennifer Huang Bouey, MD, PhD, MPH, who has led significant growth in the department since 2021.

“Dr. Kavanagh is an accomplished scholar, a thoughtful leader and someone who understands the increasingly complex political, social and institutional forces that shape health around the world,” says Christopher J. King, PhD, School of Health dean. “His interdisciplinary perspective, global experience and deep commitment to translating scholarship into meaningful action make him exceptionally well positioned to lead the Department of Global Health at this important moment. I am confident that Dr. Kavanagh will build upon the department’s strong foundation and help lead it into an exciting new chapter of growth, innovation and impact.” 

Kavanagh directs Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Policy & Politics, based at the School of Health. His research examines how law and politics produce inequality, particularly in pandemics and outbreaks from HIV/AIDS to Ebola and COVID-19, and how policies and institutions can better prevent and respond to future health crises.

Kavanagh has served in a variety of global health leadership roles. From 2021-2022, he served as deputy executive director, a.i. and special advisor at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) while on leave from Georgetown, focusing on policy, advocacy and knowledge development. He created and serves on the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS, and Pandemics alongside academic and political leaders from around the world. He continues to advise the United Nations and established Georgetown’s United Nations Collaborating Center on HIV Policy and Inequality.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Department of Global Health in this global moment of rupture and transformation and to build on the strong foundation Dr. Bouey and our colleagues have established,” Kavanagh says. “Georgetown has been the center of cutting-edge thinking and policy-shaping research and, in today’s rapidly evolving global public health landscape, there is more need for that than ever. Our graduate and undergraduate students go on to lead cutting-edge public health and healthcare efforts in the United States and around the world using the tools they learn from my colleagues here at Georgetown to build a more equitable world. Our department — with physicians, economists, epidemiologists, lawyers, outbreak-response leaders, climate researchers, policy experts and more — is poised to play an important role in the evolution of the still-young field of global health, and I’m grateful for this opportunity to shape that.”

The Department of Global Health brings together scholars working on health with a global perspective across a range of disciplines and focuses. Its educational programs combine classroom learning with research and field experience and emphasize the social, economic, political and environmental forces that shape health around the world.

The department has expanded its academic offerings in recent years, building on Georgetown’s longstanding undergraduate program in global health and its Master of Science in Global Health. Its programs now also include graduate education in global infectious disease, climate and health, and global health economics, reflecting a growing focus on preparing students at multiple levels for careers addressing complex global health challenges.

Bouey became chair in 2021, when the department was known as the Department of International Health, and subsequently helped guide the department through the establishment of the School of Health and its evolution into the Department of Global Health. A physician and epidemiologist, her scholarship has focused on immigrant health, HIV prevention, pandemic response and the intersection of global health and geopolitics.

“We are deeply grateful to Dr. Bouey for her outstanding leadership and steadfast commitment to the department during a period of tremendous transformation,” King says. “She led the department through an important evolution and played an important role in establishing its place within Georgetown’s new School of Health. Her leadership has positioned the department for continued growth and success, and we are fortunate that she will continue to contribute her scholarship, expertise and mentorship as a member of our faculty.”