EcoHealth Alliance Announces Expanded Collaboration for Health with the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program
NEW YORK – March 7, 2018 – EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization working at the intersection of animal, environmental, and human health on a global scale, announced their expanded collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program to protect people and prevent pandemics. To formalize the new relationship, EcoHealth Alliance’s Senior Health and Policy Specialist, Dr. Ellen P. Carlin, DVM, will now be based at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C.
While Dr. Carlin will continue her role supporting the mission of EcoHealth Alliance through scientific study and policy initiatives, she will now also team with the Smithsonian’s Global Health Program to plan, develop, and execute collaborative EcoHealth Alliance and Smithsonian projects. These initiatives will encourage One Health approaches in policy domestically and abroad, as well as field research projects investigating the dynamics and spread of emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, humans, and domestic animals around the world. In just over a year at EcoHealth Alliance, Dr. Carlin has proved a valuable asset in her scientific and policy expertise.
“I am really excited to work with the exceptional team at Smithsonian,” Dr. Carlin said. “This is a tremendous opportunity for me to bring two outstanding organizations together, work toward common goals in ecological health, and gain additional experience in both science and policy.”
Since most local epidemics and global pandemics are rooted in infectious diseases shared between animals and people, the two groups are combining forces to protect Americans and people around the world.
“It is an honor to increase our involvement with such a venerated institution on such an important issue,” EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak said. “The Smithsonian’s mission of learning dovetails perfectly with our innovative science and outreach here in the USA and around the world.”
Smithsonian’s Global Health Program leverages multidisciplinary expertise in wildlife medicine, conservation pathology, training of international professionals, and investigation of emerging infectious disease to combat threats to conservation and public health worldwide. Based upon the One Health platform, which recognizes that the health of all species is intertwined and closely dependent upon each other, the Global Health team works with international partners to combat threats to wildlife, human, and ecosystem health and survival by addressing these challenges at their source: the human-wildlife interface. These efforts not only act upon threats identified in the present, but also to build the regional capacity to more quickly identify and respond to emerging threats in the future. Collaborating with EcoHealth Alliance will enable greater breadth and impact of Smithsonian’s work at the human-wildlife interface.
Global Health Program Director Dr. Suzan Murray describes this collaboration with EcoHealth Alliance as a “unique partnership that will allow us to collectively leverage resources and greatly expand our reach into wildlife, human, and ecosystem health. We’re very excited to welcome Dr. Carlin.”
About EcoHealth Alliance
Building on over 45 years of groundbreaking science, EcoHealth Alliance is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife, environmental, and public health from the emergence of disease. Approximately 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases like Ebola, HIV, Zika, SARS, MERS, and West Nile virus have all originated in animals before spilling over to human populations. Using environmental and health data covering the past 60 years, EcoHealth Alliance scientists created the first-ever global disease hotspots map that identified at-risk regions to determine where research and field work are needed to help predict and prevent the next pandemic crisis. That work is the foundation of EcoHealth Alliance’s rigorous, science-based approach working in more than 30 countries worldwide. EcoHealth Alliance’s strength is founded on innovations in research, training, global partnerships, capacity building, and policy initiatives.
Press contact: Anthony Ramos, (212) 380-4469 or ramos@ecohealthalliance.org