Elizabeth Selvin has been appointed the next director of the Welch Center for Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the Johns Hopkins University, effective May 1. She succeeds Lawrence J. Appel, who led the center for the past 14 years.
A collaborative effort between the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, and the School of Nursing, the Welch Center was established in 1989 with the primary mission of improving population health by conducting rigorous research that integrates clinical medicine with public health expertise and by training the next generation of interdisciplinary researchers and scholars.
Image caption: Elizabeth Selvin
An internationally recognized leader in the field, Selvin is a professor of Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School and holds a joint appointment in the School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. She is the author or co-author of over 550 peer-reviewed papers. Selvin, who earned her PhD in public health from the Bloomberg School in 2004, has devoted her career to leading translational research projects designed to evaluate and improve screening, diagnosis, and patient care for persons with diabetes. Her work has directly influenced clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis and management of diabetes. Her many awards include the Harry Keen Memorial Award from the International Diabetes Epidemiology Group of the International Diabetes Federation and the Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology from the American Diabetes Association. Selvin currently serves as a deputy editor of Diabetes Care.
In an announcement to the Hopkins community, leaders of the three schools collaborating at the Welch Center expressed gratitude for Appel's extraordinary leadership and congratulated Selvin for her accomplishments, noting her ongoing commitment to training the next generation of students and fellows from across the university. In 2024, she received the David M. Levine Excellence in Mentoring Award from the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine.
"For over three decades, the Welch Center has fostered the integration of public health, medical, and nursing expertise to tackle some of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity here at home and globally," wrote School of Medicine Dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine Theodore L. DeWeese, Bloomberg School Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie, and School of Nursing Dean Sarah L. Szanton. "It is widely recognized as one of the world's premier centers for training and research in clinical epidemiology, with a focus on translating science for impact. We look forward to the next chapter in the center's remarkable history under Dr. Selvin's leadership."
