The two-day regional symposium and strategic summit on population health informatics, held on September 17th and 18th 2023, culminated on a note of resounding success. The event commenced with a gracious welcome from distinguished speakers, including notable figures such as Professor Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Acting Vice-Chancellor BRAC University; Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH); Ashish Joshi, Dean and Professor at the School of Public Health, University of Memphis; Dr. Malay Kanti Mridha, Deputy Dean and Professor at BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University; and Prof. Dr. Md. Shahadat Hossain, Director of Management Information System (MIS) at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
The inaugural day of the symposium featured a series of enlightening keynote presentations, each followed by engaging discussions. The evening session witnessed awards and certificate-giving ceremony, which was dedicated to honouring the accomplishments of students of the 2nd cohort of the Population Health Informatics Executive Certificate Course. Additionally, three exemplary students had the unique opportunity to showcase their projects during the conference. In an interactive poster presentation session, 14 posters were also showcased by both the 1st and 2nd cohort students.
The symposium's second day's focus switched to a strategic meeting with a small group of people. This session covered in-depth conversations about the programme's future plans. The expansion of the programme's capacity-building initiatives is intended to assist medical professionals and academics with expertise in population health informatics, not only in Bangladesh but also in other South and Southeast Asian nations.
The discussions further revolved around the establishment of a dedicated regional education hub centred on population health informatics. During the session, a preliminary framework outlining the trajectory of this ambitious endeavour was sketched out, with the expectation that the regional hub and capacity-building program will soon evolve into a new and promising form.
“BRAC University’s James P Grant School of Public Health, in collaboration with the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, is working toward capacity building of the researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders from various sectors in this important field of public health” said Professor Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Acting Vice-Chancellor BRAC University. They are also working to establish a regional education hub in south and southeast Asia for cross-border learning and research in population health informatics to address the complex public health challenges of the 21st century, he added.
The symposium and strategic summit on population health informatics have not only brought together distinguished experts in the field but have also set the stage for significant advancements and collaborations that promise to shape the future of population health informatics education and research in the region.
For more information and updates on the symposium's outcomes and future initiatives, please visit https://regionalphihub.org/ or contact ribica.chowdhury[at]bracu.ac[dot]bd.