Kim to Lead Department Of Social Medicine

Jim Kim, HMS associate clinical professor of social medicine, will be the new chair of the Department of Social Medicine as of July 1. In addition to heading the department, Kim will serve as chief of the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The new appointments mark Kim’s return to HMS after a two-year leave of absence, during which he served as director of the HIV/AIDS Program at the World Health Organization and as adviser to the WHO director general, J.W. Lee. At the WHO, Kim focused on projects to help developing countries scale up their HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and care programs, including the “3x5” initiative designed to put three million people in developing countries on AIDS treatment by the end of 2005.

A researcher as well as an administrator, Kim has formulated new models for containing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, and envisioned and applied effective interventions at both local and global levels.

“Jim brings a distinguished record of leadership in global health policy to his positions and looks forward to further development of educational, research, and clinical programs in those areas,” said Joseph Martin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine.

Kim will succeed Byron Good, HMS professor of medical anthropology, who has led the Department of Social Medicine for the past six years. Under Good’s chairmanship, the department developed broad programs in medical anthropology and global health issues, which have been widely recognized for their excellence.

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