Guest Speaker Event
Bernice T. Dahn, M.D., MPH
Vice President for Health Sciences, University of Liberia
Former Minister of Health for the Republic of Liberia
“Building Health Systems: Lessons From Crisis”
Wednesday, April 17, 2019 | noon to 1 p.m.
Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
Wadlington Conference Room
Lunch will be provided to the first 75 attendees.
Please join us for a lecture by guest speaker, Dr. Bernice Dahn, Vice President for Health Sciences at the University of Liberia. She held the position of Minister of Health for the Republic of Liberia from 2015-2018 and in prior years served as the Deputy Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the Republic of Liberia. Dr. Dahn led the re-establishment of the Ministry of Health and the rebuilding of Liberia’s post-conflict health care delivery system.
During the early stages of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014 Dr. Dahn coordinated the national response to the epidemic, including development of treatment protocols and infection prevention and control standards, trainings, resource mobilization, and partner coordination.
Dr. Dahn has over 20 years of experience as a public health physician, policy-maker, administrator, and educator. She serves at the forefront of Liberia’s advocacy for constructive aid practice, and is now focused on improving academic and administrative systems at the newly formed College of Health Sciences at the University of Liberia, with a vision of establishing a world-class health sciences education system.
Dr. Dahn has been a resolute advocate for donor alignment to government-led plans and for mutual transparency and accountability in aid relationships. As CMO, she negotiated the Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States’ first direct government-to-government funding mechanism, successfully instituting an innovative approach to bilateral development aid in Liberia.
Vanderbilt has been engaged in the country since 2017 through PEER Liberia, a USAID-funded initiative to enhance undergraduate medical education, build ophthalmology residency training, and establish research and faculty development programs.
The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, Vanderbilt University Master of Public Health Program, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and PEER Liberia (USAID) are sponsoring this event.
Dr. Dahn's Biography
Dr. Bernice T. Dahn is the Vice President for Health Sciences at the University of Liberia. She served as the Minister of Health for the Republic of Liberia from 2015-2018. For almost nine years prior, Dr. Dahn served as the Deputy Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the Republic of Liberia. In these roles, Dr. Dahn led the re-establishment of the Ministry of Health and the rebuilding of Liberia’s post-conflict health care delivery system. Internationally, Dr. Dahn has served as a Board Member of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and of the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility.
In all fora, Dr. Dahn has been a resolute advocate for donor alignment to government-led plans and for mutual transparency and accountability in aid relationships. As CMO, she negotiated the Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States’ first direct government-to-government funding mechanism, successfully instituting an innovative approach to bilateral development aid in Liberia. She also led a paradigm shift from NGO-controlled resources to government leadership in the health sector; built County Health Teams’ capacity for managing donor funds (contracting in and out health services by the MOH), giving the Government of Liberia more control of donor funds and improved ownership of its development agendas.
In 2013, Dr. Dahn spearheaded the establishment of postgraduate medical residency programs in general surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, and obstetrics & gynecology. During the early stages of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014 Dr. Dahn coordinated the national response to the epidemic, including development of treatment protocols and infection prevention and control standards, trainings, resource mobilization, and partner coordination. Upon establishment of the Incident Management System, she focused on community-based initiatives and restoration of routine health services. Post outbreak, Dr. Dahn oversaw the development of Liberia’s Investment Plan for Building a Resilient Health System, including the National Health Workforce Program. She also launched a National Community Health Services Policy (2016), creating a new cadre of Community Health Assistants, and permanently transitioning Liberia’s community health system from a series of fragmented, under-performing community health volunteer programs to a nationally unified and high-quality Community Health Assistant program.
Having left the MOH at the end of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s administration in 2018, Dr. Dahn continues to serve at the forefront of Liberia’s advocacy for constructive aid practices. She became the Vice President for Health Sciences at the University of Liberia in January 2019. Having taught medical students as a faculty member at her alma mater, A.M. Dogliotti College of Medicine, for thirteen years, Dr. Dahn is now focused on improving academic and administrative systems at the college, with a vision of establishing a world-class health sciences education system.