Sainfort Heads Health Policy and Management

François Sainfort has been named head of the school's Division of Health Policy and Management. In recognition of his scholarly achievements, he has also been named a Mayo Professor of Public Health.

Prior to coming to the SPH, Sainfort was senior associate dean for interdisciplinary research in the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech, director of the Health Systems Institute, and the William W. George Professor of Health Systems at Georgia Tech and the Emory University School of Medicine.

"Dr. Sainfort is highly regarded for his leadership skills and commitment to interdisciplinary research," says SPH Dean John Finnegan. "His work in medical decision-making will add to the school's scope of expertise. His vision for attracting endowments and large multi-investigator grants will bolster our reputation and create new opportunities for faculty and students."

Sainfort's research focuses on helping individuals and organizations make decisions, often under circumstances of risk and uncertainty. These issues include patients facing choices about cancer treatment, health care administrators deciding whether to invest in costly medical technology, and policymakers weighing issues of how to best invest taxpayer money for prevention strategies.

Sainfort received a doctorate in industrial engineering and management from the École Centrale in Paris, France. Before his tenure at Georgia Tech, he was on faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"I'm looking forward to working with a very forwardthinking group of people, whose work combines traditional public health with new approaches," says Sainfort of his SPH colleagues. "The future of the field calls for researchers to embrace different disciplines to address public health issues in the United States and globally."