Nationally recognized physician-scientist Dr. Ingrid T. Katz, MD, MHS, has been chosen as the new director of the Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH), effective Jan. 1, 2026.
Katz’s appointment was announced by the deans of the Yale School of Medicine (YSM), Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), and Yale School of Nursing (YSN) Thursday morning. The three schools are the primary supporters of YIGH.
As the director of YIGH, Dr. Katz will harness the expertise of YSM, YSPH, YSN, and Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs to lead the expansion of global health activities across Yale’s campus and beyond the university. These efforts will include the development of innovative research, clinical, and educational programs that translate scientific discoveries into improved health for all and prepare future global health leaders. Dr. Katz will have a joint appointment in YSM and YSPH with a secondary appointment in YSN.
Trained in infectious diseases, Dr. Katz’s global health expertise extends from Southern Africa to Southeast Asia, where she has led and supported federally funded projects focused on improving the health of people with HIV. For the past 16 years, Dr. Katz has been a faculty member at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and an associate physician in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH). For five of these years, she was associate faculty director at the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), co-leading programmatic work to address significant global health threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the systemic effects of climate change on human health.
Dr. Katz’s research focuses on developing sustainable interventions to improve engagement in care for some of the most highly vulnerable populations in Southern Africa. For nearly 15 years, she has maintained National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and long-term partnerships with the University of Cape Town and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. Her teams have been recognized by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and by receiving a request to join the newly formed Global Council on Inequality, AIDS, and Pandemics.
In her roles, Dr. Katz has been dedicated to helping other scientists and physicians develop and advance their careers. At HGHI, she helped create and fundraise more than a million dollars for the LEAD fellowship, which supports women global health leaders from low- and middle-income nations. Currently, she serves on the executive board of Harvard’s Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), which provides education, training, and research opportunities for the next generation of HIV researchers. In recognition of her efforts at HMS, Dr. Katz received the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award and the inaugural Dean’s Award for an Emerging Leader in Women’s Careers.
Dr. Katz currently serves on the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Massachusetts Medical Society. She has also been a member of the Society of General Internal Medicine and the American College of Physicians.
Dr. Katz earned a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, a master of health science degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.
In making Thursday’s announcement, YSM Dean Dr. Nancy J. Brown, MD; YSPH Dean Dr. Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH; and YSN Dean Dr. Azita Emami, PhD, RN; expressed their appreciation of search committee chair Dr. Michael Cappello, MD, and search committee members, Dr. Jeannette Ickovics, PhD; Dr. David Vlahov, PhD, RN; Dr. Steven Wilkinson, PhD; Dr. Inci Yildirim, MD, PhD, MSc; and Dr. Julie Zimmerman, MSc, PhD.