Cynthia Schaffer Minkovitz Named Bloomberg School Department Chair

Will head Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health

Cynthia Schaffer Minkovitz, MD, MPP, an international expert on pediatric preventive care, has been appointed chair of the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She will also become the next William H. Gates, Sr. Professor.

Minkovitz assumed her new roles on Jan. 1.

Currently a professor in the department, Minkovitz joined Johns Hopkins in 1994 as a fellow in general pediatrics at the School of Medicine. Two years later, she received joint appointments in the Department of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine and the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at what is now known as the Bloomberg School.

“Cynthia is an outstanding researcher and faculty member,” says Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH ’87, dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health. “I have no doubt she will continue the tradition of great leadership in the department.  I look forward to working with her as she builds the foundation for taking the department to even greater heights."

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Minkovitz earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She completed a pediatric residency and was chief resident at Children’s Hospital, Washington University in St. Louis. Her area of research focuses on enhancing the quality of preventive services for children and understanding the impact of systems reforms on the health and well-being of children and families.

Minkovitz has been involved in numerous program evaluations including Healthy Steps for Young Children, the Dyson Community Pediatrics Training Initiative, New Jersey Project LAUNCH, and systems implementation grants for children and youth with special health care needs in Maryland. In addition to her own research, she has led early career scholar programs –- both at and outside of Hopkins -- to develop the next generation of child health researchers. Currently, she co-leads, with Anne Duggan, professor in the School’s Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, an effort to develop a framework to promote coordination in the early childhood system.

Minkovitz also directs the School’s Women’s and Children’s Health Policy Center and retains a joint appointment in the School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics. She also remains affiliated with the Hopkins Population Center. Minkovitz has published widely in journals, including Pediatrics and the American Journal of Public Health among others. She has won numerous awards for her work including, most recently, the 2016 Academic Pediatric Association Research Award.

She succeeds Robert Wm. Blum, MD, PhD, MPH, who chaired the department for 13 years and who will remain on the faculty. “We all owe Bob a great debt of gratitude for his 13 years of committed leadership of the department,” Klag says. “I personally am very grateful to Bob for being such a wonderful partner to me and the other chairs for all these years.”

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Media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Barbara Benham at 410-614-6029 or bbenham1@jhu.edu and Stephanie Desmon at 410-955-7619 or sdesmon1@jhu.edu.