INTERVIEW WITH JEFFERY P. KOPLAN, MD MPH

Abstract

Dr. Jeffery P. Koplan was the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1998 to 2002, and is currently the Vice President for Global Health at Emory University and the Director of Emory Global Health Institute. Dr. Koplan began his public health career in the early 1970s, and has worked on virtually every major public health issue, including infectious diseases, environmental health issues, chronic diseases and the health toll of tobacco, both in the United States and around the globe. Recently, Emory Global Health Institute received a $14 million, five-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and established the China Tobacco Partnership program. Dr. Koplan is the principal investigator of the grant and is leading the partnership, which is devoted to reduce the burden of tobacco use in China.

In this interview with Drs. Zheng Li and Feijun Luo, Dr. Koplan talked about the Tobacco Partnership program, his over 30-year of involvement in public health in China, his observation on the changes occurred in China, and the differences between the public health systems in the United States and that in China.