Center Has New Director

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has appointed Dr. Youmasu J. Siewe as the director of its Center for Rural Health Practice.

“We are fortunate to have someone as knowledgeable and experienced in public health as Dr. Siewe join our staff to assist us in our service to the region,” said Dr. Livingston Alexander, president.

“We launched a national search to find the most-qualified person for the position, and Dr. Siewe emerged as the unanimous choice of the search committee.

“At a time when health is becoming a focal point in our discourse, Dr. Siewe is already applying his considerable knowledge to better understanding health concerns in our region, including our vulnerability to the H1N1 influenza.”

Before coming to Pitt-Bradford, Siewe was director of public health education for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Regional Campus, where he set up an extensive public health education outreach program involving county health department administrators, family medicine residents and various community entities in South Arkansas.

Siewe was born and raised in Cameroon in West Africa. After graduating from high school, he gained admission into one of a few government-run competitive educational programs for health professionals. There he learned most of what he would need to know to run his own small clinic and got his first experience in the public health arena.

Because of the country’s limited resources, the curriculum was heavy on teaching prevention of diseases, ailments, and health promotion, a method that would stay with Siewe throughout his career.

After graduating from the program and working for the government in various health establishments in Cameroon, Siewe came to the United States, enrolled and graduated from a baccalaureate nursing program at West Virginia University. He would go on to earn a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctoral degree in community health from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

He has taught community health at North Carolina Central University, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and Morehead (Ky.) State University.

Siewe also served eight years planning, implementing and evaluating public health programs for county extension educators and administrators in Oklahoma’s 77 counties, where he was the state’s extension public health specialist based out of Oklahoma State University.

“I see some tremendous opportunity here to do many things to improve lives in Pitt-Bradford’s service region and beyond,” he said of his new position.

Siewe said he was attracted to the center in part because of its close relationship with the University of Pittsburgh, which is a recognized leader in medical research. Siewe said the support of such a large research university can help the center secure grant applications for rural health studies.

Siewe’s own areas of research include the alterable risk factors of cardiovascular disease, an area he would like to continue to study. In addition, he would like to form partnerships with the Bradford community, local schools, businesses and churches to help with issues such as tobacco-use prevention, obesity prevention and promoting physical activity in our communities. He would also like to involve more Pitt-Bradford students in the work of the center through service learning projects. “By working together, we can have a healthier community,” he said.