Kathleen Kahn

CURRENT POSITIONS Personal Professor, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wits University Head, Interdisciplinary PhD Programme in Public and Population Health Principal Scientist, MRC/Wits Rural Public Health & Health Transitions Research Unit QUALIFICATIONS MBBCh (Rand) MPH (Harvard) PhD (Umeå, Sweden) PERSONAL STATEMENT Kathy Kahn is Personal Professor in the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, and executive scientist in the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt). A physician with a PhD in public health and epidemiology, Kathy has spent over 25 years working in rural South Africa and regionally. Since inception of the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system in 1992, she has led work on mortality and cause of death measurement, using verbal autopsy to track transitions over a period of dramatic socio-political change and the HIV epidemic. Her research focuses on adolescent and young adult health and development including HIV prevention, non-communicable disease risk, and mental health; as well as a life course approach to health and ageing. Kathy has a strong history of capacity building and mentorship. Since 2008 she reformulated then led an Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Public and Population Health with today over 100 candidates. Her efforts extend to sub-Saharan Africa through the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), part of the DELTAS Initiative of the Wellcome Trust, UK. From 2011-13, Kathy served on the Board of the INDEPTH Network, and is active in multicenter research on mortality, and adult health and aging.