DLSPH names first Associate Dean of Research: Dr. Daniel Sellen
October 3/2014
Daniel Sellen, Professor of Public Health, Anthropology, Nutritional Sciences at U of T and Senior Scholar in Residence at the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, has been appointed the first Associate Dean of Research at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health for a three- year term.
“I’m delighted that Professor Sellen will be leading the School’s diverse research engine that stretches the gamut from population studies to prevention strategies to policy implementation,” said Howard Hu, Dean of the School.
“We’re on an accelerated growth trajectory and Professor Sellen’s outstanding record of international academic leadership paired with his broad, interdisciplinary training make him ideally suited for this role. I look forward to working with him,” Dean Hu continued.
“I am honoured and excited to accept the role as Associate Dean of Research, and look forward to working with DLSPH students, staff, faculty and our many partners to support ongoing research and enhance our future collaborative capacity to answer many pressing public health questions,” said Professor Sellen, who is currently a Professor of Global Health and Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at DLSPH and in the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Anthropology.
His research program aims to develop, pilot and test scale-able, nutrition-sensitive mobile health (mHealth) and small-holder agriculture innovations to enhance child nutrition and health in several low-income countries. In collaboration with Egerton University in Kenya, his team recently completed a randomized trial of cell phone-based breastfeeding counselling. He currently directs a cluster-randomized evaluation of smart phone support of community health workers in Tanzania, and advises internationally on maternal and child nutrition intervention design and evaluation.
Professor Sellen previously held a Canada Research Chair in Human Ecology and Public Nutrition, professorships at Emory University and was an honorary lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He received his PhD in theoretical ecology and international nutrition at the University of California, Davis after studying zoology and biological anthropology at the University of Oxford and anthropology at the University of Michigan.