Faculty & Staff

The Center for the History of Medicine has a core staff of two as well as research assistants and work-study students who assist on selected projects.

The Director is Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Markel is the George E. Wantz Professor of the History of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Professor of History, Professor of Psychiatry, and Professor of Health Management and Policy (School of Public Health). The author or editor of 8 books including Quarantine! (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997) and When Germs Travel (Pantheon/Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), Dr. Markel has written over 100 scholarly articles and reviews. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Harper's, National Public Radio, and other publications.

The Associate Director is Alexandra Minna Stern, Ph.D. Dr. Stern is Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Program in American Culture. She has published numerous articles on the history of medicine and public health in the United States and Mexico. Her book, entitled Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America was published in 2005 by the University of California Press and won the 2006 Arthur Viseltear Prize from the Medical Care Section of the American Public Health Association for the outstanding book in or scholarly contribution to the History of Public Health in America.

Research Team for Historical Project on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic:

J. Alex Navarro, Ph.D., Research Area Specialist, received his doctorate in history from the University of Michigan in 2005. A diplomatic, political and intellectual historian by training, Dr. Navarro has taught and conducted research on a wide range of topics, including US-Latin American history and US-Southeast Asian relations, Western labor history, 20th-century urban history, race and racism, and issues of national identity.

Alexandra Sloan, B.A., Research Associate, graduated in 2006 from University of Michigan with a degree in History and a minor in Russian. She is the recipient of the 2006 Marshall Sahlins Prize from the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and Arts for her honors thesis on colonial medicine in French Indochina and the role of the Pasteur Institutes.

Our staff includes:

Karen Cristian, Office Manager, takes care of the day to day operations of the Center. She plans major events and manages the calendars of the Director and Associate Director. She is a grateful refugee of the automotive industry and feels truly privileged to be working with such an outstanding team. Karen can be contacted via e-mail at kcristia@umich.edu.

Fulbright Fellow, Winter 2008

Dr. Francis Alvarez Gealogo, Associate Professor, Department of History from Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Philippines will be in attendance in January 2008. He is a visiting Fulbright Scholar who will be researching the 1918 influenza pandemic in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.