Rutgers appoints new head of health institution

XinQi Dong, a Rutgers Medicine, Nursing and Behavorial Sciences professor, has been named director of the University’s Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH). 

Dong, who works at the Rush University Medical Center, will begin serving as director and the inaugural Henry Rutgers Professor of Population Sciences on April 1, according to Rutgers Today.

IFH, established in 1985, is an institute that “facilitates collaboration among the social and behavioral sciences, clinical disciplines, basic sciences and related fields to promote research on critical health and mental health issues,” according to the institute’s official site.

The institute conducts research in five core areas including behavioral health, health economics, social determinants of health and illness, state health policy and health services research.

The new director is a renowned population epidemiologist and health services researcher who specializes in geriatric and internal medicine — his main focus being community-based participatory research, according to Rush University’s site. 

He is currently the principle investigator of eight federally-funded grants, the editor of the textbook, “Elder Abuse: Research, Practice and Policy” and the guest editor-in-chief for the Journal of Aging Health and Journal Gerontology: Medical Sciences. 

Dong has conducted research in the United States and China, investigating the intersections of violence, resilience and health outcomes, according to Rutgers Today.

“With his passionate commitment to interdisciplinary work in medicine and public health, Dr. Dong will look to build on the strong infrastructure of excellence, collaboration and innovation at IFH to advance state-of-the-art science in population health, health services and community health equity,” said Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. 

Rutgers Today reported that Dong’s history working in the Department of Justice and Center for Disease Control and Prevention has made a large impact on surveillance and preventive strategies for violence and mental health on a national level. He was selected as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Global Violence Prevention Forum. 

Dong has been nationally and internationally recognized for his research and advocacy by the American Public Health Association, American Geriatric Society, Gerontological Society of America and International Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, according to Rutgers Today. 

Along with extensive published works on violence prevention, culture and health disparities, Dong has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, and has served as senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

“His vision will further the mission of our acclaimed and exceptional institute for health care policy scholarship and research,” Strom said.