Thought Leadership
Thought Leadership
Leaders, doers, and global citizens
Called to serve, we apply our knowledge and skills to uplift those around us and to shape the well-being of generations. We bring our research into the world, developing novel solutions to advance human health and address health equity. We collaborate with communities near and far, engaging partners to improve quality of life, particularly among vulnerable populations. We manage and extract data to gain insights and identify new approaches, treatments, and policies to improve the health of individuals, families, and communities. In the Jesuit tradition, we bring our heart, mind, and faith into the world to elevate health and propel lives.
A Leader in Drug Safety Research and Policy
Professor and founding dean of the Parkinson School, Elaine Morrato exemplifies the school’s focus on thought leadership, research, and global impact. Board-certified in public health and an elected fellow in the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, she uses her background in global pharmaceutical drug development and commercialization to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of drug risk mitigation. Morrato has advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on numerous issues of drug safety and benefit-risk assessment and served as a visiting scientist in its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research resulting in new guidance to industry and standards of evaluation globally. Locally, Morrato leads Loyola’s participation in the Institute for Translational Medicine, among the elite set of academic centers advancing the efficiency, quality, and impact of biomedical research for improving human health.
Highlighting Human Energy Needs
A professor of public health sciences at Parkinson, Amy Luke’s National Institutes of Health-funded research has enabled her to travel the world, where she has worked alongside other researchers and community partners on meaningful projects related to issues such as nutrition, obesity, and hypertension. She was a member of a U.S. Institute of Medicine expert group that developed and published national guidelines for Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy in 2023. Her participation in that group sparked an invitation to attend and present at a June 2024 joint meeting to review human energy requirements co-hosted by the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Research with a Global Slant
Professor of non-communicable disease epidemiology Lara Dugas has been investigating non-communicable disease risk in Africa-origin populations for more than a decade, specifically focusing on cardiometabolic disease risk and the role of the gut microbiota. In 2021, she was named AXA Chair in Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, where she is collaborating with the UCT Africa Climate and Development Initiative on potential housing modifications to reduce the negative health impact of excessive heat in sub-Saharan Africa. Dugas also recently released a three-part MasterScience course on the AXA ResearchFundLive YouTube channel focused on addressing the swelling impact of noncommunicable diseases, particularly in low-income countries around the globe.
Tackling Malaria in Urban Centers
From 2021-2024, Ifeoma Ozodiegwu led a $1.4 million effort supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to generate data and evidence for appropriate interventions toward efficient malaria elimination efforts in Nigeria’s urban areas. Now, Ozodiegwu, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Informatics and Data Science at the Parkinson School, directs the Urban Malaria Research Group, a Loyola-based team focused on developing the first model of malaria transmission for urban areas. She also serves as a principal investigator at the Urban Malaria Project, an international collective of researchers assessing the burdens and determinants of urban malaria transmission.
Whether it’s providing resources to support research and scholarship or identifying new ways in which we can work with community partners to create sustainable impact, we don’t just talk about what’s important at the Parkinson School but do the necessary work to facilitate positive change and amplify impact.”
PAMELA XAVERIUS, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP, PARKINSON SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND PUBLIC HEALTH
95%
are Published Authors
90%
are Involved in Community-Engaged Research
73%
are Studying At Least One Social Determinant of Health
A Leader in Drug Safety Research and Policy
Professor and founding dean of the Parkinson School, Elaine Morrato exemplifies the school’s focus on thought leadership, research, and global impact. Board-certified in public health and an elected fellow in the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, she uses her background in global pharmaceutical drug development and commercialization to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of drug risk mitigation. Morrato has advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on numerous issues of drug safety and benefit-risk assessment and served as a visiting scientist in its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research resulting in new guidance to industry and standards of evaluation globally. Locally, Morrato leads Loyola’s participation in the Institute for Translational Medicine, among the elite set of academic centers advancing the efficiency, quality, and impact of biomedical research for improving human health.
Highlighting Human Energy Needs
A professor of public health sciences at Parkinson, Amy Luke’s National Institutes of Health-funded research has enabled her to travel the world, where she has worked alongside other researchers and community partners on meaningful projects related to issues such as nutrition, obesity, and hypertension. She was a member of a U.S. Institute of Medicine expert group that developed and published national guidelines for Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy in 2023. Her participation in that group sparked an invitation to attend and present at a June 2024 joint meeting to review human energy requirements co-hosted by the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Research with a Global Slant
Professor of non-communicable disease epidemiology Lara Dugas has been investigating non-communicable disease risk in Africa-origin populations for more than a decade, specifically focusing on cardiometabolic disease risk and the role of the gut microbiota. In 2021, she was named AXA Chair in Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, where she is collaborating with the UCT Africa Climate and Development Initiative on potential housing modifications to reduce the negative health impact of excessive heat in sub-Saharan Africa. Dugas also recently released a three-part MasterScience course on the AXA ResearchFundLive YouTube channel focused on addressing the swelling impact of noncommunicable diseases, particularly in low-income countries around the globe.
Tackling Malaria in Urban Centers
From 2021-2024, Ifeoma Ozodiegwu led a $1.4 million effort supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to generate data and evidence for appropriate interventions toward efficient malaria elimination efforts in Nigeria’s urban areas. Now, Ozodiegwu, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Informatics and Data Science at the Parkinson School, directs the Urban Malaria Research Group, a Loyola-based team focused on developing the first model of malaria transmission for urban areas. She also serves as a principal investigator at the Urban Malaria Project, an international collective of researchers assessing the burdens and determinants of urban malaria transmission.
Whether it’s providing resources to support research and scholarship or identifying new ways in which we can work with community partners to create sustainable impact, we don’t just talk about what’s important at the Parkinson School but do the necessary work to facilitate positive change and amplify impact.”
PAMELA XAVERIUS, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP, PARKINSON SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND PUBLIC HEALTH