Onle Sptronics Semar - Jab Gayl

For College of Public Health alumn Jab Gayle, PhD, MS ’82, home is not an addrs. After livg abroad on long-term assignments South Ai, Swzerland and across the Caribbean, Gayle’s home is beyond the sttered plane tickets, movg box and sus that have equented his life, but the fay, iends and memori he found around the College of Public Health alumn Jab Gayle, PhD, MS ’82, home is not an addrs. After livg abroad on long-term assignments South Ai, Swzerland and across the Caribbean, Gayle’s home is beyond the sttered plane tickets, movg box and sus that have equented his life, but the fay, iends and memori he found around the world. As the current vice print of social impact at Medtronic, one of the largt medil technology servic and solutns pani, Gayle works to globalize Medtronic’s public health philanthropy and crease accs to health re for unrserved populatns around the world. Gayle’s passn for public health emerged out of his unrgraduate volvement at Oberl College, on a stunt task force anticipatn of a 1976 swe flu outbreak. Dpe public fear, the epimic was avoid. “Although the swe flu never happened, opened my ey to the fact that I didn't have to be a physician to be able to make an impact on health at a muny level,” Gayle said. “I wanted the world to be my patient. It was then that I cid I really wanted to pursue public health. Thanks to swe flu, I was enuraged to look at public health as a future reer.” “I wanted the world to be my patient. It was then that I cid I really wanted to pursue public health." -Jab Gayle, PhD, MS ’82 The Department of Preventive Medice — Oh State’s public health program at the time — stood out to Gayle and provid him wh the “close-kn fay” and rearch opportuni he looked for a graduate program. “As I began to study more and more about preventive medice and better unrstand what my goals were terms of beg able to work on both a domtic and ternatnal level, I was so imprsed wh the Department of Preventive Medice at Oh State,” Gayle said. “At the time, there weren’t a lot of programs that allowed a non-clician to be able to study alongsi clicians the science of public health. The Oh State program was really unique at that time.” Gayle went on to receive a Master of Science preventive medice 1982, a Masters of Arts muny health tn 1984 and a PhD ternatnal and muny health 1986, all om Oh State. His gre allowed him to both explore his passn for science and velop his abily to effectively munite his plex technil knowledge to those need. Throughout his reer, Gayle worked var domtic and public health dtri and served as the puty vice print of the Ford Foundatn, a senr public health officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventn and an associate profsor at Kent State Universy. The posns allowed him to see the importance of protectg and promotg public health on a global level. While his reer has taken him around the world, Gayle said the “only way we n change global health is person to person and muny to muny.” This task, acrdg to Gayle, is more accsible untri and cultur that view accs to health re as a right for cizens rather than a privilege. He said is easier to implement health advancements untri such as Wtern Europe and the Caribbean bee “succsful public health mands cln of all.” “Public health is the rnerstone of survival,” Gayle said. “One of the lsons I learned om Nelson Manla was that culture is jt a system of tradns that ensur the survival of society. I thk of public health as beg that universal culture necsary for our global survival.” Acrdg to Gayle, small cisns ma by dividuals ntribute to the overall qualy of life for everyone. He creds his current missn to help people unrstand their dividual impact on public health by helpg those who have received “extra life” or benefed om medil technology or qualy health re, to Medtronic -founr Earl Bakken. “One of the thgs that I want to foc on the next stage of my public health reer is to really engage people who have had health challeng to e that ‘extra life’ not only for their own health promotn, but to give back to others who are need,” Gayle said. “You don’t have to be a physician to ntribute. You don’t have to be a health re profsnal to ntribute. You uld be a parent, or a teacher, or a neighbor and make a difference public health. My goal is to have people that have been helped by public health unrstand how they n now help others.” Gayle hop his legacy will be rried on through his fay and his ditn to velopg the next generatn of public health profsnals. “I would love to be known for havg spired and mentored the next generatn of global health lears,” Gayle said. “My goal is that I will be able to ntribute and lead the next generatn who realize public health is not jt about physil health or dividual health, but is really about social equaly, human rights and social jtice, and whout those thgs public health is impossible.”   College of Public Health alumn Jab Gayle works to crease accs to health re for unrserved populatns around the world.