UAB’s Houser to Serve as an Advisor to Project HOPE’s China Efforts

Shannon Houser, Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Health Services Administration, has been appointed an advisor for the Project HOPE China Program. Project HOPE is a U.S.-based, philanthropic health-care organization that provides health education, medical supplies and volunteer help around the world.

April 9, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Shannon Houser, Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Health Services Administration, has been appointed an advisor for the Project HOPE China Program. Project HOPE is a U.S.-based, philanthropic health-care organization that provides health education, medical supplies and volunteer help around the world.

Houser will provide technical advice and assistance for a number of programs, including the China Rehabilitation Program, Nutrition Center of Excellence Program and Advanced Health Professional Training Program. While based at UAB, she will work with the organization's Program Monitoring and Evaluation Offices in Beijing and Shanghai.

Born and raised in China, Houser came to the United States in 1989 as a visiting scholar in health-information management and earned her doctorate in public health in 2004.

"Working with Project HOPE will enable Dr. Houser to apply her specific professional training, research experiences and knowledge of language and customs to address the complex health challenges that China faces," said Gerald L. Glandon, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Health Services Administration.

Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) was founded in 1958 with the first peacetime hospital ship, the SS HOPE. The organization now coordinates health-care education, humanitarian aid and volunteer efforts to communities in need around the world.

"This appointment demonstrates the international prominence of the UAB Department of Health Services Administration in evaluation of health-care organizations and health systems, health-care management education and research," said Harold Jones, Ph.D., dean of the UAB School of Health Professions. "It indicates the high regard the program and its faculty enjoy nationally and internationally."

About the UAB Department of Health Services Administration

The Department of Health Services Administration is housed in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Health Professions. The department offers six top-ranked academic programs, from baccalaureate to doctorate, and a variety of continuing-education opportunities for health-services executives and a national case competition for health administration graduate students.