Pediatric AIDS researcher Craig Wilson, M.D., is the new director of the Sparkman Center for Global Health in the School of Public Health.

The Sparkman Center collaborates with institutions and agencies abroad to implement graduate-level education and training programs in public health that respond to health problems in developing countries.

This mission expands UAB’s capacity to engage, prepare and support current and future health professionals through a global health agenda.

Wilson, with UAB since 1991, is a professor of pediatrics in the UAB School of Medicine and interim division director for Geographic Medicine. His research efforts for the past 10 years almost exclusively have been related to HIV infections in adolescents, particularly those infected through risky behaviors.

“Dr. Wilson brings extensive global experience, especially related to HIV/AIDS in Africa,” said Max Michael, M.D., dean of the School of Public Health.