Melissa Begg, ScD

Melissa Begg is Dean of the School of the Columbia Social Work and Professor of Social Work and Biostatistics. She served as Vice Provost for Academic Programs for Columbia University from 2014-2019 and Co-Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (CTSA) from 2007-2018. Dr. Begg is a population health scientist with 30 years of experience and commitment to developing the strongest possible evidence base for human health and well-being. Her early research focused on technical methods for evaluating associations from correlated data (such as sibling and family studies), especially as applied to early life determinants of adult health. Dr. Begg has promoted innovation in graduate health professional education, including the implementation of a major redesign of the Columbia MPH curriculum, emphasizing interdisciplinary engagement, practical skill-building, and leadership training for health professionals at all levels. In collaboration with public health and social work colleagues, she participated in launching a new cultural competency training program for MPH students, co-authoring a manuscript on the results. She has developed and directed a number of NIH-funded training programs, including two career development programs to promote diversity: one aimed at college undergraduates, introducing them to careers in the public health sciences (the BEST Program); and one aimed at diverse junior faculty, providing grant-writing advice, career support, and mentorship (the PRIDE Program). Another of her programs offered mentorship in comparative effectiveness research methods to junior and mid-level faculty (the IMMERSE in CER Program).

In 2006, Dr. Begg received both the University-wide Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Mailman School Teaching Award from the Graduating Class. In 2012, she was elected a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and received the Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award in Biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health. She also received the 2013 ASPPH/Pfizer Award for Teaching Excellence.