CHPD gets new director to expand health policy engagement
Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) has appointed renowned global public health expert Dr SM Moazzem Hossain as Director of its Centre for Health, Population & Development (CHPD), effective 3 June 2026.
Dr Hossain brings over 30 years of experience in global public health, health systems, emergency response, immunisation, maternal and child health, nutrition, and large-scale programme leadership.
Previously, he held senior leadership roles at Unicef, including Principal Advisor and Chief of Health in Afghanistan; Deputy Director of the Global Polio Eradication Programme at Unicef Headquarters in New York; Chief of Health and Nutrition in Iraq; and Regional Advisor for Health and Nutrition for the Middle East and North Africa.
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He also served in leadership roles at Save the Children-UK, ICDDR,B, and Pathfinder International in Bangladesh.
In Afghanistan, Dr Hossain oversaw one of the UN system's largest health operations, managing a portfolio exceeding $400 million and supporting more than 2,400 health facilities nationwide.
He led Unicef's engagement with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank on large-scale health financing, securing over $400 million in additional support for emergency health response.
At UNICEF headquarters, he co-developed the Global Polio Eradication Strategy 2022–2026 and its multi-year budgeting framework.
He also contributed to monitoring, evaluation, research, and integrating polio eradication with broader health systems.
Dr Hossain holds an MBBS from Dhaka Medical College, a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, and an MBA from the CSM Institute of Graduate Studies, USA/Canada.
He is a Fellow of the Public Health Faculty UK, by distinction, and has received executive training in health financing from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, health systems strengthening from the University of Melbourne, and strategic leadership development from the Gordon School of Management in South Africa.
He has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, monographs, and policy papers, with work published in journals including Lancet Global Health, BMJ Global Health, Health Policy and Planning, Advances in Nutrition, and Disaster.
Dr Hossain has also held academic and teaching positions, including Assistant Clinical Professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and as visiting lecturer and guest faculty for public health and professional training programmes in Asia and the Middle East.
IUB's CHPD conducts interdisciplinary research on health, population, and development issues, including urban health, chronic disease risk factors, social and psychological determinants of health, health inequities, emergency response, and digital health solutions in low-resource settings.
The Centre and its collaborators have secured over $1 million in international research funding and published in leading journals, including The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, and JAMA.
IUB expects the appointment to strengthen CHPD's research, postgraduate training, policy engagement, and international partnerships.
