Faculty & Staff
The Center for the History of Medicine has a core staff of two as well as research assistants and work-study students who assist on selected projects.
The Director is Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Markel is the George E. Wantz Professor of the History of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, Professor of History, Professor of Psychiatry, and Professor of Health Management and Policy (School of Public Health). The author or editor of 8 books including Quarantine! (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997) and When Germs Travel (Pantheon/Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), Dr. Markel has written over 100 scholarly articles and reviews. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Harper's, National Public Radio, and other publications.
The Associate Director is Alexandra Minna Stern, Ph.D. Dr. Stern is the Zina Pitcher Collegiate Professor in the History of Medicine, Associate Director of the Center for the History of Medicine, and Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, History, and American Culture at the University of Michigan. Her book, entitled Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America (University of California Press) won the 2006 Arthur Viseltear Prize from the Medical Care Section of the American Public Health Association for the outstanding book in or scholarly contribution to the History of Public Health in America.
Research Team for Historical Project on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic:
J. Alex Navarro, Ph.D., Senior Researcher and Project Manager, received his doctorate in history from the University of Michigan in 2005. A diplomatic, political and intellectual historian by training, Dr. Navarro has taught and conducted research on a wide range of topics, including US-Latin American history and US-Southeast Asian relations, Western labor history, 20th-century urban history, race and racism, and issues of national identity.
Mary Beth Reilly, Writer, Production Manager, earned her degree from the University of Connecticut with a focus on American Studies. A pioneer in academic archival imaging, she served as an acquisition editor and conducted original bibliographic research in the areas of 19th century Americana and international population census publications. Her additional background is in medical writing.
Julie Judkins, M.S.I., Digital Librarian, earned a dual master's in Archives & Records Management and Library & Information Services from the University of Michigan. She is a former student officer of the Society of American Archivists and previously held positions at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
Scott Oostendorp, B.A., Research Associate, graduated in 2005 from the University of Michigan with a degree in history and a minor in Judaic studies. He is a former senior editor of the Michigan Journal of History and studied medieval Jewish history, as a recipient of the Sylvia and Julius Pollak Fellowship, at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.