Carl Lawson, PhD, MPH, MA

Carl Lawson, PhD, MPH, MA, is responsible for leading efforts across all six Pitt Health Sciences schools to foster an inclusive environment in which students, trainees, staff and faculty of all races, ethnicities, genders and religions can thrive.

Prior to joining Pitt in 2024, Dr. Lawson served at Rosalind Franklin University (RFU) of Medicine in North Chicago, Illinois, as director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Chicago Medical School and director of interprofessional global health for RFU. He has extensive experience designing initiatives to advance the success of faculty and students from groups underrepresented in medicine and working with faculty, students and administrators to address and increase community knowledge of DEI issues in academic medicine. Carl has also engaged faculty and students in courses ranging from global health, health disparities, health care inequities, LGBTQ+ patient care and structural racism in medicine. As global health director for RFU, Carl forged relationships with medical schools, hospitals and other organizations based outside the United States to further mutually beneficial learning and training opportunities between RFU and its international partners.

Carl is a proud veteran who served as a commissioned officer with the U.S. Public Health Service while at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Center for Global Health. In this role, he managed international infectious disease program operations for CDC satellite offices in multiple countries, worked as the administrator for a global quarantine reporting system, and contributed to public health emergency response efforts. He also volunteered with the U.S. Peace Corps in The Gambia.

Dr. Lawson earned his BS from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor,  an MPH in international health and development from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, an MA in international relations from the University of Kent Brussels School of International Studies, and his PhD in peace and conflict studies from the United Nations University for Peace. He also earned certification from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Healthcare Executive Diversity and Inclusion program, an intensive academic curriculum aimed at training leaders to drive diversity as a core component of excellence in health care.