2016 Metcalf Cup and Prize Recipient: Christopher Gill

Christopher Gill is an Associate Professor of Global Health at the School of Public Health and a research scientist at the Center for Global Health & Development. An infectious disease specialist by training, his research focuses on child survival. He began teaching international health at Boston University in 2002, took a hiatus from 2008 to 2010 to research and develop meningitis vaccines at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, and returned to BU in 2011. He has a unique ability to blend his pharmaceutical research experience into his courses, and his skill at inspiring and engaging students inside and outside the classroom makes him a superior educator.

Colleagues recognize him for his outstanding performance in classroom teaching, innovative and creative course design, and commitment to mentoring. Students bear out that assessment. In evaluations, they regularly describe his courses in terms such as “fantastic,” “unique,” “interesting and energizing,” with “lots of room for creativity.” They also say those same courses challenge them intellectually while developing skills that are an asset in the workplace.

An example of his innovative teaching is Clinical Development of a New Medicinal, a course that posed the problem of teaching the complexities of clinical- development of new vaccines to a diverse group of -students. The solution: a living simulation where students compete and collaborate to take a vaccine concept from basic science to regulatory approval. One student has said of the class, “It is perfect.”

In his years at Boston University, Professor Gill has taught other courses as well, in the Kilachand Honors College and the School of Public Health, including Advanced Infectious Diseases, and he has won four school-wide Excellence in Teaching Awards. In 2015, the School of Public Health awarded him the Norman A. Scotch Award for Excellence in Teaching in recognition of his outstanding and sustained contributions to education.

Professor Gill holds a Bachelor of Science in biology- and a Master of Science in clinical care research from Tufts University and a Doctor of Medicine from University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is currently the principal investigator for four funded research projects, is prodigiously published in peer-reviewed journals, and serves as a peer reviewer for more than twenty journals.