Ben Ryan
Professor of Public Health and Global Initiatives | Global Environmental Health Section Lead
Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine, Belmont Collaborative for Health Systems Innovation
Biography
Benjamin Ryan Ph.D., MPH, REHS, FRRHHed, is a Professor in the Frist College of Medicine at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has experience working, researching, and teaching in environmental public health, disaster risk reduction, and community resilience. This includes leading and supporting activities in these fields across the Americas, East Africa, Europe, and Indo-Pacific. He has worked at all levels of government in Australia, federally in the United States, and as a consultant. He has supported disaster preparedness for health systems, conducted environmental public health assessments in city and rural settings, responded to disasters and disease outbreaks, activated emergency operations centers, and led multi-national projects.
Dr. Ryan is a first-generation college student. He completed a Ph.D. at James Cook University in Australia where strategies were developed for reducing the impact of disasters on people with non-communicable diseases. He completed a Master of Public Health at the University of Wollongong and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health at Griffith University where he received an award for academic excellence. Dr. Ryan is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist and Fellow of the Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He has published peer-reviewed articles, contributed to books, written policy briefs, and conducted media interviews. Finally, he welcomes any opportunity to develop and support system solutions for creating a whole-person approach to healthcare and enabling communities to thrive.