Center for the Study of International Medical Policies and Practices (CSIMPP)

The Center for the Study of International Medical Policies and Practices (CSIMPP) is a research center within the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. CSIMPP provides a medical policy focus for the School of Public Policy and facilitates interdisciplinary and international research and training activities within and outside George Mason University.

CSIMPP accomplishes its mission through international partnerships with health and medical organizations throughout the world.  Specifically, the Center has working relationships with the International Society of Microbial Resistance (ISMR), the US Medicine Institute for Health Studies (USMI), World Medical Association (WMA), the Aerospace Medical Association (ASMA), the American Astronautical Society for understanding and influencing international medical policies and practices. Additional research partners include the Institute of Space Medical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China and the Russian Federation and the Academy of Sciences Institute of Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia. A multidisciplinary advisory committee adds additional expertise in such areas as epidemiology and health informatics from the College of Health and Human Services and biomedical research from the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies.

Our research addresses such diverse concerns as space medicine, bioterrorism decontamination, physician training and disaster preparedness. CSIMPP’s research is disseminated via high profile meetings in medical policy areas such as microbial resistance, decision making and ethical resource allocation for exploration of extreme environments, evidence based information tool for medical policy development for space exploration, and hospital environment decontamination.

The CSIMPP has created a learning environment for graduate students in the SPP, the GMU biodefense program, and other organizations through its Global Medical and Public Health Policy sequence as part of Certificate and Concentration programs in the area of Global Health. The Global Medical and Public Health Policy sequence comprises a series of related topics exploring current policy and practices in the era of globalization and concerns with disasters and terrorism. Through this sequence of courses, students gain a full perspective in global threats affecting international medical policies and practices.