DR Charlton Collie, the chief and founder of the Pulmonary Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), is this year’s Hubert Humphrey Fellow.

Dr Collie will be training at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland over the next nine months, which should allow him to strengthen his expertise in public health policy and management, especially in relation to drug abuse.

The UHWI pulmonologist, who studied previously at the University of the West Indies and at Howard University in the United States, is also a lecturer in Medicine at the UWI. He has crafted a programme of study and training that will allow him to learn more about US programmes on drug education and substance abuse treatment, in a bid to help implement such programmes in Jamaica.

He was the winning Jamaican candidate among just over 170 professionals chosen from the hundreds who applied from around the world, the United States Embassy in Kingston said in a statement.

The US Embassy said he was selected because of his ability, commitment to public service and desire to share his newly acquired knowledge upon his return from training. The fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of State and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts.

“It allows mid-career professionals and administrators such as Dr Collie to increase their professional competence with a fully paid one-year, non-degree programme of study and practical professional experience, tailored to meet their needs,” said the embassy statement.

The Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Programme was established in 1978 in honour of the late vice-president and senator, to carry forward his lifelong commitment to international cooperation and public service.