The Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Award - 2025: Dr. Brian J. McCarthy ’68

2025: Dr. Brian J. McCarthy ’68

Dr. Brian J. McCarthy has dedicated his life to developing methods to evaluate and improve maternal and perinatal health systems throughout the world.

 

Dr. McCarthy began his career as an epidemic intelligence officer in the state of Georgia in the U.S. Public Health Service. His state work focused on teenage pregnancy, child abuse, and maternal and newborn risk assessment development for Georgia’s regional maternal, fetal, and newborn care programs.   

 

Newborn risk assessment became Dr. McCarthy’s passion within the U.S. and extended internationally. He was seconded by CDC to WHO where he co-authored the WHO Risk Approach Manual for developing risk profiles for triage in a country’s maternal and perinatal regionalization programs. He established a worldwide network of WHO Perinatal Collaborating Centers in China, Turkey, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, and Uruguay. In this capacity, he visited more than 45 developing countries while serving as a consultant to WHO, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank, USAID, and the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System on more than 300 international trips.    

 

Dr. McCarthy’s last major CDC assignment focused on Afghanistan from 2002 to 2011. The project initiated major maternal and child health (MCH) surveillance systems in Kabul, trained Afghan Ministry of Public Health personnel in the use of epidemiology to manage their health services, and trained Afghan ob/gyn residents.

 

As a result of the conditions in the Afghan Midwifery Association (AMA) staffing after the Kabul evacuation, outside funding was secured to support the AMA’s midwifery-led maternity care centers at the Al Jannah Hospital in Kabul until July 2023. Future activities will include identifying additional funding for more care centers throughout Afghanistan.

 

“This award is a further reminder of Notre Dame's challenge to serve the most vulnerable populations. Every woman needs and deserves a trained midwife!”