Muktar Aliyu is the Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health and Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He holds the VUMC Endowed Directorship in Global Health. Dr. Aliyu attended medical school at the Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, and holds a master of public health degree (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) from George Washington University and a doctorate in public health (Epidemiology and International Health) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He completed his residency and fellowship training in occupational medicine and preventive medicine at Meharry Medical College and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He is a recipient of several awards, including the UAB Alumni Award for Scientific Excellence, the American College of Preventive Medicine’s Rising Star Award, and the Mayo Foundation's William H.J. Summerskill Award for outstanding achievement in research, among others. He is a Principal Investigator of several research and training grants in Nigeria funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health,Dr. Aliyu is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and a diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine.