About

Adjunct professor at the French École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique, where he teaches courses on global health.
Co-founder of the Public Health Ethics and Law Network, which provides guidance to countries creating public health ethics structures.
President of the Medical Ambassadors of the Paul Carlson Partnership which provides continuing education to Congolese healthcare providers in the North Ubangi Province of the DRC.
Founder of the Pandemic Ethics Guidance website.

Professor of social epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lead author of the first code of ethics for public health adopted by the American Public Health Association and other national organizations.
Ethics advisor to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Director of the USAID-funded MEASURE Evaluation Project to strengthen the ability of low- and middle-income countries to collect and use data to guide their public health programs.
Founded and directed Africa Rising, a nonprofit that networked East African community-based organizations, enabling them to collaborate and learn from each other.
Vice President of Antioch Builds Community, a 501(c)(3) organization benefiting families affected by incarceration in Durham, NC.

Honorary Member of the United Kingdom’s Faculty of Public Health (Hon MFPH) (2025)
American Public Health Association lifetime achievement award for ethics (2021)
Erasmus Mundus visiting professor scholarship, Europubhealth+ summer session, Rennes, France (2020)
McGravran Award for Excellence in Teaching, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2009)

Countries in which Dr. Thomas has worked as an epidemiologist or ethicist.

jim.thomas(at)unc.edu