Duke Global Health Institute Weekly News

Weekly News and Notes
From the Duke Global Health Institute

Greetings!

Since its inception in November 2006, the Duke Global Health Institute has created or expanded global health education offerings at Duke to include the popular Global Health Certificate, Master of Science in Global Health, a Global Health Residency Program and a Postdoctoral Fellowship, to name a few. Today's edition spotlights one of the newest Postdoctoral Fellows, Nina Yamanis.

Also this week, read about the latest research from DGHI Member Gary Bennett and his work on the obesity epidemic that plagues our country, and increasingly, our world.

Want more research news, more student profiles, more funding announcements? Let us know what you want to see. Email me at gseaford@duke.edu

Until next week,

Geelea Seaford and everyone at DGHI

New DGHI postdoctoral fellow to study influence of social networks on HIV/AIDS

By Alyssa Zamora, Duke Global Health Institute

A passion for combating HIV/AIDS and promoting health among the underserved are the key reasons why Nina Yamanis chose to pursue a career in global health. This fall, she joined the Duke community as the newest member of the Duke Global Health Institute's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

Yamanis received a bachelor's degree in Psychology, a master's degree in Public Health and a doctorate in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a graduate student, she developed a prominent speaker series to raise awareness about global HIV/AIDS on campus. Yamanis also led a service committee that developed four educational programs on global health topics, including HIV, and delivered them to middle and high school students throughout North Carolina.

It was through these experiences and her work with at-risk populations in Mexico and Tanzania, that Yamanis developed a special interest in the social factors that put underserved communities at-risk for disease. "I just started thinking more and more that I wanted to do something in prevention, instead of after a crisis happens," said Yamanis.

Yamanis completed her dissertation on the influence of social venues on HIV risk behavior and the prevalence of concurrent partnerships among young men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Yamanis and her research team conducted structured interviews with 671 men to assess their concurrent partnerships and 50 interviews with young men at so-called "camps," which are places where men socialize every day.

READ THE FULL STORY.

New and Noteworthy

Duke Study Says National Exercise Recommendations Would Reduce Illness, Health Costs

Only a third of Americans could identify national recommendations for minimum daily physical activity of 30 minutes, despite more than a decade of publicity campaigns, according to research led by DGHI Member and Psychology Professor Gary Bennett.

Consistent with other studies, Bennett and his team also found that fewer than half of all Americans meet the 1995 recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and American College of Sports Medicine. Increasing the number of Americans who follow the recommendations could help reduce chronic health problems, said Bennett, who is the lead author of the study and an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke.

"Physical activity is important for protecting against a large number of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, some cancers, diabetes, even some cognitive disorders," Bennett said. "So the physical activity recommendations are extremely important to help increase awareness among the American population about the amount of physical activity that is necessary to reduce the risk of developing these diseases."

Increasing the number of Americans who get at least 30 minutes of daily exercise also could reduce overall health care costs, said Bennett, who conducted the research while a faculty member at Harvard University's School of Public Health and at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

READ THE FULL STORY & WATCH VIDEO

Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School Opens New State-of-the-Art Campus

A spectacular 11-story, state-of-the-art medical education and research facility that is now home to the four-year-old Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS) Graduate Medical School was dedicated this week in a ceremony that featured Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Victor J. Dzau, MD, Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke, and Duke University President Richard Brodhead.

The facility is known officially as the Khoo Teck Puat Building in honor of an S$80 million gift to the school from the estate of the late Singaporean businessman and philanthropist Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat.

"The new Khoo Teck Puat Building provides faculty and students with a world-class environment in which to achieve our missions of advancing innovative medical education, creating a new generation of clinician-scientists, and speeding the translation of scientific discoveries to the bedside and thereby closing the gaps in healthcare disparities worldwide," Dzau said.

READ THE FULL STORY

New Campaign to Highlight Success of U.S. Investments in Global Health

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced its support for the "Living Proof Project: US Investment in Global Health Are Working", a multi-year awareness campaign to highlight the extraordinary success of U.S. government investments in global health.

The Living Proof Project will make the case that U.S. initiatives to fight malaria, AIDS, and other diseases are saving and improving millions of lives in the world's poorest countries. The campaign kicked off Thursday with a new web site,Living Proof Project, and advertisements in Washington, D.C. that tell compelling success stories in global health.

"We want to show Americans that their investments in global health are working," said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation. "We should all be proud that U.S.-funded health programs are saving millions of lives and bringing new hope to poor countries."

U.S. support for global health has increased significantly in recent years with the launch of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other initiatives. In five years, PEPFAR has helped save an estimated 1.2 million lives by expanding access to HIV prevention and treatment.

"If more Americans learn about progress in global health, they'll be inspired to maintain these investments even in difficult economic times," said Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation.

Faculty News and Funding

Administrative Support for Global Programs

Duke recently established a website to provide access to university-wide resources available to assist you in planning and implementing successful international activities, ranging from individual travel to large-scale, semi-permanent global programs. View the website>>

Funding Opportunities

Developing Research Capacity in Africa for Studies on HIV-Associated Malignancies (D43)

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity announcement (FOA) is to strengthen research capacity in HIV-associated malignancies in sub-Saharan Africa. This FOA solicits applications for strategic, collaborative cancer research training programs based on partnerships between United States (U.S.) and African researchers. Read more >>

RFA's-Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellows Program

The NIH/Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars Support and Research Center at Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health is pleased to announce a one-year clinical research training program for persons regardless of citizenship in either post-residency clinical fellowships or in other health-related post-doctoral programs. Read more >>

Employment Opportunities

Researcher Scientist and Program Planner for International Program

The Duke University School of Nursing invites applications from candidates with advanced preparation and expertise in geriatric nursing for a combined position of Nurse Researcher and International Program Developer. Read more >>

Assistant Professor of Global Environmental Health

Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) have an opening for a tenure track assistant professor of global environmental health. Read more >>

Educational Opportunities

Brookdale Foundation Launches 2010 Leadership in Aging Fellowship Program

The two-year fellowship is open to all professionals in the field of aging. Applications are sought from a broad range of related disciplines, including the medical, biological, and basic sciences; nursing; social sciences; and the arts and humanities. Read more >>

Call for Nominations: Solutions for Global Health

This Call for nominations is looking for initiatives that provided an effective solution to a public health problem by succeeding on the basis of : Leadership, Innovation and Partnership Read more >>

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For additional faculty opportunities, click here.

Student News and Funding

Administrative Support for Global Programs

Duke recently established a website to give you access to the university-wide resources available to assist you in planning and implementing successful international activities, ranging from individual travel to large-scale, semi-permanent global programs. View the website>>

Funding Opportunities

DGHI Request for Proposals: Small International Travel Grants DEADLINE: 5 pm, October 1, 2009

DGHI is offering small international travel awards of up to $5,000 each to Duke graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty to pursue global health research opportunities in low or middle income countries (see World Bank list). These grants are aimed at researchers looking to explore research collaborations by visiting an international site. Applications will be reviewed on a biannual schedule, and should include a brief (no more than three pages) description of proposed activities, budget, and applicant's CV. Applications should emphasize the relationship of the proposal to the six Signature Research Initiatives, and the prospects for longer term research funding support. Proposals will be reviewed by DGHI internal and external reviewers.

Proposal due dates:

October 1, 2009 and March 1, 2010

Funding award dates:

October 30, 2009 and March 30, 2010

For questions and to submit electronically, contact Kelly Deal

Education Opportunities

"It's Global" Public Service Announcement Contest

Express your message. Create a 30-second or less PSA and enter it in the 4th annual "It's Global" PSA Contest for a chance to win money, have your winning PSA screened and awarded at the National Public Health Week Film Festival. Read more >>

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For additional student opportunities, click here.

September 29, 2009