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Weekly News and Notes
From the Duke Global Health Institute
Greetings!
Welcome to 2010 and another year of Weekly News and Notes from the Duke Global Health Institute. What better way to start 2010 than with the long-awaited opening of the WISER school in Muhuru Bay, Kenya. DGHI Member Sherryl Broverman, Duke Alumnus Andy Cunningham, and dozens of current and past Duke students are realizing their dream of offering educational opportunities to girls in this rural Kenyan village. Read the full story and follow the opening ceremonies on Twitter this Thursday (as electricity allows).
We also congratulate Dr. David Walmer, DGHI affiliate and founder of Family Health Ministries, DGHI's partner in Leogane, Haiti. Walmer is the recipient of an "unsung volunteer hero" award from the Durham-Orange County Medical Society.
We're looking forward to bringing you many more stories of accomplishments and successes throughout the year.
Until next week,
Geelea Seaford and Everyone at DGHI
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WISER School Opens Friday in Muhuru Bay, Kenya
By Alyssa Zamora, Duke Global Health Institute
Thirty Kenyan girls will be given a new lease on life this week as they begin classes at a new boarding school in Muhuru Bay. The school's grand opening on Friday is a milestone for the poor, isolated community in Kenya, where no woman in the last 20 years has continued onto a public university.
The seven-acre campus and research center, complete with six classrooms, an internet cafe, a science lab and dormitories, was built by the Women's Institute for Secondary Education and Research, or WISER. The non-profit NGO was founded in 2007 by Duke Global Health Institute Member Sherryl Broverman and Duke Alumnus Andy Cunningham with the goal of improving educational, economic and health outcomes for girls in Muhuru Bay.
 "It's just unbelievable. It became real to me when Andy sent me a photo of a classroom with empty chairs, and he said the chairs are waiting for the girls to come and learn," said Broverman.
The girls, ages 13-20, who were selected from a pool of more than 100 applicants, will study a variety of subjects in the sciences, humanities, languages and business studies. This includes geography, history, computer studies, biology, chemistry, English, Kiswahili and Sign Language.
Empowering Girls to Improve Their Lives, Communities
WISER has recruited five teachers and a highly sought after Kenyan university professor to become the school's first principal. Additional teachers will be recruited annually as more girls are admitted into the school. By 2013, WISER's total enrollment is anticipated to top 120 students. "We are trying to greatly increase the capacity for girls by giving them a better environment to learn and excel," said Broverman.
 Research by the World Bank shows educated women are more likely to invest in their community, and can be important drivers of economic growth and development. In Muhuru Bay, fewer than a dozen girls currently go on to high school every year. The new boarding school and research center is designed to improve those odds.
"This combination has never been tried before in Muhuru Bay, and we have a lot to learn in the first ten years," said 23-year-old WISER co-founder Cunningham, who was recently named a Marshall Scholar for his public service and academic accomplishments. "Now, these girls can walk through the doors of WISER and realize their future is in their hands to become independent, future women leaders ready to change the world for the better."
The boarding school will offer teenage girls an alternative to the typical life in Muhuru Bay, in which many women seek money for sex, fall ill to disease or drop out of school due to domestic duties or challenges during puberty. WISER researchers, like Eve Puffer, will conduct more research on the relationship between girls' education and risk factors related to HIV, which is very prevalent in the community.
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New and Noteworthy
DGHI Affiliate David Walmer Honored For Work to Improve Health in Durham, Orange Counties
Duke Global Health Institute Affiliate David Walmer is one of three Duke employees to be named an "unsung volunteer hero" as the recipient of the 2009 Jerry Nance Community Service Award.
The annual award given by the Durham-Orange County Medical Society recognizes physicians, non-physicians, students and medical students who have not had prior recognition for their volunteer work.
 Walmer is chief of reproductive endocrinology at Duke University Medical Center and founder of Family Health Ministries (FHM), a Durham-based nonprofit which has served the people of Haiti for a decade.
FHM employs dozens of Haitians in several underserved communities to operate two medical clinics, a school and an orphanage.
FHM recently received $100,000 from the Goldman Sachs Charitable Committee to further develop an innovative colposcope, invented by Walmer, for use in the treatment of cervical cancer in low-resource countries.
Other Duke award recipients include Duke University Medical Center Nurse Clinician JoAnn Garofalo and Durham Regional Hospital Cardiologist Robert Buchanan.
Winners were presented certificates and checks for $250 during the medical society's monthly meeting. Read more from The Herald-Sun.
Michener elected to Board of Directors for AAMC
 Lloyd Michener, MD, chair of the Department of Community and Family Medicine, was elected to a two-year term on the Board of Directors for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
The AAMC represents all 131 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; approximately 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and nearly 90 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 125,000 faculty members, 75,000 medical students, and 106,000 resident physicians.
Michener's topical interests include community health/public health, community engagement, prevention and informatics. His geographic interests include North Carolina, Mexico, Asia and Eastern European countries.Read more from Inside Duke Medicine.
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Faculty News and Funding
Reminder: Abstracts Due for FIC satellite meeting on Implementation Science and Global Health
On March 15-16, 2010, the National Institutes of Health will host the Third Annual NIH Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation. This conference provides a large scientific forum for information-exchange and networking among researchers working in the fields of dissemination and implementation research.
Fogarty will host a satellite meeting to this conference on March 17 on Implementation Science and Global Health for Fogarty grantees and trainees working in the field of international implementation science, research training, and curriculum development. Deadline to submit abstracts for discussion is January 8. Read more >>
Funding Opportunities
Gates Foundation Seeks New Diagnostics for Developing World
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is now accepting letters of inquiry for a new grant program to develop point-of-care diagnostics for the developing world. $30 million in new grants will be available through Grand Challenges Diagnostics, a part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative. The program will develop components and technologies that allow assessment of multiple conditions and pathogens at the point-of-care in a variety of settings. Deadline to apply is February 16. Read more >>
Recovery Act Limited Competition: NIH Director's Opportunity for Global Health Research
This NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement, supported by funds provided to the NIH under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, solicits through this limited competition applications from domestic institutions/organizations proposing to develop and implement critical research innovations in one or five thematic areas, including global health. Application Due Date is March 16. Read more >>
Education, Training Opportunities
DGHI Postdoctoral Research Program - Final Call for Applications
The Duke Global Health Institute invites applications for up to two two-year postdoctoral fellowships to begin in July 2010 and end in August 2012. Fellows will work under the mentorship of a DGHI Faculty Member, a DGHI Faculty Affiliate, or other Duke faculty whose research focuses on DGHI's signature research initiatives.Deadline to apply is January 12. Read more >> FICRS-F Announces New Fellowship in Global Mental Health Research
The Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars Support Center at the Vanderbilt University Institute for Global Health (VIGH) is pleased to announce a new one-year clinical research training program for persons in post-residency clinical fellowships, in other health-related post-doctoral programs, and/or within three years of their last major degree training (e.g., registrar, residency, fellowship, doctoral program). Deadline to apply is February 12. Read more >>
* * * For additional faculty opportunities, click here.
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DGHI Fieldwork Project Opportunities
The Duke Global Health Institute is accepting applications for more than a dozen projects in nine countries this summer. Deadline to apply for DGHI funding is March 5. New opportunities include:
IIASA YSSP 2010: Summer Fellowship Opportunity for Graduate Students
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), located in Schloss Laxenburg near Vienna, Austria, hosts a selected group of graduate students, primarily doctoral, from around the world in its Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). Deadline January 18. Read more >>
Public Health and Environment Field Practicum in Kenya
The School for Field Studies is accepting applications for a field course that will provide undergraduate and graduate students with an international field study experience in environmental and community health in Kenya, specifically focusing on the indigenous Maasai community. Read more >>
DGHI MSc-GH Program - Call for Applications
The Duke Global Health Institute, in collaboration with the Duke Graduate School, is accepting applications for the second cohort of the Master of Science in Global Health (MSc-GH) program, which will begin in August 2010. Deadline to apply is January 30. Read more >>
2010-2011 Graduate and Young Professional Fellowship Program in Public Policy
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the nation's premier Hispanic educational and youth leadership development organization, is seeking applicants for its Graduate and Young Professional Fellowships. The Graduate & Young Professional Fellowship Program offers exceptional Latino graduates and young professionals unparalleled exposure to experiences in the underserved public policy areas of health, housing, law, international affairs, and science, technology, engineering and math. Deadline to apply is February 19. Read more >>
Funding Opportunity
The NEW AID Foundation: Working to reverse the "10/90 Health Research Gap"
The NEWAID Foundation provides grants to public health graduate students and early-career, American scientists to conduct research abroad in areas of neglected infectious diseases. Through these grants, the hope is to advance our understanding of the scientific basis of these diseases and the social factors which lead to their marginalization. Deadline is January 31. Read more >>
Job Opportunity
Job Opening with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking qualified applicants for an exposure/risk analyst position to work in the Ambient Standards Group (ASG), Health and Environmental Impacts Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards in Research Triangle Park. ASG plays a vital role in EPA's work to protect against air pollution effects on public health. Read more >> | |
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98 Solterra Way, Durham
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January 12, 2009
» 12-1 pm
January 20, 2010 »
4:30-6 pm
John Hope Franklin Center, Room 240
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January 21, 2010 » 4:30 pm
Duke School of Nursing Auditorium, Room 1014
View more upcoming events.
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The research of Center for Health Policy's Kathryn Whetten has been featured in numerous news websites and blogs over the past few weeks. Several new posts are listed below:
-- The Eagle
-- HealthScout
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