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Weekly News and Notes
From the Duke Global Health Institute
Greetings!
With the winter's cold temperatures, snow and rain, many are setting their sights to summer. In particular, students are busy making plans for the summer which for many will include traveling abroad to conduct a research or service-learning project. DGHI is pleased to offer an array of fieldwork projects and grants to support this work.
Today we're pleased to join the family and friends of Aalok Modi to announce a new grant fund to support student global health projects at Duke. Read more about Aalok's amazing life and this fund which will serve as his legacy.
Also read about two outstanding global health students - Thomas Holland and Chrissy Booth - who are at differing stages of their academic career but are the global health leaders of tomorrow.
Until next week,
Geelea Seaford and Everyone at DGHI
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Global Health Fieldwork Fund to Honor Duke Student Aalok S. Modi
Aalok S. Modi's dream of a career in medicine and global health was left unfulfilled with his sudden death two years ago this week. Together with his family and friends, the Duke Global Health Institute has unveiled a new scholarship in his name to empower other Duke students to engage in global health research that embodies Modi's commitment to serve humanity.
 The Aalok S. Modi Global Health Fieldwork Fund will award $2,500 to one undergraduate student each year to carry out a research project dedicated to solving domestic and international health issues. The fund will be administered by DGHI through its summer fieldwork program, and the selection process will include members of the Modi family, the fundraising committee and Duke faculty.
Modi's life was tragically cut short on February 14, 2008 when he collapsed during an intramural basketball game in Wilson Gym. Modi was a chemistry major who had served as a dynamic leader of the Global Health Student Action Committee, in which advocates for greater student involvement in the field. His passion was fueled by the Global Health FOCUS program which introduced him to the social, economic, political and environmental factors that contribute to health disparities in the developing world. In one of his last messages to his father, Modi wrote, "As long as there is suffering in this world, I know my purpose in life."
"Aalok saw DGHI as an instrument for identifying his ideals and being a change agent in health care," said his father, Shishir Modi. "Duke had become his second home, and what better way for his legacy to continue than through the students at Duke who share his views, ideals and dreams to be agents of change in global health."
Modi's family and friends are touched by the outpouring of support from the Duke community since the establishment of an endowment at Duke in January 2009. Modi's closest friends, Duke students Imran Uraizee and Hari Shankar, have been instrumental in raising funds to keep Modi's dream alive.
"Seeing the Aalok S. Modi Global Health Fieldwork Grant become a reality in such a short span of time is a testament to the friendship and inspiration that Aalok brought to the Duke University community," said Uraizee. "From his friends and classmates who spent countless hours in fundraising/publicity efforts, to the student groups that donated proceeds from their biggest events, to the professors who spoke so highly of his dedication to encouraging student advocacy in global health, it is clear that Aalok touched many lives."
"We hope that over the coming years, this grant will give many students the opportunity to do meaningful work in global health, that otherwise might not have been able to do so," said Shankar. "It was Aalok's dream to devote his life to service, so if this grant inspires even one student to do the same, then it will have been a success."
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New and Noteworthy
Global Health Resident Awarded Fogarty Fellowship to Study Rheumatic Heart Disease in Kenya
Thomas Holland has been selected as a 2010 Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow. Holland is a second year Infectious Disease Fellow and a Global Health Resident at Duke, and is currently enrolled in DGHI's Master of Science in Global Health (MSc-GH).
 After completing MSc-GH coursework this spring, Holland will spend seven months in Eldoret, Kenya as a Fogarty International Clinical Research Fellow working closely with a team of Kenyan and U.S. researchers from Moi, Brown, Indiana and Duke universities to research the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Western Kenya.
Although RHD remains a leading cause of heart failure and death in the developing world, there is little existing epidemiologic data quantifying its prevalence. Holland will undertake an echocardiographic survey of randomly selected community members to determine the prevalence of RHD. The results of this effort will form the foundation for the expansion of regional treatment and prevention efforts.
After completing undergraduate studies at Princeton and prior to competing his medical training at Wake Forest University, Holland spent a year teaching in a girls' secondary school in Lilongwe, Malawi. He was inspired to pursue a medical career in the developing world after witnessing poverty, malnutrition, and ill health conspire to constrain the success of intelligent and driven students. His commitment to advancing the care of underserved populations took shape during his Internal Medicine Residency at Duke when he worked for several months as a clinician with a primarily Aboriginal population in the Australian Outback. Holland aspires to become a clinical researcher dedicated to exploring the intersection of infectious diseases and health in resource-poor settings.
Duke Senior Brings Global Health Message to Duke Chapel from the News & Observer
Booth is a Duke senior and global health certificate student
Lots of famous people have preached from the Duke Chapel's lofty pulpit. There are the heavyweight theologians: Paul Tillich and Jurgen Moltmann; the poplar evangelist Billy Graham; the statesmen, Martin Luther King Jr. and Archbishop Desmond Tutu; the presidents, including Bill Clinton last year. And then there's Christina Booth.
 Unlike many of her predecessors at the soaring limestone cathedral, she does not hold a divinity degree. She has not served in public office. Nor have her good works earned her widespread recognition.
But Booth, a senior at Duke, who delivered Sunday's sermon to a full house of nearly 1,400 people, won an annual competition among undergraduates to preach at the chapel, an honor she pulled off with aplomb.
Finding Her Calling
As she mounted the steps of the pulpit, she remembered her instructions: Speak slowly, pause for effect, enunciate each word. She also knew this was not a secular speech to be judged by its listeners but by its adherence to God's message.
"It's not really about whether I did a good job," she said later. "It's a worship service."
Booth had another advantage. Her sermon was one many people, and especially students, can relate to: finding a vocation. Booth, a religion major with a chemistry minor, had considered a calling to the ministry, but after working on a public health project in Haiti this past summer, she said she felt more passionate about global public health challenges - from sanitation or safe drinking water to HIV prevention.
New Global Health Employment Opportunities
See our website for details! |
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Faculty News and Funding
 The State of the School 2010
Dean Nancy Andrews will deliver her annual "State of the School" address on Thursday, February 18. Andrews will discuss the basis for her optimism about the future of the Duke School of Medicine as it enters its ninth decade. All faculty and staff are invited to the event, which takes place at the Searle Center from 5-6 pm. A reception will immediately follow.
DGHI Request for Proposals: Transition Award
To encourage continued scientific development of international trainees at Duke who are from low-and middle-income countries and will be returning to their home countries, and encourage ongoing collaborations between the returning trainees and their Duke Global Health Institute collaborators, DGHI is offering transition awards of up to $20,000. Application deadline is March 1. Read more >>
DGHI Request for Proposals: Gender, Poverty and Health Research
The Duke Global Health Institute invites proposals of up to $25,000 a year for up to two years, for pilot research on the intersection of gender, poverty/class, and health. Smaller proposals for shorter periods are also encouraged. Application deadline is March 5. Read more >> NEW! Center Seed Grant Request for Proposals
The China International Center for Chronic Disease Prevention will award approximately 5 seed research grants to investigators in our Center network. The purposes of the seed grants are 1) to encourage innovative research projects with the potential for funding for larger-scale studies, and 2) to establish tangible platforms for collaborations, fellowship training, and capacity building between international and Chinese organizations in our network.Deadline to apply is June 30. Read more >>
NEW! Center for AIDS Research - Request for Applications
The Duke Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is committed to the ongoing support of innovative lines of research that have great promise to further the success of more comprehensive research proposals that will advance the field. These grants provide $25,000-$40,000 to support the development of preliminary data that will serve as the basis of subsequent independent research applications for extramural support. Deadline is April 5. Read more >>
NEW! Scientific Meetings for Creating Interdisciplinary Research Teams (R13)
This FOA encourages Research Conference Grant (R13) applications from institutions and organizations that propose to develop interdisciplinary research teams. Teams must include investigators from the social and/or behavioral sciences, and may include the life and/or physical sciences. 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, including China, Ghana, India, Kenya, Tanzania and the United States. Opportunities range from maternal health and infectious diseases to community development, health education and access to care. View all open projects. Applications for DGHI funding are due March 5.
Global Health Corps: Call for Applications
Global Health Corps is a fellowship program in health that works to mobilize a global community of emerging leaders to advance a movement for health equity. The organization recruits talented young professionals from around the world, train and support them, place them in year-long positions with great organizations, and then empower this growing community of young leaders to build lives dedicated to tackling health inequalities. Deadline is March 1. Read more >>
NEW! CDC-Hubert Global Health Fellowship
The CDC-Hubert Global Health Fellowship, endowed by the O.C. Hubert Charitable Trust, is designed to encourage students to think of public health in a global context. The fellowship provides an opportunity for third- and fourth-year medical and veterinary students to gain population health experience in an international setting. Deadline February 19. Read more >>
NEW! Dell Social Innovation Competition
The University of Texas and Dell are looking for college students from around the world who want to improve areas of critical human need through innovation. Tackle a pressing social issue - win $50,000 to put your plan into action. Read more >>
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February 11, 2010 » 12-2:30 pm
John Hope Franklin Center, Room 240
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February 11, 2010 » 4:30-5:30 pm
Stedman Nutritional & Metabolism Center
February 11, 2010 » 4-5 pm
Hanes House, Room 131
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February 12, 2010 » 2 pm
Levine Science Research Center, Room A158
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February 13, 2010 » 6 pm
Sheraton Imperial Hotal, Durham
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February 15, 2010 » 6:30 pm
Center for Muslim Life, 406 Swift Ave.
February 16, 2010 » 12-1pm
Trent Hall, Room 124
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February 17, 2010 » 4:30-6 pm
Perkins Library Room 217
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February 18, 2010 » 7:30-9 am
NC Biotechnology Center, Congressional Conference Room
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February 18, 2010 » 3:30-5 pm
Perkins Library, Breedlove Room
DGHI/DuPRI Seminar: "Education and Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya" - Michael Kremer, Harvard University
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View more upcoming events.
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"Program in Haiti Faces Uncertainties"
"We've been there for the long haul, we're going to be there for the long haul" -- Sumi Ariely, Duke faculty member and DGHI Student Projects Coordinator
-- The Chronicle
Sarah Armstrong, a DGHI affiliate and the director of the Healthy Lifestyles Program, found that a particular novel inspired overweight girls to lose weight. -- USA Today
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"Duke Teams with Indian Company"
DGHI member and Duke cardiologist Svati Shah will lead population-based research of chronic disease in the Indian population, which will be funded by Jubilant, an India-based drug company.
- The Chronicle
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