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Weekly News and Notes
From the Duke Global Health Institute
Greetings!
If you see Duke students sleeping outside in tents this week, they are not in line for tickets to the big game; they are raising awareness of an important issue. Global Health Week 2010 kicks off Friday with DISPLACED, which aims to raise awareness of the millions of refugees and internally-displaced people around the world. Duke students will make their own huts out of cardboard boxes, will receive food rations and take part in other activities that will foster both activism and a sense of community on campus. This is the first in a week full of activities.
Today's newsletter features a number of stories about the world's growing epidemic of cardiovascular disease and obesity. Read more about the role Duke is playing to curb the epidemic around the world.
Finally, a big congratulations to the team of Duke undergrads and graduate students who competed in Emory University's Global Health Case Competition last weekend. They brought home the second place prize and represented Duke well. Duke's first Global Health Case Competition begins tomorrow, when more than two dozens students will form teams to find solutions to a current global health challenge. Look for an announcement of the winning team right here next week. Geelea Seaford and Everyone at DGHI
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Obesity Prevalence is Worse Than Numbers Show, Wang says
Youfa Wang spoke at last week's
University Seminar on Global Health
 | The number of children and adults who are overweight or obese has seen a rapid increase in recent years. According to the World Health Organization, more than one billion adults globally are overweight, with more than 300 million of them considered obese. In 2005, more than 20 million children under the age of five were overweight or obese. But, Johns Hopkins University's Youfa Wang said what these prevalence rates do not reveal is far more alarming.
"The real situation is worse than just the prevalence of obesity," said Wang, before a full room of Duke students, staff and faculty members who attended last week's University Seminar on Global Health. "Heavy Americans have become heavier and more centrally obese."
In his research on the gender-ethnic disparity in Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference distribution, Wang, associate professor at the Center for Human Nutrition at Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that the average change in waist size and BMI among children (and adults) from year to year has risen sharply, with that trend likely to continue. This suggests that obesity is not only prevalent, but that people are growing more obese with time. Wang also found that obesity disproportionately affects women and African Americans.
The epidemic is projected to get worse in the next 10 to 20 years, with dire consequences. Wang projects he average health care costs for the overweight and obese will cost $507 billion in the year 2030 -- making up 17.6% of total health care costs. This is more than six times the cost it was for this group in the year 2000.
But the US is not the "fattest land," nor does it have the fastest increase rate of obesity, according to Wang. While some researchers believe the obesity rate has largely leveled off in the US, prevalence rates are climbing much faster in places like Singapore, New Zealand, East Germany, Australia and China.
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New and Noteworthy
Global Health Week 2010 Kicks off Friday
In an effort to raise awareness of the complex social, environmental, economic and political factors that contribute to global health issues, more than 20 student-led organizations at Duke have come together to organize Global Health Week 2010.
The week-long series of events (March 26-April 1) celebrates an important issue that connects people from all corners of campus, and around the world. It is designed to educate the Duke community about current global health issues, while providing an outlet for others already involved to share what the field means to them.
Click image to view event calendar.
 | "I hope students, faculty, and the public who may join in the week's events come away with greater knowledge of a particular aspect of global health," said Braveen Ragunanthan, one of the lead student organizers of Global Health Week. "I also hope that student organizations will have the chance to see what is the tip of their potential as they come together in a joint effort of collaboration. The spirit of collaboration and interdisciplinary teamwork to achieve new heights is being realized this year by the 20+ student organizations uniting together with serious dedication in this common effort."
The third-annual Global Health Week at Duke focuses on several main themes: refugee awareness, public health, hunger and poverty, innovation and sustainability, and the politics of global health and human rights. These topics will provide students, faculty and staff with a diverse and rich display of the types of issues surrounding global health.
Duke Team Wins Honors at Emory's Global Health Case Competition
Duke students Frances Aunon, Chrissy Booth, Aaron Stoertz, Meredith Barrett and Genevieve Wolpert won honors this past weekend in Emory University's 2010 Global Health Case Competition.
 The team worked for three days on a case examining tobacco control in Gujarat, India and presented to a panel of judges. They drew up a comprehensive long-term plan, based on the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the MPOWER Policy Package, that involved crop, employment and industry diversification away from tobacco. Taking into consideration the production of tobacco in Gujarati from seed to smoke, and how people might interact with tobacco during their day and throughout their lifetime, the Duke group then highlighted an intervention that would form a public-private partnership with a Gujarati-owned telecommunications company to distribute mobile phones through health centers. The phones would be used for cessation counseling and prevention messaging. The Duke group was one of a dozen teams to enter the Emory contest, and one of three teams who represented other universities in the Southeast. Duke placed second in their presentation group, and third overall, and were awarded $600. Duke was the only non-Emory team to receive an award.
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The first annual Duke Global Health Case Competition takes place this Wednesday through Saturday. Learn more.
Spotlight on Cardiovascular Health:
Global Health Cardiology Fellow Shares Training Experience in New Publication
 Global Health Cardiology Fellow Jerry Bloomfield is featured in the latest edition of " Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association" in which he and a colleague share their training experience in global chronic disease research, including both the challenges and opportunities they've faced.
Bloomfield is spending a year as a Fogarty fellow at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya to study the epidemiology of heart failure among East Africans. He is also developing an innovative education program to reach people who may not have access to a physician or are unfamiliar with the health risks associated with cardiovascular disease.
In the publication, Bloomfield and Mark Huffman present their perspective on potential funding pathways, areas of interest germane to global cardiovascular disease research, the importance of an overseas training component, forms of "home" institutional support that can be helpful, and personal challenges and opportunities that merit consideration. Read the journal article.
Report: Promoting Cardiovascular Health in Developing World is Critical Challenge
 Cardiovascular disease (CVD), once thought to be confined primarily to industrialized nations, has emerged as a major health threat in developing countries. Cardiovascular disease now accounts for nearly 30 percent of deaths in low and middle income countries each year, and is accompanied by significant economic repercussions. Yet most governments, global health institutions, and development agencies have largely overlooked CVD as they have invested in health in developing countries. Recognizing the gap between the compelling evidence of the global CVD burden and the investment needed to prevent and control CVD, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) turned to the IOM for advice on how to catalyze change.
In a new report, the IOM recommends that the NHLBI, development agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and governments work toward two essential goals:
1.) creating environments that promote heart healthy lifestyle choices and help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, and
2.) building public health infrastructure and health systems with the capacity to implement programs that will effectively detect and reduce risk and manage CVD.
To meet these goals, the IOM recommends several steps, including improving cooperation and collaboration; implementing effective and feasible strategies; and informing efforts through research and health surveillance. Without better efforts to promote cardiovascular health, global health as a whole will be undermined. Read the report. |
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Faculty News and Funding
NEW! DGHI Job Opportunity: Deputy Director
The position will report to the Director and will oversee the strategic planning efforts of the Institute as well as its international expansion. The Deputy Director will represent the Director in numerous settings, both internal and external to Duke University, and take a leading role in the recruitment and development of the Institute's faculty. Read more and apply.
Funding Opportunities
NEW! Behavioral and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities: (R21) (R01)
Purpose. To encourage behavioral and social science research on the causes and solutions to health and disabilities disparities in the US population. Health disparities between, on the one hand, racial/ethnic populations, lower socioeconomic classes, and rural residents and, on the other hand, the overall US population are major public health concerns. Deadline September 14. Read more.
NEW! HIV/AIDS Program Implementation Support Through Local Universities in Ethiopia
The purpose of this program is to build and strengthen an indigenous, sustainable response to the HIV epidemic in Ethiopia through the support of innovative, culturally-appropriate, high-quality HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support, and treatment programs at the national, regional, health network and facility levels. Deadline May 17. Read more.
NEW! Improving HIV Prevention Initiatives in Communities in the Republic of Zambia
The purpose of this program is to implement, scale up and evaluate community based HIV prevention interventions which increase the number and proportion of community members who know their own and their sexual partner's HIV status and link those tested to appropriate HIV services. Deadline May 5. Read more.
NEW! Secondary Analyses of Social and Behavioral Datasets in Aging (R03)
This funding announcement, issued by the National Institute on Aging, is seeking small grant (R03) applications to conduct secondary analysis of social and behavioral data in aging. Deadline June 16. Read more.
NEW! Modeling of Infectious Disease Agent Systems (U01)
This funding announcement, issued by the National Institute for General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, encourages Cooperative Agreement applications from institutions/organizations that propose to provide the US scientific and public health communities better resources, knowledge and tools to improve their ability to identify and prevent the spread of diseases resulting from the emergence or intentional release of pathogens and their products. Deadline July 15. Read more.
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DGHI MSc-GH program - FINAL 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 program, which will begin in August 2010. Deadline March 29. Read more.
See Why Students Are Choosing the MSc-GH in our Video Corner on the right-column.
UPDATED! Global Semester Abroad in India and China: Call for Applications
Duke faculty from the Sanford School of Public Policy, the Department of Cultural Anthropology and the Duke Global Health Institute have partnered to offer undergraduate students an in-depth exploration of health and development issues in India and China. Deadline April 16. Course descriptions now available. Read more.
Summer Internship with US Campaign for Burma
An internship with the US Campaign for Burma is best suited for students interested in human rights, grassroots organizing, non-violent political movements, congressional advocacy, democratization, mechanisms for international justice, new media and technology, nonprofit operations, Southeast Asian affairs and/or Burma. Deadline March 29. Read more.
Duke-TIP in India Program: Summer Employment Opportunity
The Duke TIP in India Program is presently seeking applicants for Teaching Assistant and Residential Counselor positions for summer 2010. Candidates for both positions must have at least sophomore standing and have a current passport that will be valid through the end of 2010. Deadline: March 31. Read more.
Funding Opportunities
NEW! Third Year Duke Medical Student Grants for Global Health Research Projects
To encourage and support the participation of third year Duke medical students in global health research, the Duke Global Health Institute is offering grants of up to $12,500 for rising third year students interested in doing their research overseas. Deadline to apply is April 1. Read more.
NSF Graduate Stem Fellows in K-12 Education
This program provides funding for graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to bring their leading research practice and findings into K-12 learning settings. Deadline April 5. Read more.
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Duke South Green Zone, M224
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March 24-27, 2010
Trent Hall and Rhodes Conference Room of Sanford School
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March 25, 2010 » 4:30- 6 pm
John Hope Franklin Center, Room 240
2010 Duke MBA India Business Forum - "India: Turning the Lens on Tomorrow"
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March 30 » 12-1 pm
Trent Hall, Room 124
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Video Corner
"Why Students Are Choosing the MSc-GH"
DGHI is accepting applications through March 29.
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Other recent DGHI Videos:
Harley Feldbaum
Johns Hopkins University
Kirk R. Smith
University of Carlifornia, Berkeley
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-in Newsweek,
with comments from DGHI affiliate Sarah Armstrong
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