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Weekly News and Notes
From the Duke Global Health Institute
Greetings!
This week's news brings stories of DGHI's growing Master of Science in Global Health program (24 students begin in August); important discoveries from our researchers in Tanzania; and innovative uses of technology in Kenya and Tanzania. We're also pleased to announce our new student fieldwork blog, Global Health Dispatch: Diaries from the Field. Join us as we follow the journey of 40+ students as they experience global health firsthand, whether they are in Durham or Delhi. (Receive instant blog updates by signing up here.)
Finally, don't miss DGHI's Global Health Exchange events taking place throughout the summer. These informal, brown bag presentations will feature Duke faculty and visitors. Wednesday's Global Health Exchange features John Bartlett who will discuss his recent trip to refugee camps in Nepal. It will take place at 12 pm tomorrow in Trent 124. Watch the e-news calendar for upcoming Exchange events. As you know by now, there's never a dull moment at DGHI. Thanks for following along.
Until next week,
Geelea Seaford and Everyone at DGHI |
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DGHI Announces Second Class of Master of Science in Global Health Students
This fall, 24 individuals from Uganda, India, Kenya, Nigeria and the United States, will join the Duke Global Health Institute's growing Master of Science in Global Health (MSc-GH) program. In its second year, the program has gained wide appeal around the world and is among the first interdisciplinary, university-wide graduate programs in global health in the US. The Duke MSc-GH has again attracted individuals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, from those who recently completed a bachelor's degree to those seeking to add global health expertise to their current career. The second class of students has wide-ranging interests, from medicine, political science and journalism to history, philosophy and ocean sciences. The array of intellectual expertise speaks to the very nature of the MSc-GH, which provides students with a collaborative and interdisciplinary experience that will allow them to innovatively address global health challenges of today and tomorrow, while paying special attention to the complex causes of health inequalities that pervade underserved communities across low- and middle-income countries.
The 32-unit curriculum is predominantly research-based, with two of five core courses involving research methods in global health science. Electives are organized by four thematic blocks, which include global environmental health, disease causation and prevention, global health policy and management and population sciences. The MSc-GH also requires students to engage in a 10-week field experience to apply learned research methods, from which they will complete a scholarly thesis.
DGHI has increased its elective course offerings this year, with additional electives available in global environmental health, demography and epidemiology. |
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Noteworthy Publications
Research Suggests Invasive Bacterial Infections Important Cause of Illness, Death in sub-Saharan Africa
New research by Duke and DGHI researchers shows bloodstream infections are common and associated with high mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings from the article entitled "Community-acquired bloodstream infections in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis" are published in this week's edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Lead authors of the article are Elizabeth A. Reddy, Andrea V. Shaw, and John A. Crump, a Duke Global Health Institute member and site director at the Duke-KCMC partnership in Moshi, Tanzania.
They conclude that improved clinical microbiology services and reassessment of empirical treatment guidelines that account for the epidemiology of bloodstream infections can contribute to better health outcomes. Read more and link to the article.
Demand for a "One Health" Interdisciplinary Approach to Address Global Health Challenges
A group of Duke and North Carolina State University students are calling for more interdisciplinary education to address global health challenges in an article published this month in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The article entitled "Integrating a One Health approach in education to address global health and sustainability challenges," is co-authored by Meredith A. Barrett, Timothy A. Bouley, Aaron H. Stoertz, and Rosemary W. Stoertz.
As a group of students from ecology, medicine, veterinary medicine and global health, the authors write about the "shortage of collaborative student programs, insufficient environmental training for health professionals, and a lack of institutional support" that consequently impedes progress in global health. The article offers a vision for improving tertiary education that can sufficiently prepare environmental and health professionals to address a changing world.
"Global health and sustainability problems are so big and complex-we just can't approach them with individual disciplines anymore. To promote interdisciplinarity among professionals, the groundwork has to be laid during their training," said Barrett, a PhD student at the Nicholas School of the Environment. Read more about the "One Health" approach and link to the article.
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DGHI Launches New Fieldwork Blog "Global Health Dispatch: Diaries from the Field"
 The Duke Global Health Institute is proud to announce the launch of the official DGHI Fieldwork Blog, entitled " Global Health Dispatch: Diaries from the Field," which is being used by dozens of undergraduate, graduate, medical and PhD students as they begin to chronicle their fieldwork, research projects and internships this summer, with some projects continuing into the fall.
The Global Health Dispatch makes it easy for people to follow along with a function enabling categorization of blog entries by country, project or author.
A handful of students are already in the field; read their blog posts. Check back often for updates, and for DGHI feature stories throughout the summer.
DGHI, WISER Map Community Health in Kenya
An innovative Duke project under way is demonstrating how multimedia and geospatial technologies can add a powerful new dimension to community development and student engagement in underserved areas like Muhuru Bay, Kenya.
The project is a collaboration between the Women's Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER) and Duke classes in Biology and Information Science + Information Studies.
 "Think about how many students go overseas and come back with an amazingly rich cache of information,most of which usually goes on their Facebook page," said Sherryl Broverman, co-founder of WISER and associate professor of the practice in biology. "There's tremendous potential, given the increasing emphasis on global experience, to harvest the information the students gather and to build these rich databases." Key landmarks - schools, churches and beaches - form the framework of the map, which also includes video interviews, audio recordings and photos that annotate specific locations. Different map "layers" focus on themes such as daily life in Muhuru, health and disease, and the WISER program, which opened a new boarding school for girls in January.
Read more about how mapping can be used for fieldwork methods and analysis on Duke's Research page, which includes comments from DGHI Postdoctoral Fellow Eve Puffer.
University Works to Outfit DGHI Field Sites with Communications Technology
This spring, the Duke Office of Information Technology (OIT) sent two networking toolkits to DGHI-affiliated clinics in Port-au-Prince and Leogane, Haiti. The kits enabled healthcare workers there to phone from one clinic to another, call medical experts at Duke and connect to Duke databases and libraries as if they were on the Durham campus.
DGHI member David Walmer using new Duke technology in Haiti. The university is now working to bring this technology to DGHI's site in Moshi, Tanzania. | The situation in Haiti "provided a catalyst for quick development and deployment of what we're calling a 'campus-in-a-suitcase," said Louis Fox, Duke's senior adviser for global information technology.
Using the knowledge gained in Haiti, OIT staff are now working with DGHI to deploy a network in Moshi, Tanzania, where Duke's Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health has partnered with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre. The site has a staff of more than 50 people, mostly Tanzanians, supporting a dozen collaborative research and education efforts.
An enhanced network there promises to transform communications and collaboration, said John Bartlett, DGHI's associate director of research.
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Faculty News and Funding
CUGH 2010 Annual Meeting- Register now!
"Transforming Global Health:
The Interdisciplinary Power of Universities"
September 19-21, 2010
University of Washington, Seattle WA
The second annual meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health will address the university's transforming role and how resources can be mobilized to advance global health. The meeting will focus on three cutting edge themes.
Funding Opportunities
Center Seed Grant Request for Proposals
The China International Center for Chronic Disease Prevention will award seed research grants to 1) encourage innovative research projects with the potential for funding for larger-scale studies, and to 2) establish tangible platforms for collaborations, fellowship training, and capacity building between international and Chinese organizations in its network. Deadline June 30. Read more.
Small Grant Opportunity for Duke School of Nursing Faculty
The Duke University School of Nursing, Office of Global and Community Health Initiatives, with support from DGHI, is offering a one-year grant opportunity for School of Nursing faculty up to $10,000. Deadline July 31. Read more.
NEW! U.S.-India Bilateral Collaborative Research Partnerships on Prevention of HIV/AIDS and Co-morbidities (R21)
This opportunity solicits applications from US-funded institutions with an Indian-institution partner to establish Collaborative Research Partnerships in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention or in preventing, treating, or ameliorating HIV-related co-morbidities. Deadline August 3. Read more.
Call for Abstracts/Papers
Health Services Research (HSR) Theme Issue on Global Health Systems - Deadline October 23. Read more.
The Lancet: HPV and Cancer - Deadline June 7. Read more.
9th International Conference on Urban Health - Deadline May 31. Read more.
Training Oportunity
Australian-American Health Policy Fellowship
This is a unique opportunity for outstanding, mid-career U.S. professionals to spend up to 10 months in Australia conducting research and working with leading Australian health policy experts on issues relevant to both countries. Deadline August 15. Read more.
* * * For additional faculty opportunities, click here. |
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Did you graduate this semester? Are you interested in a career in global health? See the latest job opportunities available from the Global Health Council and other resources. See the complete listing of global health career resources on the DGHI website.
Employment/Education Opportunities
NEW! Global Health Opportunity for Work Study/Independent Study Students
A great opportunity is available through DGHI for work study students, independent study credit and/or GHC fieldwork credit to participate in several tasks related to understanding health workforce issues in Africa, including topics related to the private health sector in resource poor settings, health systems, human resources for health, and global health worker shortage. Read more. International Student Services, Office of International Activities, UNC School of Medicine
Candidates for the International Student Services position must possess knowledge of the visa process for domestic medical students seeking work or study authorization abroad as well as international students seeking educational opportunities in the United States at UNC School of Medicine. Read more.
Global Semester Abroad in India and China
Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis this summer as space permits for the Duke Global Semester Abroad program, which begins in 2011 . Join your fellow undergraduate students to explore health and development issues in India and China while being immersed in their cultures for a semester. Read more.
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Trent Hall, Room 124
May 26 » 3-6 pm
Hall of Science and Love Auditorium, LSRC
May 27 » 7:30-9 am
NC Biotechnology Center, RTP
June 8 » 1:30-4 pm
Webcast and Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building Auditorium, UNC-CH
June 9 » 5:30-7 pm
South Lawn, Sarah P. Duke Gardens
June 10 » 11am-12pm (Note Time Change)
Trent Hall, Room 124
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Video Corner
"The MSc-GH: From The Student Perspective"
Click the image to watch video with MSc-GH student Ernest Mavunga, who discusses why he chose the renowned DGHI program.
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DGHI In The News
-- The Herald Sun
Featuring the Haiti relief efforts of our partner Family Health Ministries and Executive Director Kathy Walmer.
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