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Greetings!
Did you know that one sixth of the world's population does not have access to clean water; and one child dies every 15 seconds from water-related disease? Today is World Water Day, and an opportunity to shed light on this important global challenge. Get informed and get involved. Click here to learn more. This week we're highlighting the research collaboration opportunities that exist between faculty and students at Duke and Duke-National University of Singapore. Hear from Eric Finkelstein about the advantages of conducting health research in Singapore. Also, read about the successful bioethics conference organized by students at Duke this past weekend.
Until next week,
Geelea Seaford and Everyone at DGHI
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Bridging Two Campuses: Duke/Duke-NUS Research Collaborations in Singapore
Faculty at Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS) Graduate Medical School are working to increase collaborations with faculty and students from all corners of Duke's campus in Durham, with the goals of bridging the two institutions and expanding cutting-edge research to an increasingly important part of the world. The Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School was established in 2005 as part of a national strategy to become a leading center for medical research and education.
DGHI faculty member and health economist Eric Finkelstein is based at Duke-NUS, where he leads one of five signature research initiatives. Learn more about the research activities currently under way at Duke-NUS and areas for potential collaboration.
 | | Click to watch video with DGHI faculty member Eric Finkelstein on his priority to build research collaborations between Duke and Duke-NUS. |
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National Bioethics Conference Hosted by Students at Duke
The 14th annual National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference (NUBC), titled "More Personal or More Global?" was hosted this past weekend at Duke. The conference attracted more than 250 undergraduate  students and faculty from 40 US universities from the fields of medicine, natural sciences, policy, philosophy and social sciences to foster awareness, enthusiasm and discussion of current bioethical challenges.
This year's NUBC conference, supported in part by DGHI, kicked off with a video clip of global health pioneer Paul Farmer who challenged attendees to "to lift up our gaze from... the quandary ethics of the individual" in order to link the big scale problems to the local problems. Throughout the weekend, faculty panels, seminars and student presentations brought to light the major issues from personal genomics to access to essential medicines. Speakers included DGHI faculty members Anthony So, Dennis Clements, Jeff Wilkinson and DGHI affiliates Robert Cook-Deegan and Allen Buchanan. Student presentations included Duke Program II student Eanas Aboobakar, who focused on the work of private philanthropic foundations as key forces behind a new era of commitment to global health and the ethical dilemmas involved.
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Congress Proposes Cuts to International Programs: Global Health Council issues Call to Action
Right now in Congress, the International Affairs Budget is facing cuts that will damage our national security, economy, and standing in the world. The House has already voted to cut development, health and diplomacy programs by nearly 20 percent. A cut of this level would have a devastating impact on America's role in building a more stable, peaceful and prosperous world.
Drastic cuts to global health programs will result in:
- 5 million children and family members denied treatment and preventive intervention on malaria
- 3,500 mothers and more than 40,000 children under 5 (of which 16,000 are newborns) denied access to child survival interventions
- PEPFAR turning away 400,000 people who require treatment for HIV/AIDS
- 16 million people denied treatment for tropical diseases
- 40,000 children and family members denied TB treatment
- 18.8 million fewer polio vaccinations
- 26.3 million fewer measles vaccinations
Read the Global Health Council's call to action.
Related News
- The Hill: Pentagon defends foreign aid as essential to national security
- Reuters: Republicans in Congress aim to cut foreign aid
- The Huffington Post: Cuts That Kill: The Senate Must Restore Global Health Funding
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 Palliative Care
DGHI affiliate Don Taylor, associate professor of public policy, was awarded a two-year $277,725 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the relationship between use, cost and quality of community and hospital-based palliative care, and hospice care delivered in homes and inpatient facilities. Taylor and his research team will analyze the Palliative Care Database (PCD), which is based on a collaboration between Duke University and Four Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care, to describe the ways palliative care is provided, and describe its relationship with cost and quality. The study will help identify holes in the current reimbursement mechanisms for palliative care, particularly in Medicare. The project will also provide detailed information on the link between hospice use and quality, a necessary element to current discussions of reforming the Medicare hospice benefit.
Training for HIV Testing
 Nathan Thielman, associate professor of medicine and global health, through DGHI's Center for Health Policy has been awarded a one-year $17,500 grant from Emory University to provide health care provider training and technical assistance based on the 2006 HIV testing and counseling recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health care providers and training plans in North Carolina will be identified and prioritized in collaboration with the North Carolina Division of Public Health, HIV/STD Prevention and Care Section and the Central Office.
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