By Family Health Ministries

Master of Science in Global Health student Marnie Cooper-Priest spent six weeks in Haiti this summer conducting research with traditional birth attendants through Family Health Ministries. Cooper-Priest, who is a trained midwife, was humbled by the dedication of the Fondwa "matrons" or midwives who walked up to two hours each way to attend information sessions three times a week for four weeks.  In addition to these formal sessions, Duke third year medical student Kate Wiegert surveyed the community to learn about current childbirth practices and outcomes. 

During the information sessions, the Haitian matrons practiced basic midwifery skills and learned about pregnancy, childbirth and complications that would require immediate attention or referral to a hospital. Cooper-Priest used pictures to communicate, and made up chants and sang songs to help her students learn and retain the information.  She brought metronomes to help her Haitian colleagues understand appropriate heart rates, and the students were able to hear a baby's heart rate for the first time. "They really didn't know that it was possible," said Cooper-Priest, "which was a complete surprise."      

Med Students Receive Fellowships for Research in Africa, South Asia   

Two Duke medical students Ufuoma Akoroda and Andrew Bouley have received the Benjamin H. Kean Traveling Fellowship in Tropical Medicine, which will allow them to participate in global health research projects in Sri Lanka and Tanzania, respectively.

Akoroda is studying the epidemiology and etiology of acute febrile illness in Galle, Sri Lanka in a lab at Duke-NUS in Singapore. This research is part of an ongoing collaboration between Duke and Ruhuna University physicians and researchers on the Febrile Illness Surveillance project.

Bouley will study the incidence and health care burden of typhoid fever in and around Moshi, Tanzania.  With additional funding from DGHI and the Eugene A. Stead Scholarship, his research is part of the Multi-Country Typhoid Fever Surveillance Program at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre.

"Professionally, receiving the Kean Fellowship brings me one step closer to achieving my desired career in infectious diseases and global health," said Bouley in his profile on the ASTMH's website.

By Duke Sanford School of Public Policy

Duke Sanford School Associate Professor and DGHI affiliate Donald H. Taylor Jr. faced a problem when he wrote a book about the federal budget crisis: He wanted his text to influence the current debate, but publishing an academic text might take months at best. By the time he could get a book printed, many key budget decisions might have already been made.

"I started to talk with a few publishers who had some interest," he said. "You talk about late spring or summer for the book but, well, it seemed like these ideas are timely and hot and ready to go..."

"I started thinking about the book 14 or 15 months ago," he said. "The affordable care act passed, and that was a good step, but not enough to create an affordable health care system, and (health care is) the biggest driver of the long-term budget deficit, especially 20 to 50 years in the future."