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September 13, 2011
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Greetings!
Today marks the fifth anniversary of DGHI's News & Notes weekly newsletter, and our 166th issue. (Click to see our archives.) Thanks to you, our readership continues to grow. And thanks to our outstanding faculty, students, staff and partners, their good work gives us plenty of news and information to bring to you each week. This year DGHI will celebrate the fifth anniversary of many "firsts." Join us for the official five year celebration on October 3. It starts at 1 pm with the symposium, Acting Today to Improve Tomorrow moderated by Richard Besser, chief medical correspondent at ABC News. The day concludes with a reception beginning at 6 pm at the Duke Gardens. Register today to reserve your seat! This week we're pleased to announce the launch of two new global health initiatives at Duke. First, the DGHI Student Research Training Program, which is targeted to second and third year undergraduates who are interested in a comprehensive global health field experience. The second is the launch of Division of Global Health in the Department of Pediatrics. Read more about each of these exciting new endeavors below. Until next week, Geelea, Alyssa and Everyone at DGHI
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DGHI Launches Undergraduate Field Research Program
The Duke Global Health Institute introduces a new fieldwork training program which engages second and third year undergraduates in community-based student research projects in global health.
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Introducing DGHI's Student Research Training Program
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The new DGHI Student Research Training Program provides students with the unique opportunity to develop and carry out a field project at one of six DGHI project locations in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Costa Rica and Durham. Students will receive a rigorous, hands-on experience working on global health issues like access to health care, infant mortality and health care mapping. Unique to DGHI's program, selected students will participate in training workshops and receive mentorship from a Duke faculty member throughout the academic year. Make a difference in the world of health disparities. In this video above (right), hear what students are saying about the DGHI field experience. Info Session: Sept. 21, 2011 at 5:30pm in 039A Trent Hall Application Deadline: October 7, 2011
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DGHI Grant Jumpstarts Physician's Aim to Globalize Hep C Research
Application Deadline: October 1
A Duke physician in pediatric infectious diseases is broadening his research scope to a global scale, and with  help from DGHI, is building important collaborations in Egypt for his research on the mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis C.
Ravi Jhaveri, assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases and molecular genetics and microbiology, said the primary outcome of his recent trip to Egypt was to identify and meet with key local collaborators at Cairo University. Last fall, he had received a DGHI International Travel Grant to pursue global health research opportunities in a low- or middle-income country. The grant is given out twice a year, and faculty researchers are encouraged to apply before the October deadline.
At Cairo University, Jhaveri met with leaders in OB/GYN, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Hepatologists, and public health representatives.
"The DGHI International Travel Grant program allowed me to visit the site in person, meet the key people involved, understand some of the potential limitations and how to deal with them and gain a better understanding of the local culture and population we are proposing to study," said Jhaveri. "I am grateful for the support of the DGHI and hope I can build an ongoing research program as a result."
Jhaveri's research focuses on the transmission of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) from mother to child. While Jhaveri's current research has provided a greater understanding of the cellular determinants of HCV vertical transmission, his findings have been limited to laboratory observations. The aim of future studies will be to examine placental tissue from patients. Jhaveri said it was vital to consider a more global approach and Egypt would be the first spotlight.
DGHI is accepting applications for its International Travel Grant Program. Deadline to apply is October 1, 2011.
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New Global Health Residents to Work in East Africa
Paul Park and Steven Sumner are the latest medical trainees to join the Duke Global Health Residency/ Fellowship Pathway program. In addition to being Global Health Residents, they are also completing their residency in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center.
In the Global Health Residency/Fellowship Pathway program, a rigorous 18-24 month program, Park and Sumner will expand their  medical training and clinical and research skills in the area of global health by addressing health disparities. They will focus their clinical work and research in the areas of diabetes and motorcycle injury in East Africa, respectively.
"Paul and Steve are prime examples of the caliber of trainees coming into our program," said Nathan Thielman, director of the Global Health Residency/Fellowship Pathway. "Each has spent significant periods of time in resource poor settings and has consequently decided to retool their training for careers in global health research and service."
Administered by the Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health and DGHI, the program enables trainees to complete the Master of Science in Global Health and spend at least nine months conducting research and clinical work at an international training site.
"I'm fortunate to have this opportunity early in my career to focus on designing and implementing research that I'm interested in while having strong faculty support for problem-solving and advice," said Sumner.
The Duke Global Health Residency/Fellowship Pathway is now recruiting for fall 2012. Learn more.
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Pediatrics Announces New Division of Global Health
By Duke Medicine
The Duke Department of Pediatrics has a strong commitment to global health and has numerous faculty working on children's health initiatives internationally. In an effort to coordinate and effectively build upon these efforts, the Department of Pediatrics has created the Division of Global Health. Working closely with DGHI, the Duke Hubert-Yeargen Center for Global Health and other global institutions, the primary mission of the Division of Global Health is to improve the health of children in disadvantaged populations worldwide through research, education, and service.
"The Division represents a true partnership with our collaborators at Duke and around the world and consists of a multi-disciplinary team of faculty with notable experience working in resource poor communities and mentoring and teaching future leaders in pediatrics," says DGHI affiliate Coleen Cunningham, newly appointed Chief of the Division of Global Health and Chief of the Pediatric Division of Infectious Diseases.
A number of education and mentorship activities in global health already exist in the Department of Pediatrics, and the new Division will build on these activities. An important aim is to deliver tailored postgraduate training experiences that integrate specialty-specific research opportunities, didactic training, and close mentorship to develop careers in global health.
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Research News at DGHI
Most States Lack Regulations for Healthy Eating in Child Care
A study co-authored by Sara Benjamin Neelon, assistant professor of community and family medicine and global health, evaluates the role child-care settings can play in obesity prevention.
Severe Bacterial Infection in Tropics Frequently Causes Fever
A study co-authored by Chris Woods, associate professor of medicine and global health, determined the prevalence of acute and past cases of leptospirosis and found that the severe bacterial infection is a frequent cause of acute febrile illness in southern Sri Lanka.
Impact of Social Networks on Health Status Among Chinese Populations
A study led by Bei Wu, professor of nursing and global health, examines the impact of an individual's social network on health outcomes among older Chinese in Shanghai and older Chinese immigrants in Boston. Impact of Politics, Economy on Medical Tourism
An essay in Body & Society by DGHI grant recipient Ara Wilson, associate professor of women's studies and cultural anthropology, suggests that geographic understandings of scale can help understand the larger political and economic dynamics that generate medical tourism. Behavioral Medicine Program Reduces Risk of Depression
A paper by Redford Williams, professor of psychology and neuroscience and a member of DGHI's Cardiovascular Disease Working Group, describes a US behavioral medicine program that was adapted for diverse global settings.
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South Africa Judges Says Stigma is Barrier to Preventing HIV/AIDS
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DGHI Seminar Video: Judge Edwin Cameron
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By Duke Research
Telling young people to use a condom or to stop having sex won't prevent the spread of HIV in South Africa. It's like telling the one in five people in the U.S. who still smoke to simply stop, said Judge Edwin Cameron, a sitting justice in the South African Constitutional Court and an HIV-positive public figure, who spoketo a standing-room only crowd during a Duke Global Health Institute seminar in the John Hope Franklin Center on Sept. 8.
His message was that the biggest barrier to preventing the spread of HIV and deaths from AIDS in his country was not access to antiretroviral drugs or even the spread of information about the disease. The barrier is self-stigma and our inability to talk candidly about sex. In South Africa, 300,000 new HIV infections are diagnosed each year. For every two individuals treated, three more become infected, Cameron said.
New Videos: The Haiti Humanities Lab
The Haiti Lab, of which DGHI is a collaborator, was created last fall to bring innovative, interdisciplinary research more fully into the undergraduate experience, with the intention of positively impacting the Haitian community. Kathy Walmer, a DGHI adjunct assistant professor and co-founder of Family Health Ministries, hosts Duke students in Leogane, Haiti each year to conduct student global health projects. In the video to the left, Walmer discusses the student experience. The Haiti Lab is co-directed by DGHI affiliate Deborah Jenson, professor of French and Romance Studies, who discusses the initiative's cholera mapping project in the video to the right. To learn more, read DGHI's story introducing the humanities lab.
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Jenson: Cholera Mapping Project
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Walmer: Students in Haiti
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