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Greetings!
We are inspired every day by the conversations we have with students who just discovered their new passion for finding solutions to clean water in Peru or the best methods to deliver medications in Kenya. It is these "a ha" moments that change the direction of careers and set our students on a path of discovery and personal and professional fulfillment. These are also the moments when we remember why we're building a world-class program in global health at Duke.
The combination of inspired, passionate students and dedicated and creative faculty experts give us hope that one day we can make a meaningful difference in the health inequities that exist today.
We're bringing some of those voices to you today through a new video we're calling "Global Health: We Are Duke." We would like to hear from you about what you find inspiring about global health at Duke. Send your thoughts and reactions to globalhealth@duke.edu.
Students: Did a global health faculty member inspire you or make a difference in your life? We encourage you to take a minute to nominate him/her for a DGHI Teaching or Mentoring Award! Submit your nomination by 5pm on April 23.
Until next week,Geelea Seaford and Everyone at DGHI
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We Are Global Health. We Are Duke.
Students are choosing Duke because of its reputation as an emerging leader in global health. From the classroom to the real world, the Duke Global Health Institute is linking knowledge with experience that fuels the passion in our students and faculty to find solutions. We are preparing the next generation of leaders to combat the world's greatest health challenges that transcends borders, both geographical to disciplinary. For all these reasons, global health is embedded in the fabric of Duke University. Watch our inspiring video to see how. |
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Research News at DGHI
3Rs for Innovating Novel Antibiotics
In a commentary featured in BMJ this month, DGHI faculty member Anthony So and associate in research Quentin Ruiz-Esparza suggest that access to effective antibiotics is essential to treating the unavoidable infections that come with cancer chemotherapy, organ transplantation, or the care of premature babies.
Groundwater's Impact on Dental Health in the Ethiopian Rift In a new study featured in Environment International, DGHI faculty Marc Jeuland and Avner Vengosh found high fluoride levels in two drainage basins within the Main Ethiopian Rift, along with other toxins like arsenic and uranium.
The Misconceptions of Childhood Obesity
Eric Finkelstein, a DGHI faculty member based at Duke-NUS, debunks three misconceptions about childhood obesity in a new commentary featured in the April issue of the Childhood Obesity Journal.
Cost and Benefits of Improved Cookstoves
In a newly published study in PLoS One, DGHI faculty members Marc Jeuland and Subhrendu Pattanayak suggest the net benefits of improved cookstoves may be negative, and in many instances, highly so.
Disparities in Oral Health Among Older Adults in the US
DGHI faculty member Bei Wu is lead author on a new study in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology that reveals significant differences in edentulism, or tooth loss, across racial/ethinic groups for people over age 50.
Study Questions Connection Between Religion and Depression
A new study featured in the American Journal of Epidemiology and led by DGHI faculty member Joanna (Asia) Maselko suggests that people who develop depression may be more likely to stop attending religious services.
Community Engagement is Integral for Effective Health Research
In a new publication featured in Family Community Health, DGHI Research Analyst Morgan Barlow and collaborators from Virginia Tech highlight the importance of community engagement for formulating research agendas and promoting ownership of health solutions. .
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Two DGHI Faculty Awarded Funding for Malaria and Obesity Research
 DGHI faculty member Wendy O'Meara has been awarded $320,720 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to explore financial incentives for improving prescription practices for treating malaria in Kenya. Over the next two years, O'Meara and researchers will test an innovative, sustainable financial incentive at health facilities that could reduce the number of non-malarial fevers treated inappropriately with antimalarial drugs. Eighteen rural health facilities in Western Kenya will be enrolled in one of two arms of the study. Researchers will compare the effectiveness of clinical and technical training in diagnosis of malaria to training plus financial incentives linked to prescription practices in improving diagnosis and treatment of malaria and non-malaria fevers. The rate at which antimalarials are prescribed to patients who test negative for malaria will be compared between facilities, both with and without the financial incentive. O'Meara's team will also look at sensitivity and specificity of routine microscopy at health centers, use of alternative treatments for fever and frequency of stock-outs of antimalarial drugs.
 DGHI faculty member Eric Finkelstein, who is based at Duke-NUS in Singapore, has been awarded a one-year $147,565 grant from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to lead a cost-effectiveness study on preventing obesity among children in Texas. The goal of the project is to develop an integrated, systems-oriented obesity model targeting underserved, ethnically-diverse children between the ages of two and 12. Findings will provide unique insights into the potential of a new health care model that could be cost-effective for obesity prevention and control. Given the long-term health costs related to obesity, development of such a model is crucial to the US public health agenda.
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GHTA Conference Addresses Innovation in Global Health Technologies
The challenges and opportunities of sharing new technologies and innovations in global health was the focus of a conference hosted by the Sanford School's Program on Global Health and Technology Access (GHTA) earlier this month.  Attended by nearly 80 people, the 2012 Opening Scientific Collaboration for Innovation in Global Health Conference, or OpenSCI 2012, explored the types of collaborative models for the development of health technologies and interventions for resource-limited settings.
OpenSCI plenary and breakout sessions explored questions on how best to foster collaboration and alternative research and development models that can benefit global health. UNICEF's Chief of Health Mickey Chopra delivered the keynote address on the obstacles that prevent good ideas, promising technologies and health interventions from reaching people in the developing world, which may include financing constraints for scale-up, structural barriers, and adoption in developing countries. Conference attendees also worked through case studies and group discussions to consider how health technologies might be improved based on end-user feedback.
DGHI Helps Launch New Campus Group on Distance Education
Marc Sperber, Educational Technologies Consultant at the Duke Global Health Institute, and Haiyan Zhou, Academic Technologies Consultant, Duke Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) have started a distance education special interest group at Duke (DE SIG @ DU). The primary foci of attention are program administration, pedagogy, and technology.
Duke has not had an active distance education group in a number of years. Based on personal experiences and a survey of Duke DE leaders, an exploratory meeting identified strong support for a new group. The DE SIG @ DU already includes distance education program administrators, faculty, educational technologists, instructional designers, e-Learning developers and trainers, IT leaders, and distance education IT support staff, etc. The group is open to anyone at Duke with an interest in DE - both faculty and staff are welcome.
The next meeting is scheduled for April 24, 1-2:30 pm, Bostock Library 039.
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