Emory Global Health Connections, January – April 2024

Emory Global Health Connections

IN THIS ISSUE:

Students Flourishing

Student Excel Through Experiential Learning

Emory Morningside Global Health Case Competition, March 10 – 18

 

Yale University Takes Home Top Prize in Global Health Case Competition
Emory Global Health Institute (EGHI) completed its 16th year uniting students from universities around the world who compete to solve complex global health challenges. The competition, hosted by EGHI challenged 31 student teams from across 6 continents to present solutions to the case challenge,  "Tackling India’s Twindemic: Accelerating integrated diabetes melitus-tuberculosis care to end TB." Many of these teams had won intramural competitions at their own universities or a regional competition to advance to the international global health case competition held annually in March on Emory's campus. 

Congratulations to Yale and other finalist teams rounding out the top 5 - University of Pittsburgh (2), Albert Einstein College of Medicine (3), Penn State University (4), and Vanderbilt University (5). The team from Vanderbilt was also chosen as the 2024 Participants’ Choice Winner.

"Our intervention took a proof-of-concept approach, focusing on screening for latent TB in diabetics and employing India's well-recognized female community health workers, the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) to aid treatment adherence efforts. Being aware of the social inequities these ASHAs face, our position as a civil society organization made it possible for us to address this important health issue through a social health activism lens... I grabbed the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and learned so much through the process." Felica, Yale University MPH Candidate

Explore highlights, including competing universities, distinguished judges, and case advisors, in our competition program and photo gallery.

Intramural Emory Global Health Case Competition, Jan. 26 - Feb. 3, 2024

EGHI hosted multidisciplinary student teams from across Emory University to present their solutions to the case, "Fostering Bilateral Cooperation to Improve Heath & Wellbeing for Migrants and Host Communities at the U.S.-Mexico Border," and win a spot to compete in the 2024 Emory Morningside Global Health Case Competition. With more than 100 million people displaced worldwide due to conflict, violence, human rights violations, and other causes, fostering cooperation between countries to address border health challenges is vital for host communities and migrant populations.

Congratulations to the winning team for their solution "CHAMP" focused on Cross-border Health Advocacy for Migrant Populations. Working across disciplines from Rollins School of Public Health, Laney Graduate School, School of Medicine, and Emory College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics, this team bested the competition to win a cash prize and a spot to represent Emory in the largest global health case competition in the world.

EGHI Student Volunteer and Intern Spotlight

EGHI Student Advisory Committee (SAC) and our student interns play an important role in delivering engaging global health experiential learning programs. As an institute serving across Emory’s schools and colleges, EGHI values the input and contributions of our dedicated, diverse student representatives.

EGHI extends a huge thanks and congratulations to Emory graduating seniors, Sophie Mihan (RSPH Health Policy Management Candidate 2024) and Heidi Siebach (RSPH Department Global Epidemiology Candidate 2024). Sophie served as co-president of EGHI SAC and has been an EGHI Graduate Research Assistant for 2 years. She is looking forward to applying her healthcare system and strategic planning knowledge and skills as she pursues a career in hospital administration.

Heidi was also an EGHI Graduate Research Assistant who competed in EGHI’s 2023 Intramural Emory Global Health Case competition. Her experience in the latter helped her earn WHSC's Interprofessional  Certificate of Distinction and led her to serve as EGHI SAC Case Writing Chair for the 2024 Intramural competition focused on border health. Heidi aspires to work in the field of neglected tropical diseases to combine her interest in infectious diseases with her passion for advancing global health equity

We wish our SAC members, interns, and volunteers a safe and wonderful summer and extend our gratitude for the incredible work and commitment to EGHI. To our seniors, we will miss you and will never be far in the rearview mirror to offer our support on your next adventures.

Left to Right: Farah-Naaz Dharamshi, MSEd., JM, EGHI Director Projects and Student Programs; Stephanie Ponce, RSPH/Behavioral, Social, Health Education Sciences, EGHI Graduate Research Assistant, Heidi Sielbach (RSPH/Global Epidemiology ’24, EGHI Graduate Research Assistant, and Sophie Mihan RSPH/Health Policy Management, EGHI Graduate Research Assistant, SAC Co-president

 

Faculty Eminence

TREE Program Grows at Emory University

Treatment, Research, and Expert Education (TREE), a global health program that took root nearly 20 years ago continues to grow at Emory University and achieve impact under the direction of its founder EGHI Associate Director, Dr. Michael Chung.

TREE and partners were recently awarded two grants:

  • INfectious Diseases Summer Program Integrating Research at Emory (INSPIRE)" – This National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funded project aims to enroll 48 undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in infectious diseases (ID) research from across the United States. A successful pilot program was conducted in the summer of 2023 that provided principal investigators, Drs. Chung, Anita Corbett, and Zanthia Wiley, an exciting window into realizing the goals of exposing diverse undergraduate students to a career in ID research and growing Emory’s mentorship efforts and impact over the five year program.

  • BREAKTHROUGH Center l(Enhanced “BReast and cErvical cAncer screening in Kenya THROUGH” implementation science research and training center): Through an international academic health care partnership, BREAKTHROUGH Center will build a cadre of breast and cervical cancer-related researchers and implementation scientists in Kenya over five years. Led by Principal Investigators Drs. Chung and Mohammed Ali at Emory University and John Kinuthia at Kenyatta National Hospital, this National Cancer Institute funded program aims to address health inequities in East Africa by building local capacity and sharing a knowledge base with in-country and global partners for reducing the burden of women’s cancers in low-resource settings.

EGHI welcomes Chelsea Whitlock, TREE Program Coordinator, to the team. Chelsea joined Emory University from a Series C digital health startup and brings expertise in cross-functional project management, stakeholder and program management, and a wealth of knowledge in both payor and provider strategy and operations.

For more information about these opportunities, contact TREE4Health@emory.edu.



Excellence in Programs & Practice

Positioning Programs for Impact Through Equitable Partnership

 

  • 2024 EGHI Global Health Lecture Series: On April 11, EGHI co-hosted Madhukar Pai for 'Shifting Power in Global Health Via Allyship.' Watch a recording of the lecture held at Emory University

  • IANPHI Annual Meeting (Kigali, Rwanda):, National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs) from around the world met in February to discuss how to strengthen the resilience of health systems and communities to the growing threat of disease, persistent and increasing health inequity, climate and environmental change. WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, addressed the conference and highlighted the importance of the partnership between WHO and IANPHI, signed in October 2022. Read the official ‘Kigali Statement’ from the Annual Meeting hosted by the Rwanda Biomedical Center.

  • CHAMPS to Study Causes of Death in Adults with HIV in Africa: A new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow the CHAMPS Network to leverage its laboratory capacity and partnerships to identify and document causes of death among adults who were living with HIV in Africa, where HIV-related deaths remain unacceptably high in low-resource communities. Approximately 40% of the WHO-estimated seven million AIDS-related deaths over the next decade could be prevented by addressing advanced HIV disease (AHD). Read the partnership announcement and hear from leaders in participating countries - Kenya, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and South Africa.

 

© Thom Pierce/South Africa/2018. Photo documentarian, Thom Pierce, and U.S. CDC traveled to the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic in South Africa to capture the faces and stories of the individuals at the forefront of the response.



News and Views

Don’t Miss News and Announcements

Featured EGHI News



From our Partners
  • June 20, Join Emory Global Diabetes Research Center’s (EGDRC) inaugural Distinguished Lecture from 11AM – 12PM EST. Celebrating two decades of the Emory-Madras Diabetes Research Foundation collaboration, EGDRC will host Dr. V. Mohan, a prominent figure in the field of diabetes research. Find more information and RSVP today.