The Latest News from VIGH

Grant Writing Workshop Trains Investigators in Mozambique

  In partnership with the University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), faculty and staff from the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) led a 10-day grant writing workshop in Maputo, Mozambique to train Mozambican health professionals on techniques to strengthen and improve their grant proposals.

VUSM Student Reflects on ISC: Global Health and Research Immersion Experience with Lwala Community Alliance

Sarah Heerboth, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Class of 2019 (expected), recently wrote an article reflecting on her experience working with Lwala Community Alliance in Kenya. Sarah worked at Lwala for her Integrated Science Course (ISC): Global Health, a research immersion course for third- and fourth-year medical students. 

VUSM MPH Alumnae Awarded Global Health Corps Fellowships

Two Vanderbilt MPH Program alumnae have been named 2018-2019 Global Health Corps (GHC) Fellows. Grace Umutesi, M.P.H. and Shellese Shemwell, M.P.H. will both work in Rwanda during the upcoming year. Umutesi will serve as a Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Officer with Health Development Initiative, and Shemwell has been named Integrated NCD Program Quality Improvement Coordinator with Partners in Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima.

Science and PBS report on three places where "ending AIDS" is a distant hope

In 2016, Nigeria accounted for 37,000 of the world's 160,000 new cases of babies born with HIV. The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria does have an exceptionally large HIV-infected population of 3.2 million people. In other countries, however, rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV have plummeted, even in far poorer countries. Mother-to-child transmission is only one part of Nigeria’s HIV epidemic.

VIGH Hosts Program for Strengthening Clinical Trial Regulation Capacity

This week, VIGH hosted visitors from Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) and the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) to attend the VIGH Transdisciplinary Program for Strengthening Clinical Trial Regulation Capacity. The goal of this program was to build capacity of NAFDAC and NACA staff for clinical trial regulation and oversight of clinical trial protocols. NAFDAC, Nigeria's local equivalent of the U.S.

2018 Global Health Graduates

This year, seven students graduated with a Master of Public Health in Global Health, and 11 received the Graduate Certificate in Global Health. The week leading up to Friday's commencement ceremony involved several events celebrating this year's Global Health graduates, including a dinner and graduation reception.

MPH Global Health Students Thesis Presentations

Students in the spring semester of their second year of the Vanderbilt MPH program recently presented the work of their MPH thesis to members, mentors, colleagues, fellow students, and guests. This year, there are seven MPH students in the Global Health Track who presented their thesis findings. See below for the list of Global Health students and their thesis topics.  Beto Arriola Vigo, M.D. Qualitative Analysis: Community Involvement in the new model of care during Mental Health Reform in Peru

District in Transformation: Expanded HIV Care and Treatment Service in Quelimane Takes Teamwork

Belito Adolfo has been working for Friends in Global Health (FGH) since 2014. He was promoted to District Coordinator in January 2017, just as VUMC/FGH began supporting the Quelimane District. This new position was the biggest challenge of his professional career. In his new role he works with larger, urban health facilities handling higher patient volumes. With the increased responsibilities, he recognizes the importance of his work and being team member.

Collaboration between traditional healers and medical providers at a nearby health center saves lives in Namacurra

Eighteen-year-old Ina Mora was in the district of Gilé visiting her husband’s family when she began feeling ill in May 2017. “Sometimes I had headaches, stomach aches and diarrhea. Both my legs got swollen and I got sick,” recalls Ina.

Fogarty renews the Vanderbilt-Emory-Cornell-Duke (VECD) Consortium for Global Health Fellows Program

The Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded VIGH with a five-year, $4.66 million renewal grant to support the Vanderbilt-Emory-Cornell-Duke (VECD) Consortium for Global Health Fellows Program (vecd.org).