The Latest News from VIGH

Two Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty and a 2017 alumna of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Master of Public Health program have recently been recognized for their global health accomplishments from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH).

Marie Martin, PhD, MEd, assistant professor of Health Policy, has been named associate director for Education and Training in the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). Marie Martin, PhD, MEdMartin stepped into the role at the beginning of the fiscal year, succeeding Douglas Heimburger, MD, MS, who will focus his time on leading projects with grant funding from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Heimburger started in 2009 as associate director of Education and Training.

"Among people with HIV in Latin America, those diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at an initial clinic visit were about twice as likely to die within 10 years as people not initially diagnosed with TB, according to findings from a large observational study. This increased risk persisted despite the availability of TB treatment and mirrored patterns seen previously in HIV-negative populations, according to research supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

VIGH faculty, staff, and students presented at the 2019 Consortium of Universities in Global Health (CUGH) Conference on March 9-10 in Chicago. The 10th annual conference was focused on Translation and Implementation for Impact in Global Health. The VIGH team presented on a range of topics, from the development of a research methods for a nurse anesthetist program in Kenya to nutrition education outreach in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. 

Students in the spring semester of their second year of the Vanderbilt MPH program present their thesis to mentors, colleagues, fellow students, and guests. This year, the following students in the Global Health track will present their thesis findings. Presentations will take place in MPH Classroom #2600, Village at Vanderbilt (1500 21st Avenue South). See below for a list of Global Health students and their thesis topics. RSVP one week before the presentation(s) you wish to attend.  

The UNZA-Vanderbilt Training Partnership for HIV-Nutrition-Metabolic Research (UVP) continues a longstanding training collaboration between the University of Zambia School of Medicine/University Teaching Hospital (UNZA/UTH), and the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). Dr. Douglas Heimburger, Associate Director for Education and Training for VIGH and Dr. Selestine Nzala, Head, Department of Medical Education, University of Zambia School of Medicine serve as Principal Investigators.

2019 Global Health Case Competition

This year, the Vanderbilt School of Medicine Global Health Organization will present World Health Week during Monday, February 25 - Friday, March 1. World Health Week is committed to spreading awareness about global health, and this year's theme is "Global Health and Anesthesia." Events include lunchtime talks and a global health symposium one evening. Lunch is offered with RSVP. Download the flyer.

On Monday, January 21, M.P.H. candidate Sonya Reid-Lawrence, M.D. received the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award. This award is given to a faculty or staff member in the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, or Vanderbilt University Medical Center who emulates the principles of King through his or her work. The award was presented to Dr. Reid-Lawrence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture during the annual MLK celebration by Jana Lauderdale, Ph.D., R.N.

Our friend and colleague, Fastone Goma, M.D., Ph.D., was recently appointed to professorship of Physiology and Cardiovascular Health at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in Lusaka. VIGH faculty and staff have long enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with colleagues from the University of Zambia School of Medicine and with its affiliated University Teaching Hospital.

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This month, VIGH faculty members and anesthesiologists from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) traveled to Liberia to evaluate medical education and training initiatives. 


 
 
 
 Carolyn Audet, Ph.D.

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.

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.