The Latest News from VIGH

The 2026 Vanderbilt Global Health Symposium was held in April, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health. To mark the occasion, founding director Sten Vermund, MD, MPH, delivered a keynote address titled “Two Decades of Impact: Advancing Global Health Together.” The keynote highlighted the Institute’s collective achievements and called on attendees to continue advancing global health through collaboration and action.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! We celebrate this year's Master of Public Health, Global Health track students and recipients of the Graduate Certificate in Global Health.Vanderbilt MPH GraduatesKwibuka Serge BizabaMakenna FreniaAnnaClarke PaxtonAn Yee TanSarah ThompsonChimdindu UgwuanyiChloe Urias

This annual $1,500 travel award supports one medical, public health or doctoral level student to gain experience in global health while they are enrolled in their academic program in VUSM. Funding can be used to support their global health research, service, or training travel-related costs.2026 Award Recipient: Tatiana Ximena Solis-Montenegro

Dr. Sten H. Vermund was the founding director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH). The Sten H. Vermund Global Health Achievement Award and the Sten H. Vermund Global Health Travel Awards recognize Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) medical and public health students who have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the health of all people through distinguished global health scholarship, education, training, and/or service.The Sten H. Vermund Global Health Achievement Award

https://news.vumc.org/2026/01/20/vigh-ugandan-partners-land-grant-to-st…

https://news.vumc.org/2025/12/05/vanderbilt-health-deepens-collaboratio…https://news.vumc.org/2025/10/15/vighs-douglas-heimburger-retires/

Emily Sheldon, MPH, a Master of Public Health alumna from Vanderbilt University and former research assistant at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), has been awarded the Hall-Sewankambo Mid-Career Leadership Award. She received this honor at the 2025 Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) annual international conference. 

In February, the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) held its 2025 annual international conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2008, CUGH has a mission to empower academic institutions and partners to tackle global health challenges and ultimately transform health outcomes worldwide. The organization aims to enhance the well-being of individuals and the planet through education, research, service, and advocacy. The event was co-sponsored by the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH).

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), in collaboration with Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), organized the first workshop on biomedical informatics at UEM in September for the Vanderbilt-Mozambique Biomedical Informatics (VM-BMI) Training and Research Program.

The Vanderbilt-Mozambique Biomedical Informatics (VM-BMI) Training and Research Program is designed to sustainably equip Mozambican scientists with skills to advance progress towards HIV epidemic control through high-quality biomedical informatics (BMI)-based research relevant to the country.

Dr. Digna Velez-Edwards (VUMC) with workshop participants and Dr. Le Minh Giang (HMU) at the certificate ceremony.