01 November 2006
U.S. Health Institutes Fund Awards for International Health Research
Program encourages universities to educate students from a global perspective
Washington – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) October 30 announced 10 awards to U.S. and international universities for a program to build global health research capacity.
“Framework Programs in Global Health” is an effort of the Fogarty International Center, in partnership with the National Cancer Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a part of NIH.
Recipient institutions plan to create administrative frameworks to tie multiple schools together on the topic of global health and to develop multidisciplinary global health curricula for undergraduates, graduates and professional school students.
"Health issues have become increasingly global," said Fogarty International Center Director Roger Glass. "Many nations now face the same serious health burdens from non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and mental illness.”
The awards support the development of innovative, multidisciplinary global health programs on campuses in the United States and in low- and middle-income nations. The 10 new awards, plus 16 funded in 2005, bring to 26 the total number of programs in the network. Three of the 2006 awards support two-year planning grants for institutions in low- and middle-income countries.
The National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, Pavlov State Medical University in Russia and the University of Ibadan in Nigeria will develop full framework applications by building multischool teams, developing pilot courses and working with institutional leadership to develop administrative structures to support a trans-institutional program.
Combined program funding for the 10 awards is about $844,000 for the first year of the three-year awards and two-year planning grants. Fogarty and partners will fund $2.5 million for the awards over the next three years, and many programs will receive matching funds from university resources.
“Environmental disruptions and natural disasters cross borders and infectious diseases can rapidly spread around the globe,” Glass said. “The framework program encourages universities to educate students from a global perspective to prepare them to address these serious issues."
SPECIFIC RESEARCH AREAS
The programs focus broadly on global health, but some will emphasize specific research areas.
The University of Southern California (USC), for example, will focus on research and educational programs that explore the link between lifestyle and health outcomes in nations of the Pacific Rim undergoing rapid cultural, social and environmental change. USC plans to expand its current work in tobacco and alcohol use to consider issues of obesity, HIV prevention and environmental health, among others.
The framework brings together faculty from the schools of Medicine, Social Work, Gerontology, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Engineering, Policy-Planning-Development, Law, Communications, Cinema-TV and Letters, Arts, and Sciences. The university also will collaborate with other Pacific Rim academic and public health institutions to develop and expand interdisciplinary curricula and training programs.
Other awardees will collaborate with nearby institutions to develop joint programs.
Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University, for example, will partner with Meharry Medical College, a historically black medical school that has trained a large percentage of African-American physicians in the United States.
The collaboration extends to the schools of Medicine, Nursing, Law, Divinity, Engineering, Education and Human Development, Arts and Sciences, Management and Music at Vanderbilt and with the schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Graduate Studies and Research at Meharry.
Vanderbilt and Meharry also will work with more than 12 interdisciplinary centers and programs and build on research projects with collaborating institutions in Brazil, Peru, Zambia, China and Mexico.
The University of California at San Diego will partner with San Diego State University, a Hispanic-serving institution, to develop a framework program with a thematic emphasis on health issues of the nearby U.S.-Mexico border and the Latin American region.
The awards also will support a range of activities, including travel for short-term experiences overseas, interdisciplinary symposia and workshops, the creation of international virtual learning communities, and faculty exchanges with international partners to encourage collaborative teaching and research.
More information about the fiscal year 2006 awards is available on the Web site of the Framework Program. The full text of the press release is available on the Fogarty International Center Web site.
