From studying pregnancy in rural areas to developing support systems for tuberculosis patients, 29 Center for Global Health Equity scholars are gearing up for a summer of international research. Through CGHE research grants, these students travel abroad to participate in interdisciplinary research related to global health equity topics.
of CGHE Scholar Award Provides resources for students to engage with global health issues around the world. Scholars are eligible to receive grants ranging from $2,000 to $6,000 for a summer research project, depending on the budget application. Most of the academics conduct their research on public health in Africa, and CGAA has links with several East African universities, as well as a network of universities aimed at improving Kenya’s health issues.
CGHE is an organization within the university whose faculty and students are committed to promoting multidisciplinary approaches to global health issues. CGHE organizes regular events and opportunities for students to engage with them, as well as facilitating international research opportunities.
April Ballard is the Associate Director of Program Development at CGHE and said this year’s group of scholars was impressed.
“There’s something really special when people find a place and a platform to step forward,” Ballard said.
This year’s awardee, Sophie Lyons, a fourth-year college student, will spend her second consecutive summer doing research in Uganda. This year, her project looks at recurrent teenage pregnancy in Southwestern Uganda, a community-based approach that seeks to address the problem in rural areas.
Lyon said she especially appreciates CGHE for giving her the opportunity to conduct her research abroad, which the pandemic has made impossible.
“I never thought I’d get this opportunity in the first place,” Lyons said. “[The CGHE] He put me in touch with the right people and I found a project that perfectly suited my needs.
Fourth-year Commerce students Caroline Fabian and Lisa Kutsishvili will spend four weeks in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania this summer, developing a mobile health intervention system to support tuberculosis patients and facilitate their connection to hospitals. They work with researchers at U.Va. In collaboration with the Kilimanjaro Research Initiative, they are primarily conducting qualitative research by talking to health professionals and patients to apply the technology.
“It’s just going to be interesting to see the different aspects of the work they’re doing there,” says Fabian. “I think it’s just going to be a great environment for new ideas, interactions and exchanges.”
Kushvili was a first-year CGHE scholar and planned to go to Rwanda before the pandemic made international research impossible. This summer will be her first opportunity to do her research abroad, and she and Fabian said they are looking forward to the opportunity to travel and study. The two first became involved with this year’s project through a CGHE case competition inviting students to create proposals. talk to TB in Tanzania.
To participate with CGHE, students are required to work with a faculty advisor to plan for their future research opportunities. Faculty may be fellows. found At many schools, and students are encouraged to reach out if they have any questions.
All scholars present their research in the fall and have their research considered for the journal Conflux Research – an international health publication – by January of the following year.