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June 22, 2006 -- The University of Virginia’s Center
for Global Health has selected its 2006 Scholars in the only scholarship
program of its kind that draws students from across the
University. These new scholars are preparing to embark
on summer, fall and spring research projects aimed at helping
address health issues of the underprivileged in countries
around the world.
Twenty-six graduate and undergraduate students will use
their CGH awards, which vary from $1,800 to $3,000, to
address critical health issues in Latin America, the Caribbean,
sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Diverse disciplines, including
biomedical engineering, psychology, foreign affairs and
economics are represented in this group.
The scholars’ projects combine research, academics
and service. They will target health concerns such as HIV/AIDS,
women’s reproductive health, diabetes and the effects
of family dynamics on health.
Susan Staley, a Latin American Studies major, is traveling
to Brazil to research the effects of women-led police stations
on domestic violence. Anthropology and philosophy double
major Jonathan Taee is planning to study native healing
techniques in both Tibet and Peru and will produce documentary
film footage to supplement his research in both countries.
And Eliah Shamir, a rising third-year biomedical engineering
student, is traveling to Thailand to help women and girls
in the hill tribes of the Upper Mekong. These populations
are vulnerable to sex trafficking and therefore HIV/AIDS.
CGH Scholar Corinne Savides is traveling to Ponce, Puerto
Rico, where she will combine the research and service elements
of the award and offer free diabetic kidney disease and
obesity screening for underserved women. The World Health
Organization says the highest levels of obesity and diabetes
II threaten poor, underserved populations, creating an
overwhelming burden of chronic disease. This is especially
true for Hispanic women.
In creating her project, Savides was required by the center
to collaborate with a mentor from outside her discipline. “Working
with Dr. Steven Nock, a sociologist, has helped me view
my future role as a physician more broadly,” she
said. “Understanding the sociological processes of
disease can guide physicians to advise their patients just
as can their understanding the biological processes of
disease.”
The director of U.Va.’s Center for Global Health,
Dr. Richard Guerrant, says he is extremely pleased with
this latest group of scholars heading overseas. “These
remarkable young stars bring their dedication from a marvelously
diverse array of backgrounds and interests to address growing
issues of health disparities. Former CGH Scholars often
describe these experiences by saying ‘It changed
my life!’ It is a privilege for our Center for Global
Health to foster and participate in these CGH Scholar Awards.”
The scholars designed their own interdisciplinary projects
with the support of U.Va. faculty mentors. More than 40
faculty members from over 30 departments and schools are
supporting this year’s group. This is in accordance
with the center’s mission of working with schools
across the University to improve global health.
Dr. Guerrant says this aspect of the awards really forces
students to take a broader view of things. "These
Center for Global Health scholarship awards provide a wonderful
vehicle for students to venture outside of their own disciplines
and discover new ways to view the world and global health.
At the same time, they are deepening their expertise in
their own discipline. It is a truly unique program."
Associate director for the center, Dr. Breyette Lorntz,
works one-on-one with the CGH Scholars as they design their
research projects. “Often students will come to us
at the beginning of the fall semester, wanting to go somewhere
and learn more about how to make a difference in global
health. Our job is to help connect these students to a
faculty member somewhere in the University, who has parallel
interests."
The center began making the CGH Scholarship Awards available
in 2001 to further its goal of engaging U.Va. faculty,
students and international partners in efforts to address
health disparities.
The Center offers a variety of scholarships and fellowships
to undergraduate, graduate and professional applicants.
This first-of-its-kind, trans-university model has been
emulated by several other institutions of higher learning,
notably Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Duke, Vanderbilt and the
University of Washington.
U.Va. President John Casteen has identified the Center
for Global Health as a key player in internationalizing
the University in accordance with U.Va.’s new 2020
academic mission.
For more information, please contact Jane Kelly, communications
coordinator for the Center for Global Health, at 434-243-0124
or at jak4g@virginia.edu. You can visit the CGH website
at http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/cgh
U.Va.’s 2006 Center for Global
Health Scholars
School of Medicine
• Rebecca Burke, a rising second-year
student in the School of Medicine, will travel to
Kampala,
Uganda, to study AIDS
and sepsis.
• Matthew Harrington, a rising second-year
student in the School of Medicine, is going to
the
Dominican Republic
to research the quality of drinking water in rural areas
surrounding Santiago.
• Cheryl Lynn Horton, a rising second-year
student in the School of Medicine, is going to Kampala,
Uganda,
to study
the effects of HIV/AIDS on society.
• Corinne Savides, a rising second-year
student in the School of Medicine, is going to Ponce, Puerto
Rico,
to study the
effects of the high rate of diabetes and associated illness
among rural women.
• Sarah Leigh Smiddy, a rising
second-year student in the School of Medicine, is traveling
to Accra, Ghana,
to learn
about and work to improve the nutritional status of pediatric
sickle cell patients, who require more calories to maintain
optimal health.
• Peter Volsky, a rising second-year
student in the School of Medicine, is traveling
to
Santiago,
Dominican Republic,
to promote the importance of clean drinking water.
Arts and Sciences
• Aliesje Chapman, a rising fourth-year
foreign affairs major, is traveling to Embangweni,
Malawi, to study the
approaches of the government and NGO’s to AIDS education
and how computers can help the process.
• Solon Choi, a rising fourth-year
psychology major, will travel to Seoul, South Korea, to
study how family
dynamics,
specifically the weakening relationship between parent
and child, negatively impact a child’s health.
• Cecilia Jiang, a rising third-year
biochemistry major, is in Xi’an, China,
studying how views of death and dying influence doctor-patient
relationships.
• Rita Lahlou, a rising fourth-year
human biology major, is heading to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to
use
and analyze
new
technology aimed at diagnosing amebiasis, a diarrheal disease.
• Melissa Mallory, a rising fourth-year
biology major, is going to Thohoyandou, South Africa, to
investigate
levels
of disease transmission among midwives.
• Juliana Minak, a rising fourth-year
environmental science major, travels to San Mateo Ixtatan,
Guatemala,
to produce
and market new water filtration systems.
• Giselle Plata, a rising fourth-year
biology/ bioethics major, travels to La Paz, Bolivia,
to
learn why indigenous
women in poor rural areas continue to have poor reproductive
health despite stepped-up governmental attempts to address
the issue.
• Gauri Raval, a rising fourth-year
human biology major, is traveling to Limpopo,
South
Africa,
to research how
the lack of a good education impacts girls’ health.
• Viraj Kumar Sadarangan, a rising
fourth-year mathematics and physics major, is
going to Accra, Ghana, to study ways
to prevent sickle-cell patients from requiring admittance
to the hospital, which can lead to death in some cases.
• Meredith Saggers, an economics graduate student, is
going to Mpumalanga, South Africa, to determine the indirect
cost of AIDS, as defined by the loss of earnings and productivity
by the primary caregiver.
• Susan Staley, a rising third-year
Latin American Studies major, is traveling to
Fortaleza,
Brazil, to study the
impact women-led police stations is having on domestic
violence.
• Paul Stoddard, a rising fourth-year
biology major, is going to Fortaleza, Brazil,
to delve
deeper into research
on the effects of severe diarrhea on childhood development.
• Jonathan Taee, a rising third-year
double major in anthropology and philosophy, is
traveling
to Lhasa, Tibet, and Lima,
Peru, to study the spiritual and native healing techniques
in both countries and will produce documentary film footage
from both countries.
• Courtney Tolmie, an economics graduate student, is
going to Mpumalanga, South Africa, to determine with scholar
Meredith Saggers the indirect cost of AIDS, as defined
by the loss of earnings and productivity by the primary
caregiver.
• Shi Shi Wang, a rising third-year
foreign affairs major, is heading to Thailand
with
fellow
scholar Eliah Shamir
to help women and girls in the hill tribes of the Upper
Mekong. These populations are vulnerable to sex trafficking
and therefore HIV/AIDS.
School of Engineering and Applied
Science
• Christine Devlin, a rising third-year
electrical engineering major, is traveling to
Limpopo,
South Africa, to research
and educate rural communities about water conservation
and recycling.
• Maureen Mulcare, a rising third-year
biomedical engineering student, is traveling to
Limpopo,
South Africa, to research
secondary education and water reclamation as a way to improve
the health of the local community.
• Eliah Shamir, a rising third-year
biomedical engineering student, is traveling to
Thailand
to help women and girls
in the hill tribes of the Upper Mekong. These populations
are vulnerable to sex trafficking and therefore HIV/AIDS.
• Daniel Walters, a rising fourth-year
biomedical engineering major, will travel to Limpopo,
South Africa, to research,
test and implement an economically and culturally appropriate
system to pasteurize sufficient drinking water.
• Harrison Wheaton, a rising third-year
systems engineering major, will accompany Mr.
Walters
to Limpopo, South Africa,
to work jointly on the drinking water project.
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