By: Owen R. Selden, Echols Scholar, Research Assistant, CGHE Partner
From studying attitudes toward community health outcomes in South Dakota to leveraging satellite observations of air pollution to assess risks of tuberculosis in India, 51niversity of Virginia students will use Center for Global Health University Scholar Awards this summer to address pressing health problems with local partners around the globe.
The UVA Center for Global Health Equity’s University Scholar Awards, evaluated and awarded by an interdisciplinary committee, fund projects up to $6,000 for an individual. This year, the center has funded 14 projects in 9 countries, which include a study reducing the impact of air pollution on population health related quality of life in Nepal, and a telebehavioral patient-centered mobile application to facilitate patient-provider interaction to address cervical cancer disparities among women in Nicaragua. Several projects build on previous years’ work, prioritizing community priorities and longitudinal engagement at with partners in South Dakota, Nicaragua, Uganda, and Tanzania.
The scholars, who represent multiple schools and disciplines, will conduct up to twelve-week, intensive, mentored research projects that allow students to engage in research with collaborative, community-based organizations alongside UVA faculty who provide critical mentoring, guidance and support.
The University Scholar awards, the Center for Global Health Equity’s largest single program, encourage students to engage in interdisciplinary scholarship. This year students will travel to South America, Africa, South Asia, and communities in the United States, where they engage in impact-driven inquiry and form local partnerships.
“We are thrilled to offer new research partnerships with other peer institutions at the Family Health University College in Accra, Ghana, the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and the The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research in Puducherry, India ” said Dr. Scott Heysell, the Center’s Director. “And we are grateful to those partners for working with our student scholars and faculty mentors.”
Candidates must complete a comprehensive application describing their projects and personal goals, which are assessed by a selection committee of faculty, global health practitioners, and CGHE Scholar alumni.
“Many students have also participated in pre-travel preparation through a biweekly curriculum in Global Partnerships Essentials throughout the academic year,” Heysell said. “CGHE strives to support scholars from different backgrounds of global experience, including students that may be traveling abroad for the first time.”
The 2024 Center for Global Health University Scholars include:
• Catia Bonzano of Arlington, a second-year global public health student student; Caitlyn Kelly of Reston, a fourth-year environmental science student; Marisa Yamamoto an pre-professional architecture student; Joseph Mallon, a masters students in environmental sciences; Thomas Lu of McAllen, Texas, a first-year economic and statistics students, who will work in South Dakota on an interdisciplinary project to research the confluence of Architecture, Ecology, and Community Health to support biocultural conservation efforts based in Indigenous knowledge and empowerment of Native youth.
• Sidney Chong, a first-year medical student, who will work in Ghana, is analyzing a pilot collaboration between the Family Health University College and the University of Virginia. Additionally, Sidney will also be developing community-based healthcare research infrastructure.
• Ashley Ferguson of Orchard Park, New York, a first-year prospective global public health student; Je Young Yoo of Gaithersburg, Maryland, a first-year prospective global public health student; Sagar Sapkota of Herndon, Virginia, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student; Chloe Kline of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a fourth year, global public health student, who will be working in Nepal to conduct a survey to understand the impact of air pollution on population health related quality of life.
• Fady Gemayel, a first-year medical student, who will work in Tanzania, is conducting a clinical trial to estimate the serum concentration of Rifampin via urinalysis to ensure proper dosing
• Diya Gupta of Los Altos, California, a second-year global environment and commerce student; Benjamin Goffin, a doctoral candidate in civil engineering, who will be working in India are using satellite observations of crop health and air pollution to assess risks of tuberculosis in India.
• Phoebe Gruccio, a first-year medical student, who will be working in Uganda conducting a retrospective chart review of characteristics and outcomes of patients with sepsis who receive corticosteroids at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital.
• Christina Halstead, a fourth year medical student; Sheyna Nathwani, a fourth year medical student, who will be working in Uganda investigating Adolescent Reproductive Health in South Western Uganda.
• Margaret Ruth Lawrence, a fourth year medical student, who will be working in Uganda studying the epidemiology of endemic and emerging diseases in Uganda through a collaborative research initiative.
• Eleraobari Osaro-Olai of Woodrbidge, a second-year nursing student; Ana Aguirre of Houston, Texas, a third-year nursing student; Trish Lam, a third-year biology student; Brendan Castillo, a second-year nursing student; Melany Santos of Richmond, a second-year nursing student; Elizabeth Regalado of Chesterfield, a second-year nursing student; Ashley Munoz-Trujillo of Woodbridge, a second-year nursing student; Mackenzie Chen, a second-year human biology student; McKenna Mason of Mystic, Connecticut, a fourth-year nursing student, who will be traveling to Nicaragua to contribute to implementation of a telebehavioral patient-centered mobile application to facilitate patient-provider interaction to address cervical cancer disparities among women.
• Eliza Piche, a second-year public policy student; Nykera Wallop, a third-year sociology student; Simone Minor, a second-year global public health student, who will be working in South Africa working in a collaboration to deliver community-based public health messages using social media artifacts.
• Brady Sack, a first-year medical student, who will be working in Tanzania conducting community screenings for HIV and TB among undernourished people.
• Owen Selden of Charleston, South Carolina, a third-year human biology student; Olivia Yang of San Diego, California, a fourth-year echols interdisciplinary major; Rita Wang, a fourth-year biology student; Sona Kalatardi of Lone Tree, Colorado, a fourth-year cognitive science student; Deanna Wilbourn of Madison, Mississippi, a second-year global public health student, who will be working in South Africa on data analysis projects with the African Cancer Institute to improve the quality of cancer care.
• Niharika Chandna of Fairfax, a second-year biomedical engineering student; Emily Warsavage, a first-year medical student who will be expanding the Shigella Campylobacter Transmission study of the causes and transmission routes of infant diarrhea in urban Bangladesh.
• Julie Willis, a third-year global public health student; Annaliese Meistrich, a second-year nursing student; Katherine Suarez, a first-year nursing student; Katherine Flores, a second-year nursing student; Hever Perez-Gomez, a first-year nursing student; Helennith Jurado, a second-year nursing student who will be working in Nicaragua conducting an assessment of the impact of climate change on health.