Previous Initiatives

The Mfangano Community Health Field Station was a community-rooted enterprise launched in collaboration between the University of Minnesota, Maseno University, and the Organic Health Response (OHR) of Mfangano Island in Kenya.

The project advanced community-based research, bilateral training opportunities for health practitioners from Kenya and the U.S., and long-term resilience among the communities of Lake Victoria. 

The Mfangano Island project used a three-pronged approach to advance training, community health and research: 

• Training: Leveraged interdisciplinary expertise at UMN to create a model for equitable, bilateral training to support mentored opportunities for U.S. and Kenyan students and scholars to participate in education, training, and project implementation.
• Community Health: Supported Organic Health Response’s "Community Health Ecosystem" approach by implementing and evaluating programs designed to improve and protect the health, culture, and environment of rural fishing communities along the shores of Lake Victoria, Kenya
• Research: Developed, implemented, and disseminated findings from longitudinal community-based studies designed to evaluate both local and scalable health, nutrition, agriculture, and livelihood interventions for similar populations in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.

NRC-RIM is now part of the Task Force for Global Health. Please visit the Migration Health Initiave’s website for any information related to services previously offered by NRC-RIM 

The National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM) was an initiative of the Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility established in 2020 as part of CGHSR’s ongoing collaboration with the CDC and the International Organization for Migration.

NRC-RIM supported health departments and community organizations working with refugee, immigrant, and migrant communities to promote health equity. NRC-RIM supported refugee, immigrant and migrant populations nationally through the dissemination of health care resources and education.

During the course of the project, NRC-RIM: 

• Created more than 8,000 health resources in more than 175 languages
• Hosted almost 40 webinars with a total of more than 3,000 participants
• Provided more than 50 technical assistance requests to local health departments
• Collaborated with numerous partners, including Naccho, Ideo.org, the Migrant Clinicians Network, International Rescue Committee and Minnesota Department of Health

In 2024, CGHSR formally launched a partnership with the Task Force for Global Health to create the Migration Health Initiative, a project designed to ensure immigrants to the United States have access to health care resources.

The partnership builds on the initial work of NRC-RIM and the University of Minnesota’s Partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

For more information, visit the Migration Health Initiative’s website

Anchored by a strong collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Makerere University that started in 2005, the Uganda Hub was established in 2015 to lay the foundation for sustainable engagement.

CGHSR collaborated with Makerere University, Infectious Diseases Institute, Mulago Hospital and others to expand networks, catalyze new partnerships and develop new opportunities for engagement and learning. 

The Uganda Hub included a house to accommodate traveling researchers and students in addition to services to arrange for in-country ground travel, meeting space and project support. 

Uganda Hub activities included: 

• Research Support: Assessment of immune response during hepatitis B and HIV coinfection - Worked in collaboration with UMN PI, Makerere Co-I, and study coordinator to manage procurement needs through a contract established through CGHSR.
• 2018 Mental Health Symposium: Managed abstract solicitation and submission, scientific review, coordinated bi-weekly planning meetings between Makerere and UMN stakeholders, created marketing materials and online registration mechanism, arranged for travel of speakers in East Africa to attend, and provided logistical and event support of this full-day event.
• Research Training Activities: Organized annual UMN faculty-led trainings on topics such as data management, data analysis, and manuscript writing that were open to UMN students and Makerere students in addition to junior researchers and faculty working on UMN research studies. CGHSR contributed to logistical planning, registration, and communications for these types of activities.

The Uganda Research Training Collaborative (URTC) was a program for students with the University of Minnesota and participating institutions in Uganda, including Makerere University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology, to gain hands-on experience in global health research. 

Under the mentorship of UMN and Ugandan faculty members, teams comprised of students from UMN and Ugandan Institutions proposed small-scale research projects to be carried out as a team in about one year.

The collaborative guided students through a three-stage process: research preparation (3–6 months), study implementation (6–12 weeks) and data analysis and dissemination (3–6 months). 

The collaborative resulted in the following published papers: 

• Evaluation of the initial 12 months of a routine cryptococcal antigen screening program in reduction of HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis in Uganda
• Nutritional status and its associated factors among HIV adolescents on second line regimen at Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic in Uganda
• Obstructive lung disease and quality of life after cure of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in Uganda: a cross-sectional study 

CGHSR partnered with the United Nations Migration Agency (International Organization for Migration, IOM) to build the capacity of IOM and US-based refugee clinicians to improve the continuum of care delivered to refugees. 

The University of Minnesota’s partnership with IOM lasted for 13 years before CGHSR established a partnership with the Task Force for Global Health to take over the project. 

During the partnership: 

• UMN and IOM worked together to facilitate 37 trainings in more than a dozen countries
• Hundreds of physicians received physical examination trainings
• Hundreds of physicians and nurses participated in Comprehensive Advanced Life Support trainings 

The University of Minnesota collaborated with the Kabul University of Medical Sciences (KUMS) to improve clinical, educational and professional and leadership skills for health sciences faculty in Afghanistan. 

The project focused on midwifery, dentistry, anesthesiology, and medical lab technology, and aimed to improve the health of people in Afghanistan through strengthening the capacity of KUMS faculty responsible for preparing the future health care workforce.

Project partners included: 

• University of Minnesota Faculty
• Kabul University of Medical Sciences (KUMS)
• University of Rwanda 
• National Reference Laboratory of Rwanda 
• Manipal University (India)

Our CGHSR Scholars program allowed University of Minnesota doctoral students, postdocs, and recent master's level graduates to complete 8–12 months of mentored research at an international study site. 

Scholars worked on an active research study led by faculty from UMN and/or from their partner institution and were expected to contribute to the study in a role that was appropriate for their course of study and level of training. 

CGHSR supported seven CGHSR scholars, representing the UMN School of Nursing, College of Veterinary Medicine and School of Public Health. These projects spanned work in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Bolivia.  

CGHSR partnered with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to offer University of Minnesota medical students a year of clinical research training. 

Fellows received a stipend and the opportunity to conduct research in either Kenya or Tanzania. Funding for the program was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation; CGHSR operationalized the fellowship and provided mentorship and support to participating fellows. 

The University of Minnesota and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Guangxi CDC) signed an Agreement for Cooperation and Exchange in March 2015 to broaden the scope of their collaboration. This partnership allowed for the creation of meaningful research and training opportunities.

CGHSR supported the operation and implementation of research projects as part of the Guangxi partnership as well as National Institutes of Health grants. This support included assisting with grant applications, subcontract management, research and materials transfer.