Announcing Recipients of 2022-2023 Global Engagement Grants
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2023-2023 Global Engagement Grants!
The Global Engagement Grants program was developed in 2021 to support collaborative work between local and international teams in a time when global travel was not possible.
Now, as travel becomes more frequent, these grants enable teams to see their projects enacted on the ground.
Global Engagement Grants offer unique support for diverse types of global health work; not only research-focused projects, but also those based around educational program development, capacity-building, strengthening institutional partnerships, or a combination of all three.
Each of the projects selected this year exemplify the CGHSR mission to advance health worldwide through collaborative partnerships, sustainable programs, and academic excellence. One such example is the work of M. Kumi Smith, PhD, MPIA, Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health, and Amaraporn Rerkasem, MD, Physician at the Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Their work aims to fill knowledge gaps in healthcare for transgender women in Thailand, including exploring potential linkages between gender-affirming surgery, gender-affirming hormone therapy, vaginal/neovaginal microbiomes, and sexually transmitted infections.
Fostering Local-as-Global Community Engagement
Global Engagement Grants also provide an opportunity to collaborate around specific CGHSR focus areas and with other UMN centers and colleges that share our priorities.
This year, the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM), an initiative of CGHSR, offered NRC-RIM Community Engagement Grants to community-based organizations serving Afghan immigrant communities in Minnesota to support innovative pilot projects that address the public health needs of newly-arrived Afghans.
Learn more about our Global Engagement Grant Program
Open Call Global Engagement Grant Recipients
Vaginal/neovaginal microbiome alterations, gender affirmation therapy and implications for sexually transmitted infections in Thai transgender women
PI: M. Kumi Smith, PhD, MPIA, Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Amaraporn Rerkasem, MD, Physician, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
Assessment of sound waves from liver vessels via artificial intelligence to detect liver cancer in resource-limited settings
PI: Jose Debes, MD, PhD, MS, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Medical School
Co-PI: Ju Sun, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Sciences and Engineering
Creation of the First Point-of-Care Ultrasound Fellowship in Ecuador
PI: Andrea Dreyfuss, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Minnesota, Ultrasound Fellowship Director at the Department of Emergency Medicine in Hennepin Hospital
A One health initiative to combat rodent infestation threats to public health and well-being of vulnerable communities in Latin America
PI: Claudia Muñoz-Zanzi, DVM, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Co-PI: Piedad Agudelo Florez, Professor, School of Graduate Programs, Universidad CES, Medellín, Colombia
Evaluating adaptation, acceptability, and sustainability of an online, trauma treatment certificate program for building the capacity of Malaysian professionals working with refugees
PI: Patricia Shannon, PhD, LP, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, College of Education and Human Development
Co-PI: Chris Mehus, PhD, LMFT, Research Assistant Professor, Family Social Science and Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement
Ghana Telehealth Outreach and Technical Assistance Program (GHTOTAP): A pilot project
PI: Jessica Simacek, PhD, Director, MIDB Telehealth Outreach Core, College of Education and Human Development
Co-PI: Emmanuel Bonney, MPhil, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Child Development
Co-I's: Jed Elison, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Child Development; Anita Randolph, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
An enhanced education program improves postnatal maternal knowledge of neonatal jaundice in Jinja, Uganda
PI: Jameel Winter, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology in the Medical School
Co-PI: Businge Alinaitwe, BSN, Research Midwife, Sanyu Africa Research Institute, Mbale Regional Referral Hospital
NRC-RIM Community Engagement Grants
Afghan Healthcare Navigation
Organization: Afghan Cultural Society
Project Lead: Atefa Tavasoli, Fellow of Neurosurgery, UMN Medical School
Project Manager: Amina Baha, Operations Director & Founder, Afghan Cultural Society
Partners: University of Minnesota School of Social Work, Advocates for Human Rights, CUHCC Clinic