Global Health Seed Grant Awardees Announced

Digital flier announcing Global Health Seed Grant awardees

The Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility has awarded three University of Minnesota faculty members with Global Health Seed Grants. This funding advances equitable global health research.

Global Health Seed Grants support research that prioritizes international collaboration and sustainability. The awards offer $25,000 and act as seed funding, meant to catalyze further research.

This year’s awardees are:

  • Benjamin J.S. Al-Haddad, MSc, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics | UMN Medical School
  • Ellen W. Demerath, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Associate Division Head for Education, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health | UMN School of Public Health
  • Andres Perez, DVM, PhD, Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine; Endowed Chair of Global Animal Health and Food Security; Director, Center for Animal Health and Food Safety | UMN College of Veterinary Medicine


From screwworms to breastmilk PFAS levels to infant motor skills, this year’s funded projects tackle global health challenges that are as diverse as they are urgent, all in close partnership with international collaborators.

2025 Global Health Seed Grant Recipients

SKoIRM: Screening Kinesiology of Infants at Risk of Movement Disorders in Uganda 

Benjamin al-Haddad
     Benjamin J.S. al-Haddad

  • PI:  Benjamin J.S. al-Haddad, MSc, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UMN Medical School

  • Co-PI: Dr. Angelina Kakooza-Mwesige, MB.Ch.B, PhD, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University

  • Co-Is: Dr. Stephen J. Guy, PhD, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, UMN College of Science and Engineering; Dr. Jed T. Elison, PhD, Professor at the Institute of Child Development with joint appointments in Pediatrics and Neuroscience, UMN; Dr. Weihua Guan, PhD, Professor of Biostatistics & Health Data Science, UMN School of Public Health

“This funding is essential for advancing neurodevelopmental care for high-risk neonates in low-resource settings. We have designed this study to answer questions that help improve care and advance research in Uganda and in other similar settings.”

— Benjamin J.S. al-Haddad, MSc, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UMN Medical School

A Thorny Problem: Predictors of Pesticide Exposure and Breastmilk PFAS Levels Among Women Working in the Cut Rose Export Industry Versus Other Types of Employment in Pedro Moncayo, Pinchincha Province, Ecuador 

Ellen Demerath
             Ellen Demerath
  • PI: Ellen W. Demerath, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Associate Division Head for Education, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, UMN School of Public Health
  • Co-PI: Dr. José Suárez-Torres, MD, PhD, Director, Fundación Cimas del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
  • Co-Is: Dr. Dolores Lopez, PhD, President, Fundación Cimas del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador; Dr. José Ricardo Suárez, MD, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Division Lead - Climate and Environmental Sciences Teaching Division, Director - Climate and Environmental Health Research Program, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego

“We are very excited to receive the CGHSR Seed Grant for our project! Global public health research is facing significant funding constraints, and this grant will allow us to support an MPH student to help us kickstart critical data collection on the connections between breastfeeding, pesticide exposures, and infant nutrition in rural Ecuador. The project expands a long-standing learning abroad collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Fundación Cimas del Ecuador into a new research collaboration focused on maternal and child nutrition and environmental health.”
 

— Ellen W. Demerath, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Associate Division Head for Education, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, UMN School of Public Health

Bridging Borders, Protecting Health: A Pilot Study on Transboundary Cattle Trade and the Resurgence of Screwworm from Central America to Southern Mexico 

Andres Perez
               Andres Perez
  • PI: Andres Perez, DVM, PhD, Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine; Endowed Chair of Global Animal Health and Food Security; Director,  Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, UMN College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Co-Is: Guillermo Arcega Castillo, DVM, MPVM, Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine Resident (1st Year), Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, UMN College of Veterinary Medicine; Gabriel Figueroa Rodríguez, DVM, Director of Epidemiology at Mexico’s National Service, Agri-Food Health, Safety, and Quality (Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria – SENASICA); Oscar Rico Chavez, DVM, MSc, PhD, Full-Time Professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Laboratory of Disease Ecology and One Health, National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México – UNAM); Abelardo De Gracia Scanapieco, DVM, MSc, PhD, Regional Director of Animal Health, International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria – OIRSA)

“The re-emergence of New World Screwworm (NWS), a pathogen that is endemic in South America but that has been eradicated from Central and North America, has impacted both animal and public health in Central America and Mexico, raising increasing concerns about a potential reintroduction into the United States. Our research, designed in collaboration with important regional partners, such as the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico and the Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA), will help understand the drivers for disease spread in the region, which is a pre-requisite for the design and implementation of effective control measures, contributing to the mitigation of disease impact on affected countries in Central America and Mexico and contributing to preparedness activities in the U.S."
 

— Andres Perez, DVM, PhD, Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine; Endowed Chair of Global Animal Health and Food Security; Director, Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, UMN College of Veterinary Medicine

Thank you to everyone who submitted an  application, and to all of our program managers and application reviewers who help make this program possible. 

We hope those who are interested  will consider applying for next year’s funding cycle, which will open in early 2026. Learn more about the Global Health Seed Grants program.