2011 Faculty and Staff Development Awards

Thanks to the generous support of the Division of International Studies and the Morgridge Center for Public Service, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) is pleased to announce twelve development grants awarded to UW faculty and staff members. These grants are awarded to affiliates to support international travel related to educational or research activities, including development of global health courses, initiation of field experiences and field research which pertain to the mission of the GHI. Preference was given to proposals that address important global health issues, have an interdisciplinary focus, have potential for ongoing relationships with the host site and offer tangible educational or research benefits. The review panel selected the following outstanding submissions that characterize initiatives that the Center seeks to support.

Congratulations to the UW Global Health award recipients! We look forward to presentations of their projects at future GHI seminars.

Dörte Döpfer, DVM, MSc, PhD
Assistant Professor
UW School of Veterinary Medicine
KENYA

Project: “During the One Health project about six neglected zoonosis in Kenya, Dr. Eric Fèvre and Dr. Dörte Döpfer join forces for the diagnosis and spatial modeling of infectious diseases acquired by humans and animals that live in close domestic proximity. The influence of socio-economic and biological co-factors on temporal and spatial patterns of disease will be explored in collaboration with key partners from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). The outcome of the project will be a strong collaboration into the future, together with training of local and international (under-) graduate students and the propagation of the One Health concept during field research.”

Kristine Hallisy, PT, MS, OCS/Dawn Ransom Magnussen, MPT
Faculty Associate/Adjunct Faculty
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Orthorehab, Physical Therapy Program
BELIZE

Project: “Ten UW-Madison physical therapy students and faculty will work with various community agencies in Punta Gorda, Belize as part of a service-learning experience. The projects will include: home, clinic and village therapy visits; provision of education to soccer club members, elementary and technical school students on disability, rehabilitation and injury prevention; a community health fair focusing on health and wellness issues germane to the people of southern Belize; and body mechanics injury prevention training for the local hospital employees.”

Joel Hill, MPAS, PA-C
Clinical Instructor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Physician Assistant Program
BELIZE

Project: “I will be using this award for travel to Belize in May 2011 as part of the PA Program Medical Mission. Our students will have a chance to interact with and care for those in need in the jungles of Belize. Upon completion of this trip, we plan on introducing a one-credit PA-specific global health course starting in the spring of 2012.”

Laura Houser, MD
Clinical Instructor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Pediatrics
HAITI

Project: “The Pediatrics Department at the University Hospital (HUEH) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was significantly damaged in the January 2010 earthquake. The Haitian pediatricians and pediatric residents are requesting assistance with teaching their subspecialty curricula and rebuilding their laboratory facilities. This project will organize pairs of residents and pediatric attending physicians to travel to Haiti for an educational exchange and will coordinate teams from the Wisconsin Medical Project and UW engineering students to work on restoring the labs.”

Kenneth Kushner, PhD
Professor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Family Medicine
CHINA

Project: “I plan to use to funds to travel to China to oversee and improve the SMPH’s elective in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I also into intend to strengthen our educational and scholarly partnerships with Fuxing Hospital and the Yuetan Community Health Service System.”

Shelby O’Connor, PhD
Associate Scientist
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
BRAZIL

Project: “Many Brazilian scientists do not have the resources to attend scientific meetings to learn about ongoing international HIV research that may ultimately impact their ability to help their communities. To contend with this educational gap, Dr. Esper Kallas of Sao Paulo, Brazil organizes an annual event, “Advanced Course on HIV Pathogenesis” in Sao Paulo. I plan to participate in his project this March, and will lecture on “Genetic Factors Associated with HIV Susceptibility and Resistance.” Our lab has been collaborating with Dr. Kallas since 2005, and I anticipate continued collaboration with him and his colleagues that will extend to the education of UW-Madison students and beyond.”

Ann O’Rourke, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Surgery
ETHIOPIA

Project: “I am joining an ongoing collaborative project with UW CGH and Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My funding will contribute to my first trip to Ethiopia where I hope to identify strengths and barriers to implementation of a trauma and emergency system and build relationships with key members at Addis Ababa University, the Ministry of Health and WHO Ethiopia office. Additionally, I plan to perform an initial needs assessment of local/regional referring clinics appraising human and facility resources using WHO Guidelines for Essential Trauma Care resource matrices.”

Karen Patterson, PT, MS, PCS/Lisa Steinkamp, PT, MS, MBA/Colleen Cobey, PT, MS
Faculty Associate/Program Director, Doctor of PT Program/Faculty Associate
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Orthorehab, Physical Therapy Program
UGANDA

Project: “We will be facilitating the completion of a Physical Therapy Clinical Internship in Uganda for UW DPT first year students. Faculty will be involved in mentoring students, educating local Ugandan healthcare providers, and fostering relationships in hopes of making this program a sustainable and collaborative part of the DPT curriculum. In addition, Lisa Steinkamp will travel to Kenya to work with the organization Health by Motorbike.”

Erik A. Ranheim, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Pathology
BELIZE

Project: “I am working with Dr. Jim Shropshire and the Hillside Clinic in southern Belize to create at least rudimentary laboratory testing ability and education to produce peripheral blood smears, urinalysis, hemoglobin, and potentially electrolyte analysis at the clinic. In addition, I hope to facilitate ongoing involvement in this effort by resident physicians in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UW by creating elective rotations in International Health.”

Rob Striker, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Medicine and Medical Biology
EGYPT

Project: “This award will help further collaboration between UW-Madison, National Center Research Center and Dar El Fouad Hospital (both in Cairo) to tailor treatment for Hepatitis C based on the strains prevalent in the Middle East, rather than those in developed countries on which current guidelines are based. Hepatitis C Virus is a major public health problem in Egypt affecting almost 1 in 10 individuals.”

Janis Tupesis, MD
Associate Professor
UW School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Medicine
LIBERIA

Project: “The goal of this project is to work with the Liberian Government, Public Health Officials and other partner organizations within the Global Health Alliance (UW, University of Chicago, Brown, Yale, Mt Sinai – NY, UMass) to help re-establish the Graduate Medical Education programs in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Liberia’s largest public/academic teaching hospital. Specific projects include: developing curriculum for the AM Dogliotti School of Medicine, developing curriculum for the rotating interns at JFK Hospital in Monrovia, working with the hospital administration to help develop evaluation tools/testing standards for trainees and eventually help in creating clinical/didactic education “standards” for licensure.”

Earlise Ward, PhD
Assistant Professor
UW School of Nursing
VIRGIN ISLANDS

Project: “The purpose of this project is to conduct a descriptive study examining Virgin Islanders beliefs about mental illness, perceptions of stigma and preferred coping behaviors. The results of this study will be used to inform development of a culturally-specific intervention to address mental health issues among Virgin Islanders.”