By Katie Newcomb, GHI Communications Director…On July 30, 2024, nearly 50 advisory members, GHI staff, friends, and advocates attended the Global Health Institute’s (GHI) Advisory Committee Retreat at the Usona Institute.
GHI staff, led by Director, Jorge Osorio, shared the work from the team during the last year, highlighted the progress and efforts of One Health Centers (OHC) in Colombia, Sierra Leone, and India, as well as field work and partnership progress in Guadalajara, South Africa, and Rwanda.
Speaker presentations included the following:
Director, Jorge Osorio: Welcoming all attendees, providing updates on rabies vaccine and cell therapy research, and academic & NGO projects in India and OHC-West Africa, offering insights with field work in Mexico and South Africa, and thanking Tura Patterson, Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships, Usona Institute, for hosting the meeting. You can find Tura sharing information about the work at Usona as a panelist on our January 2024 webinar, Psilocybin & Improving Mental Health. Osorio also shared information on the OHC-West Africa noting the re-launch of the Abbot Pandemic Defense Coalition Acute Febrile Illness Research Project in June 2024, and remodeling the operationalizing Lab at Military 34 space.
GHI Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships & Development, Calyn Ostrowski: Advancements, strategies, and goals with partnership outreach and agreements across all sectors; budget changes, requests and strategies with staffing, student programs, scholarship grants, OHCs & field programs; philanthropic developments, scholarships and internship; and sharing additional members to the advisory committee.
GHI Associate Research Professor, John Chan: Grant submission status, overview of on-campus connections for each of the OHCs and opportunities in Rwanda, overview of the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) Network, and goals for additional on-campus outreach in the next year.
GHI Communications Director, Katie Newcomb: Communication goals focusing on branding, storytelling, and cultivating relationships; overview and data milestones of past year outreach efforts for the newly launched website, social media, and newsletter; update on past and upcoming webinar and symposium events-including the announcement of the first webinar on September 24: Harvard’s Humanitarian Initiative for Humanitarian Training & Preparedness; and the date and location for the 20th Anniversary Symposium on April 8, 2025, at the Discovery Building.
Jay Sehgal, Executive Director, Sehgal Foundation: Sharing background on the Sehgal Foundation and their work for sustainable rural development in India, including intervention approach, pathways to change; academia partnerships for knowledge exchanges and joint research proposals; technology-led innovations in water, agriculture, and nutrition; and AI-based solutions to pressing development issues.
Juan Pablo Hernandez Ortiz, Director, OHC-Colombia: Overview of the history of the OHC-Colombia, work from the past year with research and students, pathogen discovery and pandemic awareness, surveillance, status of partner relationships, and an overview of the One Health Project in Mexico.
Brian Fox, Chair, Department of Biochemistry: Sharing the background of the Stellenbosch University and Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) relationship, including the recent visit of CERI Director Tulio de Oliveira. Also noting the potential for a GHI & One Health Collaboration with Stellenbosch University including joint research, faculty/student exchanges, co-authoring grant proposals, identifying alliances, and hosting Richard Gordon, Director of International Business, South African Medical Research Council joining the Department of Biochemistry in fall 2024.
Edson Rwagasor, Division Manager, Public Health Surveillance and Emergency Preparedness and Response, Rwanda Biomedical Centre: Presenting the Centre’s background and involvement with GHI to move forward with enhancing epidemic intelligence in Rwanda, including top priority areas for emergency preparedness and response, fostering epidemic intelligence through animal surveillance to prevent human spillover, reviewing the emergence and disaster risk calendar, and establishing Rwanda pandemic preparedness hub (2024-2029).
Dawd Siraj, Professor, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, SMPH: Sharing background and next steps for the Global Infectious Disease Education and Training Program (GLIDE & TraP) in Rwanda, including the goals of building a collaborative network with schools; identifying faculty to support crafting curriculum in clinical infectious diseases, public health leadership, and diagnostics; building a group of faculty mentors to mentor trainees across the One Health site to identify research opportunities; and strengthening the infrastructure for capacity building.
Karl Ciuoderis, GHI Global Virus Network Fellow: Discussing his project, Determinants of Arbovirus Ecology and Transmission in Colombia, including recent increased incidence of Oropouche virus in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Find more information about Ciuoderis’ work in this GHI story.
Liz Birkhauser, PhD Candidate, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies & School of Pharmacy, Transdiciplinary Center for Research in Psychoactive Substances: Sharing her affiliation with GHI as a member of the 20-person delegation trip to Colombia in September 2023; the work she is currently undertaking in the Keefover-Ring Chemical Biogeography Lab and the Urdang Lab; and how she is the first to connect the School of Pharmacy and Environment & Resources with a join degree doctoral program.
Olga Chaparro, Postdoctoral Researcher: Presented her work with the OHC-Colombia on socio-environmental determinants of health associated with food security of the displaced indigenous Embera population. Her UW–Madison advisors are Alberto Vargas, Associate Director of Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS), and Nancy Kendall, Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, School of Education.
Sebastian Diaz, Postdoctoral Researcher: Presented his work with the OHC-Colombia on gut microbiota dynamics in a Colombia Amazonian community undergoing urbanization. His UW–Madison advisors are Amie Eisfeld, Scientist, Yoshihiro Kawaoka Lab, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine; Mostafa Zamanian, Associate Professor, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine; and Jessica Hite, Principal Investigator, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine.
Lina Garzon, Postdoctoral Researcher: Presenting her work with the OHC-Colombia on attention and care practices for the management of vector-borne diseases (VBD) in the southern Colombian Amazon. Her UW–Madison advisor is Nancy Kendall. You can find more information on Chaparro, Diaz, and Garzon’s postdoctoral research in this GHI story.
Leonor Hidalgo-Ciro, PhD Mass Communications Candidate: Sharing her work with the Migration in the Americas Project, including examining human rights violations along the journey, under the direction of Sara McKinnon, Principal Investigator. McKinnon is also a researcher and professor in UW–Madison’s Department of Communication Arts, in the College of Letters and Science (L&S), Faculty Director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies (LACIS), and Co-Chair of the Human Rights Program, with affiliations in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and Chican@ & Latin@ Studies. You can find more information about Hidalgo-Ciro’s work in this GHI story, and about the project overall in this GHI story.
Maria Stella Lopez Carvajal, PhD Comparative Biomedical Sciences Candidate: Sharing her work for a reservoir-targeted strategy: RMVA and mRNA Yellow Fever vaccine candidates for oral wildlife immunization, including prevention strategies, first and second-generation designs, and solid bait formulation. You can find more information about her work in this GHI story.
Kris Saha, Associate Professor, WID: Cancer/Gene Cell Therapy in India & Colombia: Discussing his work in the Saha Lab with “living drug” therapies, including CART cell, CRISPR, Sickle Cell where gell and gene therapy demand outstrips supply, concerns with cost. Also discussion of active investigations into cell therapy manufacturing in India and Brazil with links to OHC-Colombia and OHC-India.
Dr. Saminathan Mani, Indian Council of Medical Research Fellow: Sharing his background and work at the Center for Animal Disease Research and Diagnosis-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, and year-long fellowship with GHI to research a novel recombinant raccoon pox virus vectored oral bait vaccine against rabies virus in dogs to help mitigate the spread of the virus in India within the 25 million stray dog population.
The all-day meeting ended with a robust discussion of how GHI could be a convening catalyst for other schools and units on campus working in the global health space, and how GHI could integrate, contribute, and enhance UW-Madison’s RISE Initiative to ignite the Wisconsin Idea into global action. Attendees were then able to take a tour of Usona Institute’s various treatment center, as well as hear mental health service capabilities from the impressive campus. You can find more information on GHI’s work and global impact in the 2023-24 annual report.