Cornell University Establishes New Global Health Research and Training Program

Newswise — In order to address some of the world's pressing health challenges such as HIV/AIDS and malnutrition in developing nations, Cornell has established the unique and innovative Global Health Program, a collaborative effort between Cornell's Ithaca and New York City campuses. Funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and by the University, the program will be the home to academic, research and outreach efforts related to global health issues. A multidisciplinary undergraduate, professional and graduate program will be developed by Cornell University's Weill Cornell Medical College and the Colleges of Human Ecology, Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and Agriculture and Life Sciences. The program is housed in the Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell and in the Division of Nutritional Sciences in Ithaca. "Achieving global health will require new approaches and solutions to solving the burdens of poverty, malnutrition, infectious disease, coupled with advances in sustainable agriculture, development and genomics," says Dr. Rebecca Stoltzfus, co-director of the Global Health Program and professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell. "Working toward this end, the Global Health Program will be the site of unique and innovative multidisciplinary collaborations, combining expertise in medicine, nutrition, health policy and more," adds Dr. Warren Johnson Jr., co-director of the Global Health Program, B.H. Kean Professor of Tropical Medicine and director of the Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell Medical College. As a first priority, the University will begin offering an undergraduate minor in global health, expanding the curriculum in the area. The focus of the new minor will be research, service and training to address health problems that transcend national boundaries, disproportionately affect the resource-poor, and are best addressed by multidisciplinary solutions. Courses will be taught by faculty from several Cornell colleges and from Weill Cornell Medical College. The first course, Introduction to Global Health, is fully enrolled this semester and examines the social, economic, political, environmental and biological factors that structure global health problems. Students enrolled in the minor may conduct laboratory-based research on issues related to global health with faculty at the Ithaca and New York City campuses. They will also be eligible for global health internships in Haiti, Bangladesh, Ghana, Peru, Tanzania and at three sites in Brazil. "The Global Health Program will encourage researchers to engage in greater collaboration around issues in global health while providing both new courses and internship opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and medical students," Dr. Stoltzfus adds. The Global Health program held its first university-wide lecture series on February 20, with Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cornell HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Unit Dr. Roy Gulick delivering an address on the Ithaca campus, titled "HIV/AIDS 2007 -- Where Are We?" Global health and infectious diseases are a major focus of Weill Cornell's new $1.3 billion capital campaign, "Discoveries That Make a Difference," launched on October 26. For more information, the public may call (866) 697-6397.