DGHI Funding Enables Cultural Anthropologist to Pursue New Research

mumbai street intersection

Published September 9, 2014, last updated on April 9, 2018 under Research News

Seed funding enables great ideas to take shape and researchers to work together in new, innovative ways. The DGHI International Travel Grants program awards grants to Duke faculty biannually in order to develop knowledge and make discoveries in global health.

 

For two months this summer, a travel grant enabled DGHI faculty member and cultural anthropologist Harris Solomon to travel to Mumbai, India to conduct exploratory research in a new area of study. That preliminary work is setting him up for a larger study in the future.

 

“There’s no way I could have launched that project and hit the ground running without having my trip this summer supported by DGHI. It was a really valuable jumpstart,” said Solomon. “The DGHI grant allowed me to get two months of exploratory field research under way, which is critical for applying for external funding to support a larger study.”

Solomon is interested in the relationship between intense urbanization, mobilization and injury in India. Injury is very acute in a place like India which has tons of vehicles and motor bikes being added to the road every day – not to mention a high level of pedestrian traffic too.

“What’s also interesting to study is the high mortality rate connected with Mumbai’s municipal train system. People die every day just on the train tracks because the doors stay open while the train is moving,” said Solomon.

During his trip to Mumbai, Solomon was able to start asking questions to understand what the situation looks like for the injured and their caretakers, for the health system, and for policymakers. He was able to find institutional partners and mentors in the areas of trauma medicine and injury and connect with a journal club made up of trauma surgeons in public health. Solomon also observed patients in the city’s biggest trauma hospital ward, rode in ambulances, and talked with community members.

 

Solomon will take a sabbatical in January to continue this research in Mumbai.

 

The next deadline for DGHI travel grants is October 1st

 

 

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