Shirey will return to Kenya, where she completed a global health rotation during Duke residency. Photo by Duke Medicine.
Published December 6, 2010, last updated on March 20, 2013 under Research News
The Duke Global Health Institute is proud to announce five new recipients of grants for travel to India, South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and Argentina with the aim of expanding their global health research. DGHI International Travel Grants are awarded twice a year to Duke junior faculty, PhD or MD students or postdoctoral fellows interested in pursuing global health research opportunities in low- or middle-income countries. Each receiving up to $5,000 in travel funds, the grantees include Ravi Jhaveri, Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, Joanna (Asia) Maselko, Christina Meade and Kristen Shirey.
This is the second travel grant awarded to Joanna (Asia) Maselko, whose first DGHI-funded trip to Kerala, India a year ago developed the framework for her research on aging and mental health. As the Kerala population over 50 has risen dramatically, the Indian state has one of the highest suicide rates in South Asia and high rates of diagnosed psychiatric disorders. In her second trip, Maselko will begin implementing a pilot data collection exercise and identify funding for a larger study. Potential research projects include a community study of elderly individuals and their caregivers to assess psychosocial needs, a pilot intervention of care centers for elderly with disabilities, or a population-based statewide epidemiologic assessment of mental health issues among the elderly. Maselko is working to build research collaborations with geriatric psychiatrists and neurologists at Thrissur Medical College and the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology.
“I am extremely grateful for this travel award because it has been absolutely instrumental in building the necessary relationships leading to a productive collaboration,” said Maselko, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and global health. “We now have at least two projects in development that will significantly improve the state of knowledge about the determinants of mental health in South Asia.”
Among other DGHI travel grant recipients is HIV and substance abuse researcher Christina Meade, assistant professor of psychiatry and global health, who is exploring research collaborations in South Africa. She will study the influence of poverty and gender inequities on alcohol abuse and associated sexual risk, as well as the effects of substance abuse on neurocognitive functioning and health behaviors among HIV-infected individuals. To date, most of Meade’s work on the topic has been focused on socioeconomically disadvantaged African-Americans living in the Raleigh-Durham area.
“My hope is to extend this research to Africa, home to the majority of HIV infections, where there continues to be an urgent need for targeted research,” said Meade. “The opportunity to conduct research outside the US in populations with distinct characteristics and contextual conditions offers special opportunities to advance scientific knowledge.”
DGHI affiliate Kristen Shirey, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, will return to Kenya to begin clinical research on the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Shirey’s DGHI-supported trip next month will build on her work in Eldoret, Kenya where she completed a global health rotation during her combined Internal Medicine/Psychiatry Residency Program at Duke. As part of her anticipated research, Shirey plans to design a study to measure the estimated prevalence of PTSD, identify primary care patients for future treatment intervention studies and train community health workers to carry out PTSD interventions. She will also explore research collaborations with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and AMPATH on these projects.
Ravi Jhaveri, assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases and molecular genetics and microbiology, will travel to Egypt with the aim of expanding his research on the transmission of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) from mother to child. While Jhaveri’s current research has provided a greater understanding of the cellular determinants of HCV vertical transmission, his findings are limited to laboratory observations.
“It is unknown if these findings accurately reflect what is happening in the placenta of an HCV infected woman,” said Jhaveri, whose preliminary work indicates that HCV Core protein may be processed differently in placental cells and may serve as a major block to new virus production. “Our future studies must include examination of placental tissue from actual patients. At this point, we must consider a more ‘global’ approach.”
Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, assistant professor of family medicine, was awarded a travel grant to explore collaborative research focused on improving reproductive health outcomes in Argentina. She and DGHI faculty member and OB/GYN Jeff Wilkinson will meet with colleagues at the Center for the Study of State and Society (CEDES) and Rosario Center for Perinatal Studies (CREP), which are two Argentinean organizations that conduct sexual and reproductive health research and work to improve maternal-infant health outcomes. Martinez-Bianchi and Wilkinson want to engage in collaborative research that addresses the prevention of unplanned pregnancies and the problem of maternal mortality and morbidity related to abortion. Argentina has one of the highest abortion rates in the world and doubles the Latin American average. Abortion-related complications have remained the leading cause of death for the past 20 years.
Martinez-Bianchi and Wilkinson aim to establish training programs for providers in the public sector and educate community members, improve access to birth control, provide continuity of care for reproductive health, and enhance awareness of reproductive health issues amongst both providers and patients.
