Grants Awarded to Expand Global Health Research

Research Faculty Grants

Published December 1, 2014, last updated on April 9, 2018 under Research News

The Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI) and Center for Health Policy & Inequalities Research (CHIPR) are pleased to announce new grants for health research to evaluate existing healthcare solutions as well as implement innovative methods for education. The diversity of the three grants, awarded to Duke faculty by outside funding agencies, demonstrate Duke’s commitment to a broad range of local and global research.

Kathryn Whetten, professor of public policy and global health and director of CHPIR, has been awarded $1 million to evaluate the Whole Child International intervention program in El Salvador. The Whole Child International program believes orphanages can be dramatically improved through primary caregiving, continuity of care, and sustainable small groups of caregivers for children. Over the course of the four-year grant, Whetten will use pre- and post- intervention measurements of institutions, caregivers, children, and parents/guardians to assess the effects of this intervention on children’s wellbeing. This grant allows Whetten to develop a residential center rating scale using data gathered on centers’ characteristics and child outcomes. This research will also explore how the caregiving practices at the Child Development Centers align with the cultural norms in El Salvador. 

Dennis Clements, DGHI senior advisor and director of medical school programs, has received two grants from the U.S. Department of Education. Each of the two-year grants is in collaboration with the Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Duke and the Institute for the Study of the Americas at UNC. The first is a $220,000 grant to support the Title VI National Resource Center for Latin American Language and Area Studies (CLAS), and the second grant of $420,000 was awarded in support of the Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS). Through these grants, Clements and his team will provide opportunities for research and training for students and faculty, enhance the Latin American and Caribbean curriculum across both campuses, and stimulate institutional and public awareness of the Latin American and Caribbean peoples and cultures.