Two biomedical engineering students with an interest in global health will teach a course on intellectual property this spring. The half-credit house course, which is taught by students for students under faculty supervision, will give undergraduates an introduction to the driving forces that impact the availability of and access to medicines in low- and middle-income countries.
While medicines help in treating individuals, the availability of these products is controlled by complex interactions between law, business, economics, policy and medicine. Sponsored by the Duke Global Health Institute, “Intellectual Property and Global Public Health” will present a variety of public policy, global health, human rights, scientific and industry perspectives on the topic of intellectual property. With such a multidisciplinary approach, student course instructors Ruvi Chauhan and Rahul Nayak hope it will expand student perceptions of global health.
“Global health is more than running a clinic in Ecuador or handing out medical supplies. If changes are made to patent law, it can change the way people produce these materials and how they are accessed, so there is potential for long-term impact in a non-clinical way,” said Chauhan.” Once you start learning about its impact and what it means to have a lack of access to medicines because of certain constraints, it changes your perspective. We are excited to present these ideas to students, and we hope they feel empowered to get involved with this area in global health.”
Chauhan is a senior pursuing the global health certificate and serves on the DGHI Student Council; Nayak is a junior who is also studying economics. Both are active with the Duke chapter of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and are eager to share this important topic with their peers.
DGHI Adjunct Assistant Professor Jason Cross is the faculty advisor for the undergraduate house course. He will also be teaching an intellectual property course in the Duke Law School this spring.
“Ruvi and Rahul have thoughtfully designed a timely class on an important topic in an accessible and feasible format, and I’m happy to serve as faculty advisor,” said Cross. “The course will be an important introduction for undergraduate students to an issue with which they can also get involved via policy, research and activist work at Duke.”
As part of the class, students will discuss recent journal articles written on the topic, make presentations based on current events, and write a business or policy proposal as part of a final project.
The house course is currently filled to capacity, but interested students can join the waitlist. Drop/add ends on January 25. Students from all backgrounds are welcome to enroll; no previous global health experience or coursework is required.
Learn more about the house course.
