Global Health Work Highlighted at Conferences

Sky Vanderburg presents at conference

Duke med student, Sky Vanderburg, gave a presentation on his research highlighting African cancer registries at the AORTIC conference in Egypt.

Published December 6, 2011, last updated on February 27, 2013 under Research News

Med Student Presents at Cancer Conference in Egypt
Duke medical student Sky Vanderburg presented his research on African cancer registries at the AORTIC 2011 Conference “Entering the 21st Century for Cancer Control in Africa” Conference in Cairo, Egypt. He described the challenges faced by emerging and existing African cancer registries. He also shared components of successful registries, such as those in Egypt and Uganda, which both have a well-defined population, well-trained professionals, standardized methodology as well as active data collection and verification. The literature review is timely because 70% of the global cancer burden is borne by low- and middle-income countries, while cancer prevention and treatment service are scarce. The data will be used to develop a Kilimanjaro Region Cancer Registry in Tanzania as part of the KCMC-Duke Partnership.

DGHI Makes Splash at ASTM Conference
DGHI faculty member Wendy O’Meara and Master of Science in Global Health student Christopher de Boer were among the presenters at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene taking place this week. O’Meara’s abstract highlighted her DGHI research on the distribution of bednets through the public health sector in rural Kenya. De Boer’s abstract highlighted the risk factors for development of ileal perforation, a debilitating complication of typhoid fever, among Ugandan hospital patients. DGHI also had an exhibit table at the conference to promote its education programs.

Strong Duke Presence at Global Surgery Conference
A contingent of Duke faculty members, medical students and alumni attended the Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence 4th annual conference in San Diego last month. Medical students Shahrzad Joharifard, Lauren Simpson, June Tibaleka and Randy Lassiter presented posters on their research, which included topics such as a neurosurgery program for developing nations and a simplified negative pressure wound therapy device. DGHI faculty member Michael Haglund also moderated a neurosurgery panel, sharing his experience leading a Duke twinning program that is working to build surgical capacity in Uganda.

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