Case Western Reserve University

New funding from the National Institute of Health’s Fogarty International Center and the National Institute of Nursing Research will support three post-doctoral trainees in anthropology, epidemiology and nursing from Case Western Reserve University. Over the next year, the trainees will undertake behavioral science research in Papua New Guinea to study self management of potential drug treatments for lymphatic filariasis.
As part of the training, they will collaborate on a trial of potential drugs to destroy the lymphatic filariasis parasite that causes blockages in the lymphatic system.

James Kazura and Christopher King from the Center for Global Health and Disease at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine direct the drug study. The principal investigators on the new, one-year $228,000 grant are Elizabeth Madigan, professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing; Janet McGrath in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences; and Daniel Tisch in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Medicine.

The post-doc trainees represent three schools participating in the Global Health Framework project at Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Global Health and Disease.

Past Honors

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has recently named Case Western Reserve University the lead institution of an International Center of Excellence for Malaria Research. The $7.9M seven-year grant will be lead by principal investigator James Kazura, MD, Director of the Center for Global Health and Diseases, and will work to eliminate Malaria worldwide.

Click here to learn more about the project in the article in Medicus, the bi-annual magazine published by the CWRU School of Medicine.

Arlene Dent, M.D. Ph.D. received a two-year Thrasher New Researcher Award for her research proposal: "Ultrasound detection of abnormal placental blood flow as an early marker of placental malaria". The research will be conducted in Msambweni District Hospital in Kenya with Chris King, M.D.,Ph.D. as the mentor. Per their website , " The Thrasher Research Fund seeks to foster an environment of creativity and discovery aimed at finding solutions to children's health problems. The Fund awards grants for research that offers substantial promise for meaningful advances in prevention and treatment of children's diseases, particularly research that offers broad-based applications. "

Education

The Framework Program in Global Health at Case Western Reserve University is a collaboration of faculty from the School of Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Nursing that is coordinated through the Center for Global Health. Its objective is to facilitate identification of courses and opportunities related to Global Health, promote new courses, encourage students to enter this area and recognize students who have developed their interest in Global Health. This effort is supported by the Fogarty International of the NIH. Central to the program is a certificate in Global Health for graduate students and undergraduate juniors and seniors. Each participating department or school has defined a list of criteria for the certificate that involve 3-4 courses and a project in addition to regular coursework for completion of their discipline. A core course INTH 301/401 is a requirement for all certificates. Contact Ronald Blanton reb6@case.edu, 216-386-4814 or visit http://www.case.edu/med/cfgh/index.htm.

Past Grants

Center for Global Health and Diseases to lead broad international initiative to promote infectious disease education in Papua New Guinea

The Forgarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health has just awarded a training grant to scientists at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, Center for Global Health and Diseases to lead an educational program in infectious disease (ID) research training.

This five-year program will be conducted in Papua New Guinea (PNG), a developing country located in the equatorial region of the South Pacific. The work will be done in collaboration with the PNG Institute of Medical Research and the University of PNG

This program, lead by Dr. Peter Zimmerman, extends a 23-year history of productive ID research collaboration with the PNG Institute of Medical Research initiated by Dr. James Kazura. Collaborators of the Fogarty grant include Dr. Cynthia Beall (Case, Department of Anthropology) and ID research experts from Australia and Switzerland. The program will be launched at PNG’s National Medical Research Symposium in September of 2005, and will seek to fund short-term projects and Bachelors Honors and Masters level certificates for 75 Papua New Guinean students.

In PNG, malaria and pneumonia are the leading causes of illness and mortality. These infectious diseases are responsible for at least 30% of hospital admissions, and contribute to mortality rates in children under 5 years of age that are 18-24 times higher than those observed in the United States and Australia (UNICEF 2003 statistics; www.unicef.org).

The people of PNG represent extensive cultural and ethnic diversity. With over 850 spoken languages, this presents unique challenges to communication about infection, disease and health care.

To provide educational experiences most relevant to PNG’s public health challenges, this ID research training program will emphasize the importance in-country educational experiences. Research training will introduce students to the complicated ID milieu where illness may include multiple pathogens and non-specific symptoms conceal the complexity of infections. Laboratory and field experiences will emphasize the importance of developing diagnostic tools and strategies that are practical for PNG. Clinical field-based experience will emphasize the importance of effective communication, accurate diagnosis and improved specificity of treatment for the most significant infectious pathogens in PNG.