Global Connections

Africa

Malaria Prevention in Cameroun

Adidja Amani is currently enrolled in IPH and pursuing her Master’s in Public Health after experiencing some of the disparities facing the third world first hand! As a new Fulbright scholar from Cameroun, Dr. Amani graduated from Yaoundé Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Science in June 2007. Her interest in medicine began as a young child wanting to treat her ill mother and later evolved to encompass a career in public health. As a physician in Cameroun, Adidja recognizes the many diseases that are easily preventable and not taken care of due to lack of infrastructure, education, and increasing poverty. Dr. Amani works in Cameroun involves Malaria and effective interventions for the people of endemic areas. For a country that has only 2 physicians per 10,000 persons, public health surveillance, policy, education, and interventions are essential for improvement of health outcomes. Dr. Amani is currently pursuing the Healthy Policy and Management track in order to one day provide systematic support for her country’s public health infrastructure.

From The Gambia to Georgia-Student involvement in Global Health

Hannah Ross-Suits joined the Institute of Public Health after volunteering with the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa for two years. Started by President John F. Kennedy , The Peace Corps provides individuals the opportunity to serve, live and work in developing countries. Her role encompassed many of the disciplines learned within the public health curriculum; education, policy, epidemiology, and more. Hannah taught 7th grade students math and science education as well as 10th grade Biology during her stay in the Gambia. Amongst the other activities, Hannah organized a march acknowledging World AIDS day and created educational skits with her students to commemorate the day. In addition, once Peace Corps project she was involved in helped bring 200 scouts together from nine different regions to encourage service activities and troop building activities. Adding to the hospital and clinic workforce, Hannah and other volunteers helped weight babies, check immunization records, and dispense vitamin A in a Children’s and Reproductive Health Clinic. The Peace Corps experience in Africa has given her insight into the disparities facing the people of the Gambia and the public health challenge it faces.

Intriguing work in Global Epidemiology

Intriguing Work Global Health Epidemiology
Dr. Gieseker travelled to Tanzania as part of a CDC/CARE project aimed at improving the health of women and children in rural communities and train local health professionals and GSU public health students surveillance and epidemiology skills. The project was part of a seed grant sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia State Research Foundation to train local staff in epidemiology surveillance and allow GSU public health students a hands- on- experience with evidence gathering and program evaluation. Partnering with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CARE, and the local Tanzanian Ministry of Health Dr. Gieseker led a descriptive study focusing on promoting maternal and child health in several local communities.

During a previous visit to Tanzania, Dr. Gieseker participated with the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization to lead the previous Aflatoxin Outbreak The team was involved in field investigation of food supply, surveying the local community for cases, and working with local clinics and hospitals to review medical records for existing and previous cases. Currently, Dr. Gieseker is an assistant professor at Georgia State’s Institute for Public Health and teaches Epidemiology, Global Health, and Infectious Disease Epidemiology.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Intravaginal Rings as a Device to Control HIV in Kenya

Many women are at risk for HIV because their male partners refuse to use condoms; as such, scientists have been searching for female-controlled methods of HIV protection. Georgia State University researchers Donna Smith and Tina Hoang, in collaboration with Principal Investigator, Frances Priddy of Emory University and Sabina Wakasiaka of the University of Nairobi, have been exploring whether women and their partners in Nairobi, Kenya, might accept the intravaginal ring as a potential delivery device for microbicides, chemical compounds that would reduce the transmission of HIV. The study team conducted focus groups with higher and lower risk women as well as their partners in two Nairobi informal settlement communities, Mukuru and Kibera. Overall, participants in the research sponsored by the CDC Foundation, were positive about the potential protection offered by a microbicide ring. Some sex workers in Mukuru, however, were fearful that it could negatively impact their livelihoods, suggesting that the rollout of any such device would also require effective educational campaigns. Smith and Hoang are also working on a six-month cohort study to track rates of STD infection among sex workers in Mukuru, which will help give future microbicide and vaccine researchers more knowledge about high-risk populations.

Social and Sexual Networks in Western Province, Kenya

In a recent NIH grant proposal, Richard Rothenberg hypothesized that social and sexual networks might play a larger role in disease propagation within sub-Saharan Africa than previously considered. In May 2008, Christine Kibui, a 2nd year MPH student, and Donna Smith, Research Associate in the Institute of Public Health, in partnership with Sabina Wakasiaka and other colleagues from the University of Nairobi, traveled to the Western Province of Kenya to determine the feasibility of carrying out a social and sexual network study in this area. The research team conducted 8 focus groups and 10 individual interviews in Bungoma and Webuye – two small towns within the Western Province. They found that deeply-held cultural traditions within these communities, such as polygamous marriages, widow inheritance and male circumcision rites, present significant risk factors for HIV transmission. Also noteworthy was the level of HIV stigma that still exists in the area, although this was diminishing as anti-retroviral treatments became more accessible.

Preventing an Epidemic

Under the sponsorship of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, IPH Director Michael Eriksen has been working with tobacco control leaders in Africa to prevent an epidemic of tobacco use that has ravaged the rest of the world. Africa is the last location on earth that has not suffered from an epidemic of tobacco use and where not smoking is still the norm. Dr. Eriksen plans to work with the Foundation and African colleagues to help preserve this special status and hope that African nations do not have to deal with an additional epidemic.

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Georgia State Magazine, "Preventing an Epidemic"

Making a Difference through Social Epidemiological Research

Dr. Monica Swahn, Associate Professor at Georgia State’s Institute of Public Health (IPH) and Associate Dean of Research for the College of Health and Human Sciences recently worked with the Institutes Graduate Research Assistants (Dena Musa Elimam and Elizabeth Gaylor) to analyze the Global School-based Student Health Survey. Dr. Swahn and her students examined the risk factors for violence and suicidal behaviors and prepared a manuscript entitled "Prevalence and Correlates of Suicidal Ideation and Physical Fighting: A Comparison between Students in Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and the U.S.A." and also examined the factors associated with hunger which have yielded a report entitled "Hunger and Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A Comparison Between Students in Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia". Born outside of Stockholm Sweden, Dr. Swahn moved to the U.S.in 1990 and began working in Public Health. Dr. Swahn states “While I have been wanting to actively engage in international research for a long time, it's really this past year that I have had an opportunity to do so. It is clear that the Institute of Public Health, as well as the Georgia State University, value international work, and this environment clearly facilitates the pursuit of international research.” More >>

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Asia

GSU’s Institute of Public Health- Brilliant Fulbright’s!

Ariuna arrived eager and enthusiastic from Mongolia in the summer of 2007 to begin her Masters of Public Health at Georgia State. Ariuna’s passion for public health stems from her work as a Pediatric cardiologist in her home country of Mongolia. As a pediatric cardiologist fellow in 2002, Aruina and fellow mentor Dr. Kirk Milhoan sought to improve the basic diagnostic skills for congenital heart disease and prevention from irreversible pulmonary vascular obstructive disease among children in Mongolia. In 2003, Ariuna put her research into action and initiated a screening outreach program with American and Mongolian physicians, nurse practitioners and other staff. Her research led her to the conclusion that a local surgery program would be needed for those children diagnosed with congenital heart disease and obstructive vascular pulmonary disorders. In 2007 Ariuna began her career in public health in order to learn the skills that would allow her to take prevention back to Mongolia and apply it on the field. From 2003-2007, Ariuna and the team screened over 9000 children in 3 cities, 12 were eligible to the children’s heart project and received life saving surgery in the U.S. and Canada. Ariuna has balanced her studies in public health while returning to Mongolia every September to continue her research!

Tobacco Control in China

One out of every three cigarettes smoked in the world is smoked in China. In fact, there are more men who smoke in China than there are people in the United States. Because of the untold harm caused by smoking, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Emory University a five-year $15 million grant to work with Chinese partners to reduce the predictable toll caused by smoking. Jeff Koplan, Director of Emory’s Global Health Institute is Principal Investigator on this grant and Michael Eriksen, Director of Georgia State University’s Institute of Public Health, is Co-Principal Investigator along with Kathy Miner of Emory. Dr. Eriksen will be responsible for media and communications efforts that attempt to reduce the social acceptability of smoking in China, much as has occurred in the United States over the last 50 years. Dr. Eriksen’s goal is to accelerate the change in social norms so that it does not take half a century.

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Europe

Caring for the world’s children: From Georgia to Eastern Europe

Dr. Edwards-Gaura, visiting associate professor and researcher at Georgia State’s College of Health and Human Sciences Center for Health Development, travelled to Belarus in order to teach prevention skills regarding child maltreatment practices to parents. Dr. Anna Edwards provided a workshop for healthcare professionals in Belarus on October 9-11, 2008. The purpose of the workshop was to educate professionals about the SafeCare parenting program. SafeCare is a research-based parenting program that aims to prevent child maltreatment. The workshop focused on teaching at-risk parents specific problem-solving, healthcare decision-making, parent-child interaction, and home safety skills. Professionals participating in the workshop included Social Work staff and Pediatricians. The workshop was sponsored by the Christian Children’s Foundation as part of an initiative to disseminate evidence-based practices to Eastern European countries. Grant proposals are currently being developed to expand this work in Belarus in the future.

Global

Global Environmental Health

One of the newest faculty members at the Institute of Public Health is Dr. Christine Stauber, whose environmental health passion led her to global health work in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ghana and Tanzania. For the last six years, Dr. Stauber has worked on helping people improve household drinking water and reduce diarrheal disease by studying household water treatment technologies. She feels that improving access to water and sanitation and improving household hygiene can have a tremendous impact on the burden of disease attributable to the environment, particularly in developing countries.

In the Dominican Republic, a team of researchers, including Dr. Stauber conducted a randomized controlled trial of the concrete biosand filter. The study examined the concrete biosand filter's ability to reduce E. coli and improve diarrheal disease. The study lasted 10 months and a portion of the results were just published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (Am.J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 80(2), 2009, pp. 286-293). The main findings of the research were households with the concrete biosand filter had a significant reduction in diarrheal disease and significant improvements in drinking water quality. The research was funded by a variety of organizations including the Canadian Embassy, W.K. Kellogg, local and international Rotary clubs. In addition, Dr. Stauber received a Fulbright student award and companies such as IDEXX and Hach donated supplies.

Recently, Dr. Stauber has been working with Dr. Mark Sobsey and others at the University of North Carolina to document the performance of a plastic biosand filter in studies in Cambodia, Ghana and Honduras.

IPH Fulbright Scholars

The Institute of Public Health is pleased to be a popular destination for Fulbright Scholars from around the world. A total of 12 Fulbright Scholars have enrolled in the MPH degree program at Georgia State University, with four having graduated and another eight currently matriculating. The Institute of Public Health enrolls nearly half of all the Fulbright Scholars at Georgia State University, with students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Myranmar and Mongolia.

Link:

http://www.iie.org/Template.cfm?section=Fulbright1

The Tobacco Atlas

The Third Edition of the Tobacco Atlas was released at the XIV World Conference on Tobacco or Health held in Mumbai, India in March 2009. The third edition is a complete update of the earlier versions, with an emphasis on the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the increasing philanthropic investment in tobacco control by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael Bloomberg Philanthropies. The online, interactive version of the Tobacco Atlas can be found at http://www.tobaccoatlas.org/