January 2025 Global Health Community Newsletter

• CGH Medical Education & Innovation Development Award – This award is designated to support early- to mid-career healthcare practitioners who are involved in global education healthcare delivery and innovation. The award will provide up to $20,000 for one year (+ 20% F&A that CGH will cover) which may be used to support salary, travel, and/or program activities. See this document for more information and submission details. Applications are due on Friday, February 14, 2025. Contact cghadmin@mgh.harvard.edu with any questions.
• CGH Research Development Award – This award is designated to support investigators who are beginning careers in global health research and provides $75,000 in direct costs over two years. It is open to post-doctoral fellows, instructors, and assistant professors at MGH or BWH. The award is not restricted to any specific area within global health, but the research must be grounded in a robust, in-country partnership and contribute to the local research agenda. See this document for more information and submission details. Applications are due by 5pm on Friday, February 14, 2025. Contact Jessica Haberer at jhaberer@mgb.org with any questions.
• MGH Center for Global Health Finish Line Grant (GHFLG) – Do you have a project that’s near completion? Do you need just a little more support to finish it? This grant program aims to serve as a catalyst for the completion of projects – as well as a way to support mentorship between MGH Global Health faculty and junior investigators and trainees. GHFLG awards can range from $500-$2,500 per award each year and are awarded on a rolling basis. They can be used to pay for protected time, childcare costs and more. See this document for more information and how to apply. Contact Lindsey Garrison at legarrison@mgh.harvard.edu with questions.
• MGH Global Health Service Awards – These awards were established to encourage innovation in the field of global health, recognize those who seek to advance clinical care and capacity for underserved populations, and emphasize the importance of global collaboration in healthcare. All employees of MGH and global partners are eligible for these awards, which are granted annually in any of the following three categories: Excellence in Research and Innovation, Excellence in Clinical Education and Mentorship, and Excellence in Global Disaster Response & Humanitarian Action. $2,000 will be awarded to support global health project related work. Nominations for this year’s awards will be accepted until Friday, April 25, 2025 via this online form, and award winners will be announced at the next Global Health Expo. Contact cghadmin@mgh.harvard.edu with any questions.
• MGH Global Health Community Engagement Awards – These awards aim to improve health equity and support community-based projects, humanitarian opportunities and requests for specialized assistance from NGOs. MGH staff and faculty are eligible for the awards, and their collaborators from partner institutions are also eligible. Do you have a community partner with whom you collaborate? This award funding could be quite strategically helpful to them. Learn more at this link.
• Identifying external funding opportunities with PIVOT – PIVOT is a library database that indexes funding announcements from government agencies, private foundations and nonprofits, and international sponsors. It contains information from disciplines including (but not limited to) medicine, the physical and social sciences, as well as engineering. For more information and to create your PIVOT account today, see this document. An in-depth presentation is also available here. Amy Robb, Associate Director of Prospective Research and Funding Opportunities, Corporate and Foundation Relations in the MGH Development Office, is the facilitator of the PIVOT database.

Employment Opportunities / Fellowships

• Training Program in Psychiatric Genetics and Translational Research (T32) – This program, led by Karestan Koenen, PhD, JP Onnela, PhD and CGH faculty member Alexander Tsai, MD, brings together faculty from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the MGH Division of Global Psychiatry to train epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and physician and non-physician clinicians with interests in a broad range of inquiry relevant to psychiatric genetics and analytical methods for translational mental health research, including global mental health, social and behavioral science, and psychiatric epidemiology. We offer dedicated mentorship, didactic seminars, formal coursework throughout Harvard-affiliated institutions, and access to a diverse community of cross-disciplinary scholars. Funding is for up to three years and includes salary, MPH tuition, travel to professional meetings, and other training-related expenses. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Please note: we have not yet received the notice of grant award but one is expected, and formal offers cannot be made until the notice of grant award is received. Please reach out to Dr. Tsai with questions at actsai@mgh.harvard.edu.
• Durant Fellowship in Refugee Medicine – This 1-year fellowship sponsors healthcare professionals to serve refugee populations and victims of humanitarian and natural disasters with up to $75,000 in salary support and other expenses. Selected projects will focus on refugee, migrant, and/or asylum-seeking populations. All MGH and BWH employees are eligible to apply. Learn more at this link or email globaldisasterresponse@partners.org with questions.

The MGH Center for Global Health is Hiring!

• Program Manager

  Click above or at this link for the application and to learn more about the Program Manager position.

• Clinical Research Coordinator I – MGH Asylum Clinic

  Click above or at this link for the application and to learn more about the Clinical Research Coordinator I position.

Awards/Recognition

Skeeter Welder, MSN, FNP

Congratulations, Catherine “Skeeter” Welder, MSN, FNP!

We are excited to announce that Skeeter Welder has completed her Master of Science in Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner with a concentration in Women’s Health from Regis College in December 2024!

In addition to this impressive academic milestone, Skeeter serves as the Nurse Project Coordinator for Global Nursing and Disaster Response and Humanitarian Action. She also practices clinically in critical care at MGH’s Medical Intensive Care Unit, where her expertise and dedication continue to make a profound impact.

Research

General

CGH works with a PhD level statistician, who can offer biostatistical support as needed. Please contact Jessica Haberer at jhaberer@mgb.org with details about your statistical needs.

Recent Publications

Here is a selection of our community’s recent publications, alphabetized by first author. To share your published work in the next newsletter, please email cghadmin@mgh.harvard.edu.

• Leen, Grace, Bailey Nelsonn, Julie Koenig, John P. Plastaras, James M. Metz, Beow Y. Yeap, Yongbin Zhang et al. “Long-term outcomes of definitive chemoradiation with proton therapy for treatment of carcinoma of the anal canal: combined analysis of two prospective trials.” International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics (January 1, 2025). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360301624030517
• Mudzingwa, Emily Krogstad, Lindsey de Vos, Lauren Fynn, Millicent Atujuna, Ingrid T. Katz, Sybil Hosek, Connie Celum, Joseph Daniels, Linda-Gail Bekker, and Andrew Medina-Marino. “Youth-friendly services was the magic: Experiences of adolescent girls and young women in the community PrEP study, South Africa.” Global Public Health 19, no. 1 (December 31, 2024): 2349918. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17441692.2024.2349918
• Bikinesi, Leonard, Matthew A. Spinelli, Ntombizodwa Nyoni, Daniella Mouton, Assegid Mengistu, Jacques Kamangu, Iyaloo Konstantinus et al. “The impact of adherence counseling incorporating a point of care urine tenofovir assay on virologic suppression among individuals failing tenofovir-lamivudine-dolutegravir: A pre-post intervention study.” International Journal of Infectious Diseases (2024): 107328. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197122400403X
• Galvin, Michael, Andrew W. Kim, Edna Bosire, Nokubonga Ndaba, Lindile Cele, Someleze Swana, Zwannda Kwinda, Alexander Tsai, and Aneesa Moolla. “Community perceptions and experiences of the South African Government’s response to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Johannesburg, South Africa.” Social and health sciences 22, no. 2 (2024): 10-25159. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11617012/
• Matthews, Lynn T., Katia J. Bruxvoort, Manjeetha Jaggernath, Yolandie Kriel, Patricia M. Smith, Jessica E. Haberer, John Bassler et al. “Use of tenofovir-based PrEP among pregnant women in South Africa.” AIDS (2022): 10-1097. https://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/abstract/9900/use_of_tenofovir_based_prep_among_pregnant_women.604.aspx
• Boum, Yap, Lucrece Matchim, Dominique K. Guimsop, Bongkiyung D. Buri, Lisa M. Bebell, Yuya SF Jaudel, Fai KG Njuwa et al. “High immunity and low mortality after Omicron and mass event in Cameroon despite low vaccination.” Journal of Public Health in Africa 15, no. 1 (2024); 649. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/jphia.v15i1.649

Global Health Community Highlights

MGH Disaster Response team members Lindsey Martin, NP and Skeeter Welder, RN with GRM and Iraqi colleagues.

GDRHA Team Conducts Nursing Assessment in Northern Iraq

Welder and Martin at Azadi Teaching Hospital.

Lindsey Martin and Skeeter Welder completed a week-long assessment visit to the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq, an area that has been chronically impacted by both man-made and natural disasters. They visited seven public hospitals, including two maternity, four emergency, and one for war and burns. During their visit, they also met with the Kurdish Ministry of Health and Council of Medical Specialties to understand the specific needs for increasing emergency nursing capacity. Lindsey and Skeeter plan to return in April 2025 to teach a five-day pilot emergency and trauma nursing course (TNF+) and work with the Ministry of Health to design a year-long emergency nursing training program.

CGH 2024 Year in Review

Click on the link here or on the thumbnail below to view the annual report, which highlights the Center for Global Health’s accomplishments and work in the past year!

Global Nursing Survey

The MGH GDHRA team has created a survey with the goal to better understand the engagement of Mass General Brigham (MGB) nursing staff and advanced practice providers in global health and emergency response work.

Nurse participation will direct resources into developing future MGB-related opportunities to participate in serving the global community. We plan to disseminate the findings back to the MGB nursing community and possibly the broader nursing field through publication.

Please fill out the survey linked here and in the button below, if applicable. The survey should take approximately 2-5 minutes to complete.

Nursing Survey Link

MGH Global Health Community Meeting

Every month, members of the MGH Global Health community gather to hear updates from all the different divisions. Click on the buttons below to view highlights from this month’s meetings.

Global Health Community Meeting Minutes – 1/14/24

Global Health Community Meeting Minutes – 1/28/24

Opportunities to Engage

• The MGH Center for Global Health has developed a clinical academic partnership with the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE). UGHE is a global university based in rural northern Rwanda, founded by Partners in Health, which aims to transform global health delivery by reimagining medical education. Amongst other programs, the university is training medical students as part of a MBBS program and is looking for visiting faculty on their clinical clerkships. If you are interest in teaching at UGHE as Visiting Faculty, please contact cghadmin@mgh.harvard.edu.
• Interested in becoming a Global Health Faculty Associate or Affiliate? Learn more here.
• Mass General’s Hispanic Psychiatry Clinic is continuing to grow. They are accepting referrals for monolingual Spanish-speaking patients who receive primary specialty care at MGH. PCPs can refer patients for psychopharmacology services via the PTIS Epic referral or contact the clinic at 617-643-7998.
• We are building a Global Health Library in our office. Feel free to stop by, check out a book and please add books to the list here. Some suggested topics to get you thinking include: diversity, equity and inclusion, global health, leadership and decolonizing global health. We are excited to see your picks!

Keep in Touch!

All past issues of this monthly newsletter are available on our website. Just click here, or on “Stories” under “NEWS & EVENTS” on the Center for Global Health website.

If you want to include a news item, opportunity or anything else in a future monthly newsletter, you can reach us at cghadmin@mgh.harvard.edu.