Here are your March community updates:

  • Upcoming Events
  • Funding Opportunities
  • Employment Opportunities / Fellowships
  • Awards/Recognition
  • Research
  • Global Health Community Highlights
  • Opportunities to Engage

If you have an item to include in a future newsletter, let us know! Please write to us at cghadmin@mgh.harvard.edu.

Upcoming Events

Global Health Grand Rounds

“Do stronger health systems reduce mortality rates? Population health effects from a decade of longitudinal results in rural Madagascar.”

Tuesday, April 1, 2025
8 – 9:00 AM (EST)

Speakers:

Matthew Bonds, PhD, PhD
Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Karen Finnegan, PhD
Research Associate, Harvard Medical School
Managing Director of Pivot Science

Hobisoa Razanadranaivo, MD
Population Impact Research Manager, Pivot

Speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Mass General Brigham.

Event info

Applied Learning in Asylum Medicine

Wednesday, April 2, 2025 & Wednesday, April 9, 2025
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Gray 432 or Zoom

We are excited to invite you to our hybrid two-part training sessions on Asylum Medicine, designed for new volunteers who are eager to support asylum seekers through medical evaluations and documentation. Completing the Asylum Medicine Training Initiative’s core modules, see below, is a pre-requisite to attending. The event is also open to our volunteers who are interested in refreshing their knowledge or sharing expertise.

To complete the Asylum Medicine Introductory Curriculum:
• Register and take the pre-course assessment. Click here to access.
• Complete the core modules 1-5. Click here to access.

Please reach out to asylum@mgb.org if you have any questions! Click here to join virtually (passcode: Asylum) or scan the QR code below.

HGHI’s 2025 Global Health Symposium
Panel 2: Impact and Influence: Examining the U.S. Role in Global Health

Thursday, April 10, 2025
11:35 AM – 12:35 PM
Virtual

Join us for Panel 2 at our Global Health Symposium, where our esteemed panelists will discuss the U.S.’s historical contributions to global health, examining the significance of its funding, leadership, and participation in key health organizations.

HGHI’s 2025 Global Health Symposium

The Global Disaster Response and Humanitarian Action team, in collaboration with the MGH Center for Disaster Medicine and in conjunction with Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, will conduct its annual 2.5-day field training and simulation at Harold Parker State Forest in Andover, MA on May 2-4, 2025. Training topics will include field readiness and site logistics, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), wilderness first aid, field clinical skills, stress management and self-care in the field, ethics, among others. If interested, please email globaldisasterresponse@partners.org.

MGH Global Health Expo 2025

Monday, May 5, 2025
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Thier 101 Conference Room | 60 Blossom St. MGH Main Campus

The deadline to submit your application to present is Tuesday, April 1. Click the link below for the application..

Expo Participant Application

Funding Opportunities

  • MGH Global Health Service Awards – 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 Mass General Brigham 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 Tuesday, April 1, 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 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 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

  • 2025 Call for Applications – HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Health Implementation Research Institute (HIGH-IRI): The HIGH-IRI is a two-year program based at Washington University in St. Louis that delivers world-class training and mentoring in implementation research related to HIV, infectious diseases, and a new track focused on global oncology. We seek trainees who plan a scholarly career carrying out knowledge generation as their main professional occupation. This program is co-led by Elvin Geng and Dr. Ross Brownson, who are well-known for their leadership in building the field of D&I and for training researchers in this area. The program will confer skills in conceiving of, designing, executing, and obtaining funding for implementation research addressing health around the world. It also aims to offer the opportunity for trainees to form strong professional networks among themselves and with the faculty that will act as sustainable professional and scientific resources. The HIGH-IRI has a competitive application process. Applications are due at 6pm EST on Monday, March 31. Click here to access the website and learn more about the program, program costs, scholarship information, and application requirements and visit this link to access the application. Email program manager Jamie Macon at highiri@wustl.edu with any questions or for further information.
  • 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.

Awards / Recognition

Esther Freeman, MD, PhD, named the inaugural L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty/CeraVe Endowed Chair in Global Health Dermatology

Esther Freeman, MD, PhD, was named the inaugural L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty/CeraVe Endowed Chair in Global Health Dermatology, the first corporate endowed chair at Massachusetts General Hospital and first global health dermatology chair worldwide.

This endowment is a landmark in global health dermatology, and will provide time to focus on the most pressing issues in global access to care for vulnerable patients with skin diseases worldwide, partnering with local change makers who are making a difference in their own communities.

Read the article here!

CGH Medical Education and Innovation Development Award 2025 Recipients

This award is designated to support early- to mid-career healthcare practitioners who are involved in global education healthcare delivery and innovation. Successful recipients’ projects are grounded in a robust, local partnership that advances clinical or educational capacity building priorities of the local community and demonstrates the candidate’s commitment to global health as a component of their career.

Ryan Dodge, MD for his proposal: “A Study of Quality and Safety Processes in an Academic Department of Anesthesia in Sub-Saharan Africa: Patterns, Processes, and Prospects.”  With this award, Dr. Dodge plans to investigate the topic of safety in perioperative care in Kabale, Uganda in three distinct phases: critical incident analysis, standard safety implementation, and professional development. The primary goal of all three phases is to help promote and foster a sustainable culture of safety and quality improvement among anesthetists trained in Kabale.

Leah Wibecan, MD, MPH for her proposal: Pediatric Neurology Training Curriculum in Guinea, West Africa. The Pediatric Neurology Training Curriculum will be one of the first training programs in West Africa to train physicians in caring for children with neurological disorders. The program will aim to bridge the current significant treatment gap by educating providers in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood neurological disorders through both in-person direct clinical experiences as well as virtual clinical and didactic sessions.

CGH Research Development Award 2025 Recipients

This award is designed to support investigators who are beginning careers in global health research. Successful recipients designed a research project with a robust, in-country partnership that contributes to the local research agenda.

Tiara Calhoun, MD for her study: “Implementing high-flow oxygen therapy in a Malawian referral hospital.” With this award, Dr. Calhoun will develop an implementation strategy to incorporate high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) into routine clinical practice at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, Malawi. She will then deploy and optimize the HFNC implementation strategy at QECH. The implementation strategy will produce a context-specific implementation strategy to be shared with the Malawi Ministry of Health and other partners to guide policy adoption.

Rumbi Mushavi, MD for her study: “Exploring family planning provider comfort with PrEP and family planning service integration in Mbarara, Uganda: a mixed-methods exploratory study.” With this award, Dr. Mushavi will first map the landscape of family planning access points in Mbarara, Uganda and assess their level of preparation for potential PrEP counseling/PrEP service integration. She will then characterize provider attitudes to HIV prevention and education, knowledge about PrEP, and willingness to incorporate PrEP counseling and prescribing into current clinical workflow. Finally, Dr. Mushavi will conduct qualitative interviews to create a conceptual framework of provider-related barriers to and facilitators of integrating PrEP and family planning services in Mbarara.

Research

Deadline of April 1: Executive Committee on Research (ECOR) Interim Support Funding 25-2

This funding opportunity is open to Principal Investigators during a lapse or delay in their research funding from the NIH or another federal agency (e.g., the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense). Investigators must have applied for independent, long-term support (R01, R21, U01, P01, equivalent federal research grant). The intent of the program is to rescue strong scientific programs that are in need of bridge funding in order to sustain their research. This is only open to local PIs who have a full-time MGH appointment through the rest of the fiscal year (September 30, 2025). The deadline for the application is Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 5pm and awards will begin no earlier than July 1, 2025. Click here to learn more and see submission details.

NIH Funding Termination Guidance

Last week, Paul J. Anderson, MD, PhD–Chief Academic Officer sent an email with directions on how to prepare for the possibility of grant terminations and navigate a response.

What to do if your grant is affected
We expect that when the NIH identifies a grant it deems in violation, it will contact PIs and Research Management simultaneously. The request will be to remove the problematic elements so funding can continue. In some cases, the NIH may determine the entirety of the grant is in conflict and move to terminate it. In either scenario, PIs who receive notification of grant disruptions from the NIH should alert their Research Management contact immediately to collaborate on a response, as there might be cases where the notification is not sent to Research Management.

If the grant is terminated, please refer to this document, which outlines the specific details of the early termination process.

Biostatistical Support

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 biostatistical 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.

  • Ameli, Vira, Geoffrey Wong, Jane Barlow, Minoo Mohraz, Franziska Meinck, Leila Taj, Tayebeh Amiri, Abbas Boosiraz, Lora Sabin, and Jessica E. Haberer. “How Mobile Health Can Change the Contexts of Living With HIV and Engaging With Treatment and Care in Iran: A Realist-Informed Qualitative Study.” Qualitative Health Research 35, no. 2 (2025): 156-173. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10497323241256865
  • Bhui, Kamaldeep, Aileen O’Brien, Rachel Upthegrove, Alexander C. Tsai, Mustafa Soomro, Giles Newton-Howes, Matthew R. Broome et al. “Protecting and promoting editorial independence.” The British Journal of Psychiatry 226, no. 1 (2025): 4-6. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/protecting-and-promoting-editorial-independence/E0714ACB3F3C8163554FEE20B92F6569
  • Marc, Jean Bernard, Samuel Pierre, Othnia Ducatel, Fabienne Homeus, Abigail Zion, Vanessa R. Rivera, Nancy Dorvil et al. “Early initiation of fast‐track care for persons living with HIV initiating dolutegravir‐based regimens during a period of severe civil unrest in Port‐au‐Prince, Haiti: a pilot randomized trial.” Journal of the International AIDS Society 28, no. 2 (2025): e26419. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jia2.26419
  • Perkins, Jessica M., Viola Nyakato, Bernard Kakuhikire, Julie Sriken, Cassandra O. Schember, Charles Baguma, Elizabeth B. Namara et al. “Misperception of norms about intimate partner violence as a driver of personal IPV attitudes and perpetration: a population-based study of men in rural Uganda.” Journal of interpersonal violence 40, no. 3-4 (2025): 803-827. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/08862605241254143
  • Phan, Tin, Ruy M. Ribeiro, Gregory E. Edelstein, Julie Boucau, Rockib Uddin, Caitlin Marino, May Y. Liew et al. “Modeling suggests SARS-CoV-2 rebound after nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment is driven by target cell preservation coupled with incomplete viral clearance.” Journal of Virology (2025): e01623-24. https://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/jvi.01623-24
  • Riedl, J. M., F. Fece de la Cruz, J. J. Lin, C. Parseghian, J. E. Kim, H. Matsubara, H. Barnes et al. “Genomic landscape of clinically acquired resistance alterations in patients treated with KRASG12C inhibitors.” Annals of Oncology (2025). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923753425000523
  • Spira, Alexander I., Kyriakos P. Papadopoulos, Dae Won Kim, Aparna Raj Parikh, Minal A. Barve, John D. Powderly, Alexander Starodub et al. “Preliminary safety, antitumor activity, and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) changes with RMC-9805, an oral, RAS (ON) G12D-selective tri-complex inhibitor in patients with KRAS G12D pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) from a phase 1 study in advanced solid tumors.” (2025): 724-724. https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/JCO.2025.43.4_suppl.724

Global Health Community Highlights

Two Global Disaster Response and Humanitarian Action (GDHRA) volunteers support mental health response following Los Angeles Wildfires

Ana Gomes, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC of McLean Hospital Clinical Evaluation Center and MGH Inpatient Psychiatry Services, and Angelina Rogers, MSW, LICSW of MGH Social Service were deployed for two weeks as part of a broader response led by GDRHA partner, International Medical Corps (IMC) to provide mental health and medical support in shelters established by the Red Cross. They delivered acute psychosocial clinical care, conducted safety assessments, and connected guests in evacuation shelters in Pasadena and Westwood with community resources. Additionally, they operated as part of a mobile medical and mental health unit in Altadena, offering support at local gathering points such as the grocery outlet and post office.

Throughout this response, team members provided crisis intervention for adults, children, and families helping them process trauma, grief, loss, and worry for the future. They also supported individuals experiencing exacerbated mental health conditions due to trauma and displacement, ensuring access to stabilizing care. Many survivors struggled with overwhelming uncertainty, feelings of guilt – both from losing their homes and from being spared while others were not – and distress over lost belongings, stability, and community upheaval. Team members helped individuals process these emotions, navigate the mental and emotional toll of a disaster, and connect with community and government-based resources for ongoing support.

MGB Government Affairs Presentation

On Wednesday, March 26th, the Mass General Brigham Office of Government Affairs presented on how executive and federal actions are impacting global health work. CGH was joined by Chris Philbin, Vice President, and Maria Rios, Policy Director, UAR, from MGB Government Affairs. The purpose of this meeting was to ensure that those in the Global Health community were aware of the MGB Government Affairs office, how they operate, how they are responding to actions from the federal government, and to add to their understanding of how our sector is impacted.

The MGB Office of Government Affairs engages with government officials to help shape public policy and legislation to ensure that it best serves the interests of our patients, employees and communities. Learn more about MGB Government Affairs here.

Visit this link to learn about the MGB Advocacy Policy. View meeting recording here.

Did you know that 1 in 3 children in Massachusetts is at risk of experiencing clothing insecurity?

Earlier this month, MGH Center for Global Health staff volunteered their time at Cradles to Crayons, where they prepared packages of clothing for distribution throughout the year to hundreds of thousands of kids in Greater Boston communities.

Founded in 2002, Cradles to Crayons (C2C) is an innovative Massachusetts non-profit that provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school and at play. They supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities that have with communities that need. Click here to learn how you can help.

Welcome CGH Program Manager, Cosette Scott!

As Program Manager, Cosette will support Dr. Louise Ivers’ global public health research and scholarly activities with a focus on data analysis. With a strong background in clinical research and public health, she brings a wealth of expertise and a passion for health systems improvement to this role.

Cosette holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Roger Williams University, where she developed a deep understanding of environmental health and ecosystems. She also earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in epidemiology from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, solidifying her commitment to improving public health through data-driven research and policy.

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 – 3/25/25

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.

Share This Post!

Mass General has programs and individuals working in over 200 countries across the world.