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fellowship
fellowship

Assessing Factors that Impact Maternal Health Outcomes in Maroodijeh Region, Somaliland

  Ifrah Abdi is a Certified nurse-midwife and graduate of Edna Adan University Hospital in Somaliland. Ifrah has worked at Edna Adan University Hospital as a midwife for the past 18 years. In Somaliland, Ifrah trains traditional birth attendants in rural villages to help improve outcomes during pregnancy and childbirth. Ifrah presently serves as the Associate Dean of Nursing at Edna University Hospital and is a recent graduate of the Masters in Global Health Delivery Program at Harvard Medical School. Ifrah’s thesis project at HMS assessed factors that impact maternal health outcomes in Somaliland. Ifrah’s vision for Somaliland is the end of preventable maternal deaths by ensuring women can access care at every stage before, during, and after pregnancy.

Biolegitimacy and Restrictive Abortion Regulations in Latin America: Overview and Perspectives

Dr. González is a renowned international expert and leader in the field of health and sexual and reproductive rights, the right to health, and gender equality. She has held several positions across the spectrum of her profession: as a service provider, policy formulator, researcher, international advisor, activist, and teacher on “health law” at the Faculty of Medicine. Dr. González is the former national public health director in Colombia and co-founder of La Mesa por la Vida y la Salud de las Mujeres and the Medical Group for The Right to Decide in Colombia. She pioneered the Causa Justa movement of Colombia that established the most liberal abortion laws in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is also part of the regional coalition “Articulación Feminista Marcosur” and was recently included as one of the 100 most influential people in the TIME100 list of 2022.

pandemics
pandemics
Featured Featured

Monkeypox in the Global Context: Combatting Racism and Intersectional Stigma

More than 26,000 cases of the monkeypox virus have now been identified across nearly 90 countries. Vaccines and treatments are being rolled out by health agencies around the world, most of which are responding to the first significant monkeypox outbreak within their country. Early outbreak response bears a striking resemblance to the early HIV/AIDS response; we have seen the use of harmful and stigmatizing language, widespread circulation of images of African bodies with rashes, and the conflation of sexuality and monkeypox infection. On August 18th, the Harvard Global Health Institute will host a panel of global experts who will consider how intersectional stigma and racism have shaped priorities and undermined strategy in the global response to the monkeypox outbreak. Panelists will draw on the successes and failures of prior pandemic responses to discuss how bias limits the efficacy of public health strategy and how equitable, evidenced-based approaches can protect the health of all.

fellowship
student engagement
fellowship
student engagement

Pathways to Global Health with the Harvard 2021 LEAD Fellows for Promoting Women in Global Health

Virtual: Zoom
Meet our 2021 LEAD fellows! During this one-hour event, you’ll meet five incredible leaders in global health who will share their journey into global health and their lessons learned along the way. In an effort to equip and empower more women leaders in global health, HGHI and the Women and Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health offers a transformational fellowship opportunity for established women leaders in global health, who have demonstrated leadership experience and further potential. The 2021 LEAD cohort includes a medical doctor and health columnist from Malawi, a clinical epidemiologist from Namibia, the Founder Dean of the Chitkara School of Health Sciences and director of the Chitkara Global Health Institute from India, a public health ambassador from Uganda, and a registered nurse and community activist from Namibia. This speaker series is geared toward Harvard college students and is a great way to learn from global health professionals in a fun, accessible environment.  
Global Mental Health
Global Mental Health

Lancet-World Psychiatric Association Commission on Depression – Official Launch Webinar

The Lancet-World Psychiatric Association Commission: time for united action on depression is set to be the most comprehensive report on depression to date. Register Here! By aligning knowledge about depression from many fields, the Lancet-World Psychiatric Association Commission on depression has synthesised evidence from diverse contexts and generated action-oriented recommendations for a variety of stakeholders: communities and those affected by depression and their families; clinicians and public health practitioners; researchers who work to understand and address depression; and policy makers and financiers of health care. Join The Lancet’s Richard Horton and Miriam Lewis Sabin for the launch of this Commission where Commission co-Chairs will present the key messages and invited speakers representing these stakeholders will discuss and reflect on the significance and implementation of these recommendations. The session will conclude with a Q&A session with the co-Chairs. Featured speakers: • Afzal Javed, President, World Psychiatric Association (WPA) • Helen Herrman, Chair, The Lancet-WPA Commission on Depression • Vikram Patel, Chair, The Lancet-WPA Commission on Depression • Christian Kieling, Co-Chair, The Lancet-WPA Commission on Depression • Opeyemi Lawal, Director, Asido Foundation for Mental Health • Vivek H. Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General • Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization • Anna Stavdal, President, World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA)

pandemics
pandemics
Featured Featured

Global Equity During Pandemics: Lessons from HIV and COVID for Designing a New Paradigm

Ongoing global Covid-19 vaccine and therapeutic inequities threaten to prolong and exacerbate the pandemic for all countries. As advocates, academics, and policymakers alike call for the U.S. and other wealthy nations to share these lifesaving resources with the world, it is prudent to consider the lessons learned from the HIV pandemic that can be translated into this current moment. PEPFAR and the experiences of HIV health workers offer a roadmap and over 20 years of learnings for implementing vaccine and therapeutic scale-up and delivery efforts in low resource settings. On January 20th, the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research grand rounds event will bring together members of the HIV research and advocacy communities to critically reflect upon applicable lessons for approaching Covid-19 healthcare delivery and identify necessary steps for a paradigm shift in how the world responds to global health crises. The grand rounds will include a 1-hour panel discussion between leaders of the global HIV response and a 30-minute fireside conversation between Dr. Tony Fauci and Dr. John Nkengasong. These conversations will be oriented towards practical, timely steps that advocates, academics, and policymakers can take to advance equity in this and future global health crisis. Register today to join us for what promises to be insightful and urgently needed dialogue. Register here! Panelist Biographies Ruth L. Okediji is the Jeremiah Smith. Jr, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Co-Director of the Berkman Klein Center. A renowned scholar in international intellectual property (IP) law and a foremost authority on the role of intellectual property in social and economic development, Professor Okediji has advised inter-governmental organizations, regional economic communities, and national governments on a range of matters related to technology, innovation policy, and development. Her widely cited scholarship on IP and development has influenced government policies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and South America. Her ideas have helped shape national strategies for the implementation of the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). She works closely with several United Nations agencies, research centers, and international organizations on the human development effects of international IP policy, including access to knowledge, access to essential medicines and issues related to indigenous innovation systems. Professor Okediji was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the 2015 – 2016 High Level Panel on Access to Medicines. Paul Farmer is the Kolokotrones University Professor and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine Harvard Medical School, chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at Partners In Health (PIH). For over three decades, he has remained a dedicated leader in community-based solution, improving health system infrastructures, and providing equitable, accessible, high-quality health care for low-income countries across the globe. As a medical anthropologist and physician, Professor Farmer has received numerous honors and awards including the Margaret Mead Award from the Society of Applied Anthropology, the Outstanding International Physician Award from the American Medical Association and received the MacArthur Fellowship Award for his interdisciplinary work in medicine and the social sciences. James Krellenstein is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Strategy & Policy at PrEP4All, where he leads the organization’s research and policy agenda. At 18, James designed and built the first online directory of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) providers. In New York, he identified a previously unknown reduction in delivery of critical HIV testing and prevention services and helped lead a successful effort to increase the city’s public health budget by tens of millions of dollars to reverse this. In 2017, James discovered a pattern of alleged anticompetitive practices by the nation’s largest manufacturer of HIV medications, which led to a class-action antitrust lawsuit currently being litigated in Federal Court in San Francisco. James holds degrees in physics, natural science, and mathematics, and has worked as a researcher at the Yale University School of Medicine, the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the CUNY School of Medicine. Fireside Chat Speaker Biographies Anthony S. Fauci is the Director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases where he oversees an extensive research portfolio to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases as well as emerging diseases. Throughout his fifty-year career, Dr. Fauci has made contributed significantly to science from improving our understanding of the human immune response to developing therapies for formerly fatal diseases. He has advised seven Presidents and was one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for which he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. One of the most cited scientists in history, Dr. Fauci has been a key figure since the onset of the pandemic as a lead member on both White House COVID-19 Response Teams as well as providing trusted medical advice to the public. John Nkengasong is the Director of the Africa CDC and was recently nominated by President Biden for Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of the U.S. Government Activities to Combat AIDS/HIV Globally. In March of 2020, he was appointed as one of the Special Envoys on COVID-19 Preparedness and Response to the Director-General of the World Health Organization. Dr. Nkengasong received the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2020 Global Goalkeeper Award for his commitment and contributions to ensuring vaccines and medicines for Africa. Previously, he was awarded, by the US CDC, the Shepard Science Award for outstanding scientific papers as well as the William Watson Medal of Excellence for his extraordinary scientific and technical achievements. Additionally, for his significant contributions to public health, he received the Knight of Honour Medal by the government of the Cote d’Ivoire, knighted by the President of Senegal, and knighted by the government of Cameroon.

Global Mental Health
Global Mental Health

Young Mental Health Leaders Series: LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health

Register here.  A recent report from the Trevor Project showed that almost half of all LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in 2020. At the same time, only half of the youth surveyed could access wanted mental health care. As we work to build better systems, young people are leading the way in creating conversations and solutions to improve mental health among LGBTQ+ youth. Join Mental Health America and the GlobalMentalHealth@Harvard Initiative for the next 60-minute conversation in our Young Mental Health Leaders Series. In each session, we bring together leading researchers and young mental health advocates to discuss the current challenges and successes in youth mental health.  In this session, activist Juan Acosta will join Trill Project co-founders Ari Sokolov and Georgia Messinger to talk about their experiences as advocates in programs, policy, and organizations. The session will be moderated by Dr. Ana M. Progovac, Instructor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Senior Scientist at the Health Equity Research Lab. Presenters Georgia Messinger (she/her) is a 21-year-old founder and activist who is the current Co-Founder and COO of Trill Project, an anonymous and safe mobile application for mental health peer support. Originally from Los Angeles, CA, Georgia is a rising senior at Harvard University studying psychology and computer science. In addition to social impact technology, she is passionate about venture capital and supports Black founders seeking funding for their startups through her role at Valence. Ari Sokolov (she/her) is a 20-year-old founder, designer, and developer that has won national and international awards from the National Center of Women in Information Technology, the U.S. Congress, South by Southwest, Target, and Apple for her work. Currently, Ari is the Co-Founder and CEO of Trill Project, a mental health application with over 75,000 users. She is also a contributor to mental health technologies in the open-source community and an advocate for minorities in STEM. Juan Acosta (he/him) is an award-winning LGBTQ+, Mental Health Advocate who serves on national committees, speaks at conferences and festivals, and is an NYT Bestselling Author for a book co-authored with Lady Gaga “Channel Kindness”. He drafted a historic LGBTQ+ proclamation for his hometown of Woodland, CA. He currently serves as one of the Regional Managers for the CalHOPE Warm Line. Ana M. Progovac, Ph.D. is an Instructor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Senior Scientist at the Health Equity Research Lab. Her research focuses on improving the quality of mental health care in the U.S., with a focus on reducing disparities for underserved populations. Dr. Progovac’s projects use a variety of research methods, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods research, implementation research methods, and community-engaged research. She is interested in approaches to improve mental health that span across systems, and therefore enjoys collaborating with students, community members, other researchers, clinicians, administrators, and policy advocates. She is currently the Primary Investigator on an NIMHD R03 award (and past recipient of a Harvard Catalyst Health Disparities Pilot Award) which both focus on measuring and reducing mental health care disparities for gender minority individuals in the United States. She is also the recipient of a Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry Kaplen Award to conduct a mixed-methods analysis of an implementation of a behavioral health home for patients with serious mental illness, as well as its potential for dissemination to additional sites within Cambridge Health Alliance.

migration
migration
Featured Featured

A Perpetual Crisis: Reflections on Renewed Public Health Failures at the U.S./Mexico Border

In March 2021, a record number of children arrived at the U.S./Mexico border, challenging capacity at US Customs and Border Protection facilities and placing newfound pressure on the Biden Administration to act promptly. However, this humanitarian crisis is not new, nor is it a direct result of a new U.S. government administration. For decades, the U.S. has failed to improve a system ill-equipped to handle the needs of vulnerable refugees and migrants. As children wait in overcrowded jail-like structures and COVID-19 remains a threat, concerns about who will continue to suffer at the border, and for how long, persist. The Harvard Global Health Institute and FXB Center for Health and Human Rights invite you to join us on Thursday, May 13th for a follow-up conversation building off 3 previous events focused on the health crisis at the border. Given the historical patterns of inaction from the U.S. and Mexico governments, and the evolving humanitarian crisis at the border, expert panelists will critically evaluate the current situation and address what steps must be taken to establish a humane environment at the border. Register here!
Global Mental Health
Global Mental Health
Featured Featured

Young Mental Health Leaders Series: Peer Support & Youth Mental Health

Co-Hosted by GlobalMentalHealth@Harvard & Mental Health America  Register for the webinar here!  With increasing rates of distress among young people, young leaders are stepping up to transform how we approach mental health. Youth peer support programs are growing in popularity because young people want them and because research shows peer support works. To build on this momentum, we must equip young people with the tools and skills to support themselves and their peers and invest in youth peer support programs wherever young people spend their time. Join us for the first webinar in Mental Health America and the GlobalMentalHealth@Harvard Initiative’s Young Mental Health Leaders Series, Peer Support and Youth Mental Health. Satvik Sethi of Runaway App will discuss how his app creates opportunities for young people to receive support and promote positivity. Martin Raffety and Tia Barnes of Youth Era will discuss UpLift, a 5-day virtual event developed alongside the University of Oxford that empowers young people with the tools to support themselves and their peers. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Cindy Liu, Director of the Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Program within Pediatric Newborn Medicine and Psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.   Panelist and Moderator Bios:   Satvik Sethi is a 22-year-old mental health activist and social entrepreneur on a journey to make the world happier. Originally from New Delhi, India, Satvik currently lives and works in New York. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Runaway, a social venture promoting mental health awareness and helping those in need of emotional support. Runaway has been featured by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, Vice, etc. Satvik also serves as an Independent Expert Advisor at Wellcome Trust UK to guide research and policy development for youth mental health. Martin Rafferty is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Youth Era, a national nonprofit that is revolutionizing current thinking about how we view youth engagement. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center highlighted Martin Rafferty as one of eight global changemakers. He was awarded the “2010 Oregon Mental Health Award of Excellence”, “Advocate of the Year” by the Oregon Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2013 and was named one of the “20 Under 40 Rising Business Stars” in 2018. Most recently, Martin was awarded the “2020 Henry J. Grass MD Access Award” by the Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association. Tia Barnes is the Chief Program Officer at Youth Era where she oversees the organization’s international direct services, program development, and national technical assistance. She was a key designer of the Youth Era Drop Model, a co-creator of Youth Peer Support Specialist certifications across the nation and has provided training to agencies to increase youth voice within their programs. Most recently, she was a lead designer of an international cultural responsiveness training for youth and young adults. Barnes was one of the authors to create UpLift, an international peer-to-peer course provided to high schoolers from four different countries as a joint research project with the University of Oxford. In addition to her extensive experience, among other honors, Tia received an Award of Excellence in the Field of Youth Peer Support in 2015. Dr. Cindy H. Liu is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, the Director of the Developmental Risk and Cultural Resilience Program within the Departments of Pediatric Newborn Medicine and Psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on stress and mental health within the lifespan, including the perinatal period and young adulthood, and she is currently a principal investigator for the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study, a longitudinal study that seeks to understand the experiences of college students and young adults throughout the pandemic. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and featured in various outlets included the New York Times, USA Today, and CBS News.
health justice
health justice

Decarceration as a Public Health Strategy: Stopping the Spread of COVID-19

The second event in our series will consider prison depopulation or decarceration in response to the threat of COVID-19 in places of incarceration. In response to the growing number of COVID-19 outbreaks in these facilities, public health experts, civil rights attorneys, and advocacy groups have made urgent appeals for decarceration. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, prison decongestion measures have been adopted in over 100 countries worldwide. However, decarceration and prison depopulation isn’t straightforward. It raises a host of questions and challenges around issues such as recidivism, racial equity, and support systems for those reentering society.   To examine these issues, this webinar will bring together a diverse panel of researchers, practitioners, and activists to discuss the role of decarceration as a part of the public health response to COVID-19 and examine current decarceration efforts around the world.   Speakers: Rahul Vanjani Rahul Vanjani (he/him) is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Rahul received his MSc at the University of Oxford in Integrated Immunology, and MD at George Washington University School of Medicine. He completed residency in Internal Medicine at Columbia University/New York Presbyterian. Rahul is a primary care physician with board certifications in Internal and Addiction Medicine. His clinical work is based out of the Rhode Island Hospital Center for Primary Care, the academic residency clinic of Brown University’s Internal Medicine residency program. There, he works in the Transitions and Recovery Clinics, where, in partnership with community health workers/peer recovery specialists, he provides primary care and wraparound services to patients with histories of carceral exposure and substance use. Rahul’s clinical practice also includes street medicine outreach once weekly in partnership with peers and case managers from House of Hope. Partnering with and teaching medical students and residents is a central part of his clinical work. =Rahul’s research interests include structural violence with a focus on the intersection between the carceral and medical systems, use of buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid use disorder, the roles and responsibilities of community health workers in health systems, and the public defender-medical partnership. Rahul also directs the Social Medicine course, a month-long clinical elective for third- and fourth-year Brown University medical students with three central tenets: providing housing and other forms of advocacy support to patients via a Social Medicine Assistance Clinic, participating in patient care with peers, social workers and health care providers who practice street outreach and addiction medicine, and engaging in a weekly social medicine reading group that grounds the work in theory.   Madhurima Dhanuka Madhurima Dhanuka is the Programme Head of the Prison Reforms Programme. In this capacity, she leads, manages and develops initiatives of the team in order to improve prison conditions; strengthen prison oversight mechanisms; strengthen pre-trial decision making; ensuring access to prompt and effective legal aid for persons in custody; and protecting rights of vulnerable prisoners including women, transgenders and foreign nationals. She is a lawyer with an LL.M. in Criminal Justice from the University of Nottingham, UK.  She has been associated with CHRI since 2008, and has published numerous studies, reports and resource materials on issues relating to prisoners, legal aid and the criminal justice system.    Lisa Puglisi Lisa Puglisi, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale University where she practices primary care and addiction medicine. She is the director of Transitions Clinic-New Haven, a multi-disciplinary clinic that is part of a national network of programs that focus on care of individuals who are returning to the community from incarceration. Her clinical practice includes treatment of addiction and hepatitis C in primary care and she also oversees a medical legal partnership. She has developed specific skills in training, hiring and supervising community health workers and directing interdisciplinary teams of physicians, midlevel providers, community health workers, research personnel and legal colleagues around the work of clinical care and research to improve the health of people with recent incarceration. She is originally from the New Haven area and deeply committed to the community. Lisa received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University, her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed her medical training at Yale New Haven Hospital. Leslie Credle Leslie Credle was released from Federal Prison in 2018. Since release she has been on a mission to dismantle the carceral system and end incarceration for women and girls. Sadly, while incarcerated, Leslie endured the loss of her beloved daughter, Brianna aka “Breezy” to gun violence. Turning her pain into purpose, utilizing her lived experience, Leslie has become a fierce prison abolitionist and social justice advocate. You can find Leslie advocating for formerly incarcerated individuals and those with a criminal record to obtain sustainable equitable housing.   Through her creative soul, Leslie developed a model, Hands On Defense (HOD), which is designed to disrupt the screening criteria used by Public Housing Authorities, who determine if justice-involved applicants merit housing. Northeastern University Alumni and 2020 Cohort of Columbia University, Women Transcending Collective Leadership Institute, Leslie is someone to pay attention to.  She is destined to be a future leader in the movement to end incarceration of women and girls.  

pandemics
pandemics

Reimagining Pandemic Preparedness: Making Equity a Strategic Priority

Disjointed, nationalist treatment and prevention efforts have largely characterized the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The failure by governments to establish an equitable, coordinated pandemic response has perpetuated oppressive global inequities. Nowhere is this more apparent than with vaccine distribution efforts. Despite the rapid development of life-saving vaccines, nationalist distribution approaches and weak global solidarity have left the most vulnerable populations with inadequate support. Given that global infectious disease outbreaks will only become more common in the future, identifying ways to center equity in pandemic preparedness remains more relevant and critical than ever. Join us on Thursday, April 29th from 9:00 – 10:00 AM EST for a forward-looking discussion with global experts on how we can learn from the failures of the COVID-19 pandemic response to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself. Register here
pandemics
pandemics

Building Vaccine Confidence: Global Trends and Practical Solutions

Despite the rapid development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, resistance to immunization threatens to prolong the arc of the pandemic globally. The drivers of vaccine concern are both vast and population-specific, ranging from misinformation and media manipulation campaigns to historical legacies of medical exploitation among marginalized communities. As such, responses must be intentional, data-driven, and account for the full spectrum of motivations that may prompt resistance to immunizations. Addressing a truly multidisciplinary challenge, efforts to build vaccine confidence require engagement from an array of key stakeholders, including civil society, government officials, academics, and the private sector. Join us on Thursday, April 8th from 9:00 – 10:30 AM EST for a timely discussion on the global implications of vaccine concern, sociotechnical drivers of resistance, and strategies for increasing vaccine confidence among the most vulnerable communities. Register here!