Planning a global health project during a global health crisis is a difficult task, but that’s exactly what the inaugural recipients of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President’s Global Impact Fund (PGIF) have been doing over the past month.
For instance, School of Nursing (SON) professor Kirsten Corazzini, PhD, FGSA, has had to make adjustments to her project, “Developing Capacity for Long-Term Care of Older Adults Living with Dementia in Brazil,” because the study’s population includes nursing home caregivers and residents, a group at the highest risk of COVID-19-related deaths.
Kirsten Corazzini, PhD, FGSA, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, is among the inaugural recipients of the University of Maryland, Baltimore President’s Global Impact Fund.
“Just as we see nursing homes in the United States struggling to keep residents and staff safe, so, too, are our geriatric medicine clinician-researcher partners in Brazil struggling to provide safe and compassionate care,” says Corazzini, whose project partners are SON assistant professor Vivian Schutz, PhD, MBA, RN, and School of Pharmacy assistant professor Ester Villalonga Olives, PhD, MSc. “How to collect data and co-develop new models of care in this context, therefore, requires integrating COVID-19-related measures and questions, ensuring that the knowledge gained addresses our shared and emergent needs.”
Virginia Rowthorn, JD, LLM, assistant vice president for global engagement and executive director of UMB’s Center for Global Engagement, which is organizing PGIF, says the fund recipients are eager to move forward once it’s safe to do so and are working on revising their projects’ timelines. “The pandemic changes every single project,” she says, “but the grantees are adjusting their plans and remain very excited to proceed with them when they are able to.”
PGIF is a $250,000 initiative providing support for 11 projects that aim to develop cross-campus and international collaborations to enhance UMB’s global engagement and reach (see list of projects below). The fund was launched following the 2019 UMB Global Health Summit, which brought researchers, practitioners, and interprofessional teams to campus to highlight the University’s commitment to improving the human condition through collaborative health and human services.
UMB Interim President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, says he hopes PGIF will be a catalyst for innovative initiatives, create new opportunities for students, and elevate the strong global work of UMB through all of its schools. “It was extremely gratifying to see, woven into all the applications we received, a deep understanding of mutually beneficial international collaboration and the knowledge that we have as much to learn from our partners as we have to share,” Jarrell says.
School of Medicine (SOM) faculty members Melissa McDiarmid, MD, MPH, and Joanna Gaitens, MSN, MPH, PhD, received funding for their project, “UMB and Its Duty of Care: Building Resilient Health Systems with Host Country Partners.” McDiarmid says a June visit to the West
African nation of Gambia has been postponed but other aspects of planning have continued virtually via WhatsApp and Skype.
McDiarmid adds that while a public health crisis brings health worker protections to the forefront, it’s also important to protect these front-line practitioners from more common, everyday exposures such as tuberculosis and hepatitis B. “We are optimistic that our project will ultimately help protect our global health partners over the long term and lay the foundation needed to strengthen the overall global health system,” she says.
Two SOM faculty members, Nadia Sam-Agudu, MD, and Alash’le Abimiku, PhD, MS, are leading the project, “Developing an Implementation Science Mentoring Toolkit for Early Investigators in West and Central Africa.” According to Sam-Agudu, the project’s goal is to provide hands-on, productivity-focused mentoring for aspiring independent investigators in the West and Central African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“We may have to delay intensive implementation for some time,” Sam-Agudu says. “However, some of the activities can be conducted virtually, so we will be adapting accordingly to make progress. After all, part of our mandate will have to be responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with impactful research studies.”
Regardless of the delays or challenges brought on by COVID-19, recipients were thankful for the support of PGIF.
“We’re enormously gratified to have received this grant,” McDiarmid says. “This builds upon six years of foundational collaborations with colleagues in the Gambian Ministry of Health and at the University of Gambia’s School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. The award will allow us to expand upon that initial work and share it more widely across UMB’s expansive global portfolio in life-saving medical and public health research.”
Says Corazzini, “We are delighted to see Dr. Jarrell’s continuing commitment to invest in research that will advance UMB's historic strengths in global health at a time when we are ever more aware of our global interdependencies.”
Sam-Agudu, meanwhile, says her project is part of the realization of a long-term dream. “I'm really looking forward to implementing this project in collaboration with UMB departments, faculty, and students in the United States and in West and Central Africa,” she says. “Professor Abimiku and I are honored to be among the first group of UMB faculty to receive the PGIF award. It was the best news I’ve received in some time.”
UMB President’s Global Impact Fund Inaugural Recipients
UMB and Its Duty of Care: Building Resilient Health Systems with Host Country Partners
Locations: Gambia, UMB
· Melissa McDiarmid, MD, MPH, School of Medicine
· Joanna Gaitens, MSN, MPH, PhD, School of Medicine
· Project collaborator: Bill Roberts, MA, PhD, St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Strengthening Capacity in Health Research Ethics and Research Methodology in The Gambia
Locations: Gambia, UMB
· Veronica Njie-Carr, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FWACN, School of Nursing
· Henry Silverman, MD, MA, School of Medicine
· Project collaborator: Francis Sarr, PhD, MSc, MEd, University of The Gambia
Energizing Gastroenterology Development in Rwanda (EGD-Rwanda) Location: Rwanda
· Erik von Rosenvinge, MD, School of Medicine
· Kenechukwu Chudy-Onwugaje, MBBS, MPH, School of Medicine
· Project collaborators: Vincent Dusabejambo, MBBS, and Eric Rutaganda, MBBS, MPH, University of Rwanda; Steve P. Benson, MD, Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College; Frederick Makrauer, MD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University
mLearning in Morocco: Feasibility and Pilot Cluster Randomized Trial with the Safe Delivery App
Location: Morocco
· Nancy Bolan, PhD, MPH, FNP/CNM, School of Nursing
· Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, School of Nursing
· Project collaborators: Dr. Bouchra Assarag, National School of Public Health, Morocco; Dr. Rabii Larhrissi, Ministry of Health, Morocco; Dr. Stine Lund, Maternity Foundation
Samoa-UMB Partnership in Preventive Medicine
Location: Samoa
· Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, School of Medicine
· Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, School of Nursing
· Michael Greenberger, JD, Francis King Carey School of Law
· Devang Patel, MD, School of Medicine
· Sachin Desai, MD, School of Medicine
· Project collaborators: Dr. Take Naseri Leausa Toleafoa and Dr. Robert Thomsen Tagaloa, Ministry of Health, Samoa
Environmental Justice, Human Rights and Public Health Legal Theory and Practice Seminar
Locations: Malawi, UMB
· Diane Hoffmann, JD, MS, Francis King Carey School of Law
· Peter Danchin, JSD, LLM, LLB, Francis King Carey School of Law
· Robert Percival, JD, MA, Francis King Carey School of Law
· Project collaborator: Chikosa Banda, LLB, LLM, Chancellor College, University of Malawi
UMAP (University of Maryland-Angola-Portugal) Malaria Working Group Development
Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Angola, UMB
· Joana Carneiro da Silva, PhD, School of Medicine
· Miriam Laufer, MD, School of Medicine
· Shannon Takala-Harrison, PhD, School of Medicine
· Project collaborators: Filomeno J. Fortes and Ana Paula Arez, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Lisbon, Portugal; Joana Morais Afonso and Jose Franco Martins, Instituto Nacional Investigacao em Saude, Luanda, Angola
Developing Capacity for Long-Term Care of Older Adults Living with Dementia in Brazil
Locations: Brazil, UMB
· Kirsten Corazzini, PhD, FGSA, School of Nursing
· Ester Villalonga Olives, PhD, MSc, School of Pharmacy
· Vivian Schutz, PhD, MBA, RN, School of Nursing
· Project collaborators: Alessandro Jacinto, MD, PhD, Federal University of Sao Paolo, and Patrick Wachholz, MD, PhD, Sao Paulo State University
Strengthening the National Cancer Registry in Rwanda
Location: Rwanda
· David Riedel, MD, MPH, School of Medicine
· Clement Adebamowo, ChB, ScD, FWACS, FACS, School of Medicine
· Project collaborators: Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana and Dr. Francois Uwinkindi, Rwanda Biomedical Centre; Dr. Marc Hagenimana, Rwanda National Cancer Registry; Adeloa Akintola, Nigerian National System of Cancer Registries, Center for Bioethics and Research, Nigeria
Developing an Implementation Science Mentoring Toolkit for Early Investigators in West and Central Africa
Locations: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
· Nadia A. Sam-Agudu, MD, School of Medicine
· Alash’le G. Abimiku, PhD, MS, School of Medicine
· Project collaborators: Jean B. Nachega, MD, PhD, MPH, University of Pittsburgh/Catholic University, DRC; Marcel Yotebieng, MD, PhD, MPH, Thomas Einstein University/University of Kinshasa, DRC; Kwasi Torpey, MD, PhD, MPH, University of Ghana/WHO Regional Training Center; Ha Yumo, MD, PhD, MSc, R4D International, Cameroon/University of Nigeria Nsukka; LaRon Nelson, PhD, RN, and Echezona Ezeanolue, MD, MPH, Yale University/University of Nigeria Nsukka
Global Health Rotation in Zambia
Location: Zambia
· Lottie Hachaambwa, MB, ChB, School of Medicine
· Cassidy Claassen, MD, MPH, School of Medicine
· Project collaborator: University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia