Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health

On Monday, Oct. 7, the Heersink School of Medicine hosted the 2024 Leadership in Academic Medicine Lecture in the Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium. Jim Yong Kim, M.D., Ph.D., vice chairman and partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, presented his talk, "Reflections on 40 Years in Global Health: The Power of Faith in Things Unseen." Started in 2014, this annual lecture aims to bring high-profile leaders to UAB to discuss issues facing academic medical centers across all missions.

On September 28 and 29, 2023, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) held the inaugural UAB Global Health Symposium with a mission of “promoting equity in global health partnerships.” One year later, we reflect on the lasting impact of the symposium by recognizing collaborations that have seen continued success because of the event, including an ongoing partnership between UAB and Alexandria University.

The UAB Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health and the UAB Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, hosted a seminar on Thursday, Aug. 29, featuring guest speaker Michael Vinikoor, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine at UAB.

The UAB Master of Science in Global Health (MSGH) program is uniquely offered by the UAB Heersink School of Medicine and the UAB School of Public Health. The degree connects students with cutting-edge global health research and practice through collaborations amongst the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health, the Sparkman Center for Global Health, the Global Health Consortium, and several international partners. Camryn Durham and Divya Annamalai, two recent graduates of the program, share their experience.

The Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health hosted guest seminar speakers Jodie Dionne, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine, and Michael Vinikoor, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Medicine, on Tuesday, June 4.

Global health partners from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) participated in the Global Health Consortium Symposium hosted by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. This event served as a platform for students from collaborating universities to convene in Manipal, India, where they engaged in comprehensive learning experiences focused on health system mapping supported by faculty.

World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every April 7, and is one of 11 global health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All, at least 140 countries currently recognize health as a human right in their constitution. However, as of 2021, at least 4.5 billion people were not fully covered by essential health services.

The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) recently held its annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama, from Jan. 9-14, 2024. Hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Entrepreneurship Program, the event, titled USASBE 2024: Forging the Future Together, brought together educators, innovators, and entrepreneurs from across the country and featured many team members from the UAB Heersink School of Medicine and UAB Medicine.

Stephen Obaro, M.D., Ph.D., has joined the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health (MHIGH) as the associate director for Faculty Engagement and Service Initiatives, tasked to promote faculty engagement in global health.

James Johnston, M.D., and Martina Gonzalez-Gomez, M.D., M.Sc., partnered to create a global surgery course to equip students with a holistic understanding of surgical care's pivotal role in public health, healthcare systems, and international development.

The Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health hosted guest seminar speaker James Johnston, M.D., professor in the UAB Department of Neurosurgery and director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship, on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

The Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health is excited to announce the first recipient of its telehealth pilot grant, Noha Sharafeldin, MBBCh, MSc, Ph.D.

Meghan Hofto, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and leader of the Pediatric Underserved and Global Health Scholars program, instructs both the Foundations of Global Health I and Foundations of Global Health II courses

The Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health hosted guest seminar speaker Albert Manasyan, M.D., MPH, associate professor in the UAB Department of Pediatrics and head of the Department of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health at the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Co-investigators Paul V. Benson, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Pathology, and Threnesan Naidoo, M.B.Ch.B., professor and head of Division of Forensic Pathology at Walter Sisulu University and president of the College of Forensic Pathologists of South Africa, are using forensic pathology to research tuberculosis (TB) in a partnership between UAB and the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa.

Alan T. N. Tita, M.D., Ph.D., director for the Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health (MHIGH) and associate dean for Global and Women’s Health, and Cynthia Ye, Ph.D., a researcher in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, have partnered to instruct the Global Health Research Methods course.

Emily Wong, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, is the latest winner of the Heersink School of Medicine's Featured Discovery. This initiative celebrates important research from Heersink faculty members.

The inaugural UAB Global Health Symposium was held September 28-29, bringing together a diverse group of health care workers from around the world to discuss equity in global health.

Jodie Dionne, M.D., associate director of Global Health in the UAB Center for Women’s Reproductive Health and associate professor in the Department of Medicine, is working on a new R01 funded by NIH/NIAID focused on helping pregnant mothers keep their unborn babies safe from syphilis.

The Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health hosted guest seminar speaker Marcos Ribeiro, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., FCCP, associate professor in the Section of Pulmonology in the Department of Medicine at the Health Science Centre, State University of Londrina in Parana, Brazil on Tuesday, Oct. 3.