Graduation World Tour 2009 - Ward Rounds - Northwestern University

Going GlobalNew Center for Global Health travels a two-way streetwhen robert l. murphy, md, gme ’84, plans, he plans big. but world-size strategyis required when you are the director of the medical school’s new center forglobal health and have been entrusted with the internationalization ofnorthwestern university feinberg school of medicine.Although the school has been involved in global healthresearch and education programs for students for manyyears, the new center coordinates current educationalefforts, provides more robust research opportunities, andmoves Northwestern into a larger arena.In his recent State of the School address, Dean J. LarryJameson described his goal to move the school’s ranking tothe top 10 of medical schools in the United States by 2020.Those premier academic institutions all have programs inglobal health. “Northwestern must go global if it is tobecome a major American university medical school,”says Dr. Murphy. That’s where his plan comes into play.Five years from now, he envisions a center that will bea substantial globally oriented enterprise with activeresearch and teaching components, including exchangesby Janet DeRaleauamong Northwestern faculty, partner faculty, and students.Additional faculty members and an increase in thenumber of grants and philanthropic support will anchorthe center. Add to that further development of relationshipswith partners in Africa and expansion to an Asiansite. In Europe, he sees the medical school partnering withselect universities, formalizing relationships with them,and establishing a Northwestern office in a major Europeancapital, probably Paris.Dr. Murphy, an internationally regarded infectiousdiseases physician, scientist, and educator, began his tenureat the medical school in 1981 and became John PhilipPhair Professor of Infectious Diseases in 2001. Hefounded the International AIDS Education Project in themid-1990s and continues as its director. In 2003 he wasappointed Nigeria country director for the President’sEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and in 2008received the first of two Fogarty International ResearchCollaboration Awards from the National Institutes ofHealth. Dr. Murphy has gathered a group of medicalprofessionals with experience in global and public healthto lead center projects. Most have lived and worked inunder-resourced countries. They understand the culturesand have profound respect for the people. He calls themthe “troops.”Shannon R. Galvin, MD, the center’s associate directorfor research and assistant professor of medicine, hascome to Northwestern from the University of North Carolina(UNC)—home to an established global health center.While on staff at UNC, she lived and worked in thehospital wards in Lilongwe, Malawi. A poor country insouthern Africa, residents of Malawi suffer from widespreadfamine as well as high rates of HIV and child mortality.“The people are wonderful and friendly,” she says.“They make do with what they have. Children play withcars made of chicken wire and soccer balls made of rolledup bags.” This ingenuity is reflected in the Malawian HIVtreatment program, she notes, which has started thousandsof people on HIV medications in a very resource-constrainedsetting.The center’s director for African Research, BabafemiO. Taiwo, MD, a native of Nigeria, came to Northwesternfive years ago as a fellow in infectious diseases. Now anassistant professor of medicine, his focus will be on HIVresearch and related problems such as hepatitis, tuberculosis,and malaria. Within the Division of Infectious Diseases,he will oversee two HIV research-related grants: theFogarty and PEPFAR. Dr. Taiwo brings a “bidirectionalperspective,” he says, achieved by having trained andworked in both Nigeria and the United States. Dr. Taiwonotes, “Having staff with diverse backgrounds enhancesthe center’s credibility to its mission of trying to engage aglobal community.”Words like “bidirectional” and “bilateral” help guidethe global health center’s mission and goals. Global healthcare in Dr. Galvin’s mind means encouraging medical studentsand faculty and those of partnering countries to domuch more than pass each other coming and going likehighway traffic. “It’s more about having a sense of whatyour partner country is capable of achieving and listeningto the people—your colleagues—when they tell you whatthey need,” she says. Dr. Murphy agrees. “The concept ofpeople from the United States and elsewhere going to poorcountries, doing studies, and writing reports is long gone.Whether it’s us going over there and doing some training forthem or them coming here and getting training and thengoing back, it’s a two-way street in the global setting.”Oche Agbaji, MD, co-principal investigator of thePEPFAR grant based in Jos, Nigeria, exemplifies thedirection the center is taking. Although a highly competentphysician, Dr. Agbaji required training in the basics ofclinical research such as drafting protocols and manuscriptwriting. Through a Fogarty grant, he recentlyspent one month in this country, two weeks of whichwere spent studying at Northwestern and the Universityof Chicago. “It’s important to understand that weare from two different parts of the globe in terms ofdevelopment and issues,” he remarks, “but there arethings we can gain from each other.”Adding a unique twist to the makeup of the centerare pharmacologists Kimberly K. Scarsi, PharmD, MSc,research assistant professor of medicine, and KristinDarin, PharmD, research associate. Both will play majorroles in training Nigerian and other African medicalprofessionals in the use of HIV medication, includingunderstanding side effects, drug interactions, and theprinciples and implementation of pharmacokinetic studies.Dr. Scarsi first worked internationally when shetraveled to Botswana in 2005. A trip to Nigeria cameAbove: Successful global medicine efforts require the expertise ofhealth care professionals around the world such as Remi Olaitan,chief pharmacist for the PEPFAR-Nigeria program, shown hereshopping at an outdoor market in Lagos.Below: Research is an important component of the new Center forGlobal Health led by Dr. Robert Murphy. He stands outside of theJohn R. Flanagan Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory, the largest highcontainmentvirology laboratory of its kind in Chicago.14 ward rounds summer 2009wardroundsonline.com 15