Physics - College of Science - University of Notre Dame

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Tackling Global Health Disparities
Orrin Belden
Despite available cures for tuberculosis (TB), there were
8.8 million new cases of TB in 2010 and 1.4 million deaths
caused by the disease. In an effort to address global health disparities
that contribute to the spread of curable diseases like TB,
the University of Notre Dame and the Eck Institute for Global
Health introduced a new one-year Master of Science in Global
Health (MSGH) program this past year.
There are 14 MSGH students in the inaugural class, and the
program is expected to grow in its second and third years. The
global health curriculum, spearheaded by the Eck Institute for
Global Health, includes courses in Global Health Challenges,
Epidemiology, Global Health Methods, Bioethics, a weekly
Colloquium, and a master’s project. The new masters degree in
global health differs from a degree in public health by addressing
health disparities on a global scale. The global health program
expands to not only include preventative health care but
also curative care. Students are taught to examine the scope of
a health problem without division by geographic location. With
this inherent complexity, the curriculum naturally draws on interdisciplinary
studies, both science and non-science based.
Fieldwork experience is also an integral aspect of the program.
Many of the students will complete their field experiences
over the summer, allowing flexibility for elective courses
during the academic year. This year, some of the field experience
sites will include Tanzania, Uganda, Haiti, Puerto Rico,
and India. The field experience is the culmination of the pro-
Master of Science in Global Health students Credit: Steve Toepp
gram when students apply the knowledge learned in the classroom
to identify and address health disparities.
A 2011 Notre Dame alumna and current graduate student in
the Global Health Program, Gabriela Moriel, will be conducting
her field experience in Tena, Ecuador. She is collaborating
with the non-governmental organization Timmy Global Health
to design a Community Health Worker Program modeled after
some of the successful programs implemented by the organization
Partners In Health. When asked why she chose this particular
location she explained, “Tena and its surrounding rural
communities are often isolated from the benefits of modern
medicine that are normally accessible in the urban hospitals.
Our hope is to train individuals in the communities who will
essentially act as local nurses who are qualified to perform a
variety of basic medical practices, educate the communities in
their medical knowledge, and send patients with emergency
cases in the right direction of care.” Gabriela will be headed to
Tena with fellow masters student, Molly Elston, whose project
focuses on gathering data to develop a health census for the
Miguel Morales joins Biological Sciences Faculty
Claire Brady
You probably have not heard of Leishmania, the pathogenic
protozoan parasite that assistant biology professor Miguel Morales
has devoted his career to studying. Neither had Morales,
in fact, until taking a parasitology course his senior year of
college. However, his work with Leishmaniasis, the neglected
tropical disease the parasite causes, was what brought him to
join the Notre Dame faculty for his first professorship this past
fall. “The mission of the University to help the world had a lot
to do with coming here,” Morales said. “The focus on global
health is very important, and that emphasis really makes [Notre
Dame] a unique place.”
Originally from Spain, Morales completed his Ph.D. in Molecular
Biology and Biochemistry at the Complutense University
of Madrid, with postdoctoral work at New York University
and the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Most formative to his career
path in parasitology was the time he spent in Rio de Janeiro and
India, endemic areas for a variety of pathogenic parasites, during
his years as a Ph.D. student.
scientia.nd.edu SCIENTIA Vol 3 - Spring 2012
Napo province and supplement the data reported
by Ecuador’s Ministry of Health.
The Master of Science in Global Health program
is the embodiment of the mission of the
University of Notre Dame to empower students to
address the needs of the poor and the vulnerable.
Although Gabriela will not be conducting her field
experience until the summer, she remarked, “This
program has already helped open up my eyes to
many global health disparities that I may have
never been exposed to otherwise.”