Think Globally with a Bass Connections Project in 2018-19

January 20, 2018

Bass Connections global projects

Among the Bass Connections project teams for 2018-19 are many with a global focus, including some with opportunities for travel. Learn more by reviewing the full project descriptions, and come to the Bass Connections Fair on Wednesday, January 24 (2:30 to 5:30, Energy Hub, first floor of Gross Hall). Team leaders, advisors and staff will be available to share information and answer questions. Applications are due on February 16 at 5:00 p.m.

Projects with Opportunities for Global Travel

Evaluating Interventions Aimed at Improving Neurosurgical Patient Outcomes in Uganda

Since 2007, Duke Global Neurosurgery and Neuroscience has been partnering to strengthen Uganda’s health system in order to improve neurosurgical care. The long-term vision includes having 20 Uganda-trained neurosurgeons equitably spread across the country, increasing the number of facilities capable of providing neurosurgical operations, improving the infrastructure for neurosurgical care delivery and developing a Uganda Neuroscience Institute. Within this larger framework, this project will evaluate which interventions actually improve neurosurgical patient outcomes and are efficient and cost effective.

Big Data for Reproductive Health

One-third of women who begin using a modern method of contraception in low-income countries discontinue within the first year, and half within the first two years, putting them at risk for unintended pregnancies as well as maternal morbidity and mortality. The current method of measuring contraceptive discontinuation does not show the granular details often needed to develop programs to effect change. This project aims to curate available data into an online, user-friendly tool, apply advanced data analysis techniques and develop methods for collecting big data to provide dynamic information to family planning researchers and advocates.

Smart Archaeology

Smart technologies involve the use of collaborative and intelligent tools able to automate activities performed in the environment and in everyday objects. In archaeology, smart technologies include sensors, close range sensing systems, robots, rovers, drones, laser scanners and software able to process data from multiple sources. In 2018-19, five research units will collaborate on the archaeological investigation and study of Mediterranean cities dating back to the first millennium BCE.

Cultural and Practical Barriers to Epilepsy Care in Uganda

While epilepsy affects over 50 million people globally, three of every four people in low-resource countries do not get care for this treatable condition. In Uganda, stigma is pervasive: one in five people believes epilepsy is contagious, and there are strong beliefs in supernatural or witchcraft-based causes, treatments and even inoculation. Over the past two years, this team has worked to identify, predict and address barriers to epilepsy care through surveys and interviews among all epilepsy stakeholder groups, including patients and families, traditional healers, pastoral healers, neurologists and psychiatrists. The 2018-19 team will design a culturally relevant intervention program with the goal of impacting the epilepsy treatment gap in Uganda.

Developing a Mobile Phone-based Community Health Program for Hypertension Control in Nepal

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in many low- and middle-income countries. With a nearly 100% mobile phone ownership rate in the country, Nepal’s Ministry of Health has prioritized mHealth interventions. This project will collaborate with Nepal’s female community health volunteer program and Medic Mobile to develop design insights and feature-phone-based programs, creating a foundation for interventions on hypertension prevention and control.

How Do People Affect Zoonotic Disease Dynamics in Madagascar?

Research has documented conflicting associations between land use change and infectious disease risk, with some studies finding that deforestation increases disease risk for humans, while other studies find the opposite pattern. It is critically important to make sense of these conflicting patterns. This project will investigate how human land-use decisions affect the small mammal community and disease transmission around the Marojejy National Park, where human subsistence activities and population growth are encroaching on the protected rainforest in the area.

Low-cost Laparoscopic Surgery with Tele-mentoring for Low-income Countries

In the 1980s, the field of surgery advanced with the development of laparoscopy, a technology that allowed surgeons to make two to four small incisions and operate with an intra-abdominal camera and instruments. The benefits of laparoscopic surgery compared to open surgery are extensive; however, laparoscopic surgery is expensive and demands a great amount of infrastructure to maintain the equipment. These costs are prohibitive to low- and middle-income countries, and therefore most surgeries in these countries are performed with the traditional, open approach. This project’s goal is to develop a low-cost, reusable laparoscope with a design that will allow images to be transferred over the internet, enabling surgeons in high- and low-income countries to interact in real-time during surgical cases, thus allowing for “tele-mentoring.”

Pocket Colposcope: Analysis of Bridging Elements of Referral Services to Primary/Community Care

Cervical cancer is highly preventable through the screening, diagnosis and treatment of cervical precursor lesions. Colposcopy with biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis; however, colposcopes are expensive, and require referral to specialized facilities with a trained colposcopist. To address this limitation, Duke researchers developed the Pocket Colposcope, which is significantly less expensive and lighter than commercial colposcopes. This project seeks to understand the best practices for creating a training program for community-level providers and to develop a training manual based on feedback from community health providers working with La Liga Contra el Cancer in Peru. The team’s goal is to demonstrate that the Pocket Colposcope is an economically viable solution in the community health setting.

Refining Surveillance for Zoonotic Respiratory Viruses in Sarawak, Malaysia

Zoonotic diseases, caused by pathogens transmitted from animals to humans, account for three out of five new human illnesses. Southeast Asia has been identified as a hotspot for infectious diseases due to the tropical climate and anthropogenic factors that have led to increased contact between humans, wildlife and the ecosystem. The multidisciplinary One Health approach is gaining traction as the way forward in solving the problem of emerging diseases plaguing human, animal and environmental health. This project aims to refine surveillance efforts for emerging respiratory viruses in Malaysia and leverage a One Health approach to understand the etiology of respiratory viruses.

Developing Rapid, Cost-effective Methods for Evaluating Coastal Biodiversity and Resilience

Coastal habitats such as oyster reefs, salt marshes, seagrass and mangroves are essential for resilient communities but under threat from sea-level rise and anthropogenic disturbance. Our traditional reaction to encroaching seas is to modify the shoreline through the use of hardened structures. Only recently have we begun considering adopting the more natural living shoreline, which involves intertidal vegetation plantings sometimes coupled with oyster reefs as breakwaters. One of the largest hurdles is the dearth of knowledge of living shorelines’ resilience and the services restored shorelines provide. This project will work with governmental and nongovernmental organizations to create tools for coastline conservation practices.

Environmental Epidemiology in Latin America: Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is the largest source of global mercury pollution and the leading cause of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. This type of mining emits large amounts of mercury directly into atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and impacts human and wildlife health. The primary research goal for this project is to understand and communicate how mercury enters upstream communities and wildlife, and whether deforestation is altering this movement of mercury.

From the Ground Up: The Business and Policy Landscape for Energy Access in East Africa

Access to electricity and other forms of modern energy is crucial to development. Yet about 1.1 billion people lack access to electricity, and another billion have unreliable access. While a number of public and private actors have entered the market, a substantial investment gap remains. Understanding the barriers to investment is essential for addressing the needs of the households, communities and enterprises that lack access to modern energy sources. This project aims to understand the energy access problem and potential solutions from the perspective of people who are dealing with it firsthand.

Mega-gardeners of Tropical Forests: Modeling Seed Dispersal by Forest Elephants

Elephants are ecological engineers that create and maintain forest habitat. However, poaching is wiping out African forest elephants, which will result in dramatic ecological changes. Through collaboration with the Gabon Parks Agency, Duke researchers have two years of data on hourly movements of 56 forest elephants. However, there are no data on the time it takes a seed to pass through a forest elephant’s gut. This project will conduct experiments in Gabon to estimate gut passage time in forest elephants for several plant species. The team will then model seed dispersal and evaluate the consequences of differences in dispersal patterns for forest plants.

Selected Projects with a Global Focus (Including “Global Is Local”)

Documenting Durham’s Health History: Understanding the Roots of Health Disparities

Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI): What Makes Innovation Stick?

Vaccine Misinformation and Its Link to Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake in Durham

Project Vox

Energy Data Analytics Lab: Energy Infrastructure Map of the World through Satellite Data

Ocean Evidence Gap Map

Learn More