Global Health

Interdisciplinary Themes

Bass Connections projects, courses and summer programs are aligned with the following themes:

Led by the Duke Global Health Institute

The health of individuals and populations depends greatly on where and how people live in the world. Access to quality health care, information about disease prevention and the environmental impact on health vary widely around the world. Global stability depends on the reduction of these and other health disparities.

Bass Connections in Global Health supports students and faculty working to address health disparities worldwide – including in the U.S. – through an integrated suite of education programs and activities on campus and in the field. Recognizing that a sustained comprehension of global health can come only through immersive experiences and collaboration with community partners, Bass Connections in Global Health offers opportunities for students – undergraduate through doctoral – to participate in coursework, experiential learning and field projects to find solutions to local and international health disparities.

The Student Research Training summer program engages second- and third-year undergraduates in the development, implementation and assessment of a community-based global health project.

Global Health Project Teams

Bottles.

This project team will pilot and assess the Alcohol Use Behavioral Phenotyping Test app in Kenya, Brazil and India. Read more about Alcohol Use Behavioral Phenotyping Test for Global Populations (2024-2025) »


Image: University College Hospital Ibadan, by Hizick27 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

This project aims to develop evidence-based, culturally appropriate interventions to address deficiencies in neurosurgical systems. Read more about Building Sustainable Neurosurgical Systems in Developing Countries (2024-2025) »


Image: Drinking Water from the Faucet, by ACES | Margaret Barse, Alabama Extension, public domain https://flic.kr/p/2mrFVMu

This project team will develop a simple-to-use, in-home water sampler that can be used by both individual households to assess their water and community organizations to perform large-scale water sampling campaigns.  Read more about Clean Water Through Technology-Enabled Citizen Science (2024-2025) »


Image: Rice farming in Sri Lanka, by Sanjini de Silva/IWMI, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

This project will bring together Duke researchers and students from the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka to implement a high-spatial resolution heat exposure monitoring program in communities impacted by chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology. Read more about Closing Heat Data Gaps in Climate Disease Frontline Communities (2024-2025) »


Image: Coronary CT angiography of coronary arteries, by Oxford Academic Cardiovascular CT Core Lab

This project team will use large, national electronic health record databases to improve the understanding of risk factors and treatment strategies for cardiovascular disease. Read more about Data Science to Optimize Cardiovascular Disease Prevention (2024-2025) »


Image: Crossing: Elderly lady making her way across the road. Bacolod City, Philippines, by Brian Evans

This project team will work with academic and government partners to understand preparedness for the upcoming population aging in the Philippines at the individual-, family- and society-levels. Read more about Empowering Family Caregiving Research in the Philippines (2024-2025) »


Image: A digital 3D representation of the West Nile virus in complex with the Fab fragment of a neutralizing monoclonal antibody

This project team will examine how pricing and demand for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) affect the availability and uptake of mAb therapies in low- and middle-income countries. Read more about Equitable Access to Monoclonal Antibodies for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (2024-2025) »


Laparoscopy.

This project team will develop a low-cost laparoscopic simulator for surgeons in Uganda.  Read more about Expanding Laparoscopic Simulation in Uganda (2024-2025) »


Image: Grange Park Revitalized, by wyliepoon, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

This project team will identify and map potential soil contamination in city parks in over two hundred cities in the U.S. and Canada. Read more about Locating Toxic Lead in City Soils with Online Archives (2024-2025) »


Image: The entrance, by Susan Jane Golding, licensed under CC BY 2.0

his project team will work to understand development in multisectoral integrated long-term care in China and worldwide. Read more about Long-Term Care in China and Worldwide (2024-2025) »


Surgery.

This project team will characterize clinical details for return to the ED within 30 to 90 days after orthopaedic surgery, and adjust clinical practice and discharge counseling in order to help combat any underlying racial disparity.   Read more about Racial Disparities in Emergency Department Return After Orthopaedic Surgery (2024-2025) »


Image: _DSC1644.jpg (Kampala, Uganda), by Carlos Felipe Pardo, licensed under CC BY 2.0

The project team will work to develop a culturally appropriate protocol for rehabilitation involvement in hospital neurologic patient discharge planning to be adopted as recommended practice by key Ugandan stakeholders. Read more about Role of Rehabilitation in Ugandan Neurosurgical Transitional Care (2024-2025) »


Image: Latino Read 915, by US Department of Education, licensed under CC BY 2.0

This project team will address global mental health inequalities through three family-based interventions: Coping Together-Latinx, Coping Together-Durham and Tuko Pamoja (Eldoret, Kenya). Read more about Strengthening Families Across Contexts: Multidirectional Learning (2024-2025) »


Food.

This project team will explore Durham's organizational and resident barriers and facilitators to addressing food insecurity with a focus on federal programs and funding use. Read more about Tracing the Roots of Nutrition Access: University to Community (2024-2025) »


Global Health Courses

Gateway Courses

GLHLTH 101: Fundamentals of Global Health

Fall 2024
Instructor: Sumedha Ariely

This course provides an introduction to global health issues and challenges. The focus is on global disease burden, health determinants and disparities, health policy and actors and the challenges of global health interventions. Read more about Fundamentals of Global Health »


GLHLTH 101: Fundamentals of Global Health

Spring 2024
Instructor: Sara LeGrand

In this introduction to global health issues and challenges, students will develop an understanding of key concepts, tools, and frameworks essential for continued study in global health. Read more about Fundamentals of Global Health »


WRITING 101: Preventing Pandemics

Fall 2024
Instructor: Miranda Welsh

Where are new outbreaks most likely to occur and why? What ecological, sociopolitical and cultural factors contribute to differences across locales in disease emergence, spread and our capacity to respond? How have our dominant understandings or narratives of disease shaped our response and... Read more about Preventing Pandemics »


WRITING 101: Preventing Pandemics

Spring 2024
Instructor: Miranda Welsh

Where are new outbreaks most likely to occur and why? What ecological, sociopolitical and cultural factors contribute to differences across locales in disease emergence, spread and our capacity to respond? How have our dominant understandings or narratives of disease shaped our response and... Read more about Preventing Pandemics »


Other Undergraduate Courses

GLHLTH 215: Case Studies in Global Sexual and Reproductive Health

Fall 2024
Instructor: Megan Huchko

Through the examination of weekly case studies, students will explore the complexity of working in the field of global sexual and reproductive health and the ways in which various health and social science disciplines can be integrated in the development of effective health programs. Session topics... Read more about Case Studies in Global Sexual and Reproductive Health »


GLHLTH 273S: Entrepreneurial Problem Solving in Global Health

Fall 2024
Instructor: Dennis Clements

Global health, both international and local, has a long way to go to support healthy lives. In this class, students will have the opportunity to gain understanding of how the Entrepreneurial method can help to improve health. Students will learn about the victories and the challenges, and in the... Read more about Entrepreneurial Problem Solving in Global Health »


GLHLTH 306: Global Health Policy: Transforming Evidence into Action

Spring 2024
Instructor: Wenhui Mao, Jonathan Dickinson Quick

This course will provide an in-depth examination of how to close the gap between evidence and practical policymaking as a way to improve global health. Read more about Global Health Policy: Transforming Evidence into Action »


GLHLTH 373: Global Health Ethics in Research

Spring 2024
Instructor: Sumedha Ariely

This course introduces ethical and human rights concepts in Global Health and current issues in health ethics. Students will explore how to understand and engage in ethical health service, intervention, research and education. The course will require students to analyze and critique ethical choices... Read more about Global Health Ethics in Research »


Graduate Courses

GLHLTH 750: Health Systems in Low and Middle Income Countries

Spring 2024
Instructor: Osondu Ogbuoji

In this course, students will analyze health systems in low and middle income countries through multiple lenses and apply their learning in a team project. Read more about Health Systems in Low and Middle Income Countries »


GLHLTH 755: Global Health Policy: Transforming Evidence into Action

Spring 2024
Instructor: Gavin Yamey

This course will provide an in-depth inquiry on how to narrow the gap between global health evidence and practical action and policy making on the ground, with examination of the complex ways in which global health policies are formed, shaped and implemented. Read more about Global Health Policy: Transforming Evidence into Action »