Updated on Dec 8, 2023 | AIGH
Health challenges or inequities can be driving forces for change. This has led the NYC Partnership to award one-year pilot funds to address health challenges faced by communities receiving care in the public health care system in Queens, New York. This funding will enable teams at NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H)/Elmhurst, NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and Mount Sinai to conduct collaborative research studies and care improvement projects that help address the communities’ health needs and affect change.
The NYC Partnership is a collaboration between the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Global Health Institute at NYC H+H/Elmhurst, and NYC H+H/Elmhurst and Queens.
The collaboration aims to engage in health care improvements, training, and research to address the needs of local Queens communities receiving care in the public health care system.
One mechanism to achieve this goal is the Pilot Project Awards, which encourage multidisciplinary and inter-institutional pilot projects. An 18-person Selection Committee composed of members from Mount Sinai, NYC H+H/Elmhurst and Queens reviewed and scored 19 applications, resulting in the funding of five projects for up to $25,000 each. The Committee selected these five projects:
Clinical and social implications that may exist by maintaining or removing race correction from pulmonary function testing in a racially diverse vulnerable population-Alfredo Astua, MD, and Ricardo Lopez, MD
There is a movement underway to remove race as a factor in many clinical algorithms as it can unfairly influence treatment options. Race correction equations used in pulmonary medicine may be preventing patients from receiving appropriate treatments as well as misclassifying the severity of disease. This project evaluates the effect of race correction, and its removal, from pulmonary function testing in the racially diverse communities served by NYC H+H/Elmhurst and Queens. Results will be correlated with social determinants of health and geospatial analysis of patients’ residence to understand associations of these social and structural factors on pulmonary diagnostics.
Alfredo Astua, MD
Ricardo Lopez, MD
Zachary L. Hickman, MD
NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Program-Zachary L. Hickman, MD
As the only Level 1 trauma center in western Queens, NYC H+H/Elmhurst cares for approximately 800 patients with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year. The majority of these injuries are mild, including concussions. All patients with mild TBIs should be followed as outpatients by brain-injury specialists for the management of ongoing or prolonged symptoms related to their head trauma and for potential comorbid conditions (such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or substance use disorders). If TBIs are untreated or under-treated, there are significant psychosocial and quality-of-life ramifications. Disparities in health care access and delivery are known to exist for patients after a TBI. This project will establish the first multidisciplinary Mild TBI/Concussion Program within the New York City public health system at NYC H+H/Elmhurst to reduce health care inequities in TBI diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.
Perspectives of family caregivers and clinic staff on standardized caregiver needs assessment within an urban safety net primary care clinic for older adults-Harriet Mather, MD, MSc, and Hadeel Alkhairw, MD
Family caregiving is an urgent public health challenge due to the rapid increase in family caregivers and the impact on caregivers, care recipients, and the economy. Community-based caregiver support services are important for improving caregiver wellbeing, yet uptake of these services is low, with evidence of sociodemographic inequities. Systematic identification and needs assessment of family caregivers in primary care is a vital first step to promote uptake of support services. Through interviews with family caregivers of older adults attending the medical primary care clinic at NYC H+H/Elmhurst and focus groups with clinic staff, the study aims to understand the feasibility, acceptability, and preferences of caregiver needs assessment in primary care. This study will inform the co-design of a caregiver needs assessment and support intervention for family caregivers of older adults.
Harriet Mather, MD, MSc
Hadeel Alkhairw, MD
Ben McVane, MD
Assessing the Health Needs of Newly Arrived Immigrants and Asylum-Seekers in Queens-Ben McVane, MD
New York City has seen a recent significant increase in the arrival of asylum-seekers. This project will conduct a health-focused needs assessment using respondent-driven sampling of newly arrived immigrants and asylum-seekers in Queens. Data will be used to plan, fundraise, and advocate for a New Arrivals Clinic at NYC H+H/Elmhurst to better address medical and social needs. Participants with unmet needs will be connected to appropriate resources through community partnerships with Make the Road New York and the Libertas Center for Human Rights at NYC H+H/Elmhurst.
Cardiovascular Precision Medicine and Remote Intervention-Eyal Shemesh, MD, and Deborah Reynolds, MD
Non-adherence to medical recommendations for controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol is the leading cause for adverse outcomes in patients with cardiovascular morbidity. This project will use a cardiovascular variability marker, unstable and variable blood pressure readings, identified from electronic health records as a marker of non-adherence to flag patients at increased risk for poor outcomes. Cardiology clinic patients will be enrolled in a remote intervention for three months to increase engagement in care and improve adherence to medical recommendations.
Eyal Shemesh, MD
Deborah Reynolds, MD
Payal Ram is the Research Program Coordinator for the New York City Partnership at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health, and the Department of Global Health and Health System Design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Global Health Institute at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst.
Oct 23, 2023 | AIGH
I arrived in Eldoret, “The City of Champions,” at the beginning of September 2023 to embark on a three-month research elective within the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH). As a fourth-year MD/MPH dual-degree student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, I hoped this project would serve as a culmination of my previous coursework in global health, research methods, and preventive medicine, as well as a preview into what my future career could look like, which I hoped would include a strong research component to inform my clinical and public health responsibilities.
Kevin Griffee (he/him) is a Class of 2024 MD/MPH candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
I first became interested in research and global health in college, where I worked on a wide range of projects, including those aimed at improving perinatal health among underserved patients in Washington, D.C.; preventing the spread of Lassa fever in Benin and Togo; and understanding the central auditory deficits associated with HIV infection in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I ultimately received a Certificate in Global Health upon graduating, along with a major in neuroscience and minors in biology and Chinese.
Following my medical school matriculation, I became increasingly interested in HIV. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a striking reminder that a parallel viral epidemic, more than four decades old, was continuing to infect more than one million people annually, including almost 500,000 young people. I wanted to understand exactly why this virus has persisted, despite the availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent transmission and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent acquisition. The optimist in me even hoped we could make HIV obsolete in a generation, provided we maximize every tool in our HIV care and prevention toolbox.
One way to do this is through improving ART adherence. Adherence among youth populations tends to be lower than among other age demographics, which increases the risk for viral failure, drug resistance, and secondary HIV transmission. Our team was therefore interested in assessing novel approaches for improving ART adherence in this population, specifically digital health interventions, like mHealth and eHealth. We found mixed but promising evidence supporting the use of these interventions, especially text message-based ones. We hoped our findings would help guide future research and clinical decisions in this relatively nascent area of digitally supported HIV care.
Another HIV tool we have yet to fully maximize is PrEP. When used as prescribed, PrEP can reduce the risk of acquiring HIV by up to 99 percent. Unfortunately, PrEP use is plagued by disparities in access. In Kenya, for example, preliminary studies have suggested youth experience lower rates of PrEP uptake and adherence compared to older adults. The goal of our current study is to understand why this is the case, a particularly critical question given the large burden of HIV among youth in Kenya. By better understanding barriers to PrEP access, we hope to expand PrEP delivery programs in a way that best meets youth needs.
Key to this PrEP project, and other HIV-related projects that preceded it, is the participation of youth. Youth have generously shared their experiences, insights, and in some cases, their blood samples, for the benefit of research and future advances in HIV care. Another project I am working on is critically examining what youth, along with caregivers and subject matter experts, think about this research, and specifically the practice of biobanking for longitudinal clinical studies. We want to ensure that this research is done ethically, and part of this is confirming that the perspectives of youth and other stakeholders are reflected in current biobanking-related policies and procedures.
Together, these research projects address part three of AMPATH’s tripartite mission of care, training, and research. I also hope that the findings from our PrEP study will be used to improve PrEP service delivery at AMPATH-affiliated clinics and will therefore address part one of this mission as well. For part two, the training piece, I have enjoyed working with the incredible peer navigators at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) Rafiki Center of Excellence in Adolescent Health.
Members of the adolescent health research team. From left: Kevin Griffee, Ashley Chory, Josephine Aluoch, Eslyne Jepkemboi, Dennis Munyoro, and Tabitha Njoroge.
Peer navigators are members of the community who serve as links between patients and providers, and who offer counseling and other support services for youth living with HIV. Among their many responsibilities, peer navigators work to strengthen care engagement, improve medication adherence, and reduce HIV-related stigma. I have really enjoyed getting to know the peer navigators and helping them refine their project ideas for the Young Leaders Pilot Program, a joint initiative by Mount Sinai, Moi University, and MTRH to accelerate the development of adolescent health programs at Rafiki and AMPATH more generally. I have also enjoyed helping lead a workshop series with the peer navigators covering topics in research and professional development.
Outside of these activities, I have spent my free time in Eldoret engaging in AMPATH-sponsored lectures and discussions, exploring downtown and surrounding areas, sampling the delicious local cuisine, participating in pick-up soccer games, and taking regular Swahili and sewing lessons.
Overall, I feel so privileged to stay in this beautiful place, honored to work with such wonderful mentors and collaborators, and grateful to be so kindly welcomed into this community. I am very much looking forward to the remainder of my time here, strengthening the relationships I forged so far, and continuing to work together to make progress towards equitable, patient-centered access to effective HIV treatment and prevention methods worldwide. I would like to thank AMPATH, Moi University, MTRH, and Mount Sinai’s Arnhold Institute for Global Health for making this experience possible.
Kevin Griffee (he/him) is a Class of 2024 MD/MPH candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Updated on Sep 26, 2023 | AIGH
Jeb Weisman, PhD
Jeb Weisman, PhD, is Director of Global Health Informatics. He leads the Arnhold Institute for Global Health’s design and informatics initiatives, applying unique methods, tools, technologies, and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to complex global health challenges. His work centers on and supports novel applications of available technologies to address health information challenges and disparities on a global scale.
In this Q&A, he discusses his career journey and what inspired him to work in global health.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I was born in the Canary Islands but grew up in the New York area. I’m happy to say I’ve lived and worked quite a few places around the world. I hold a doctorate in anthropology and have more than 35 years in health information systems. Though both anthropology and computer systems have been part of my life since the late 1960s, I’ve been an archaeologist, software developer, member of disaster response teams, textbook editor, and university faculty and CIO. I also worked once as a bouncer in Hawaii.
What inspired you to get into your career?
I’ve been inspired by the lives and philosophies of friends, colleagues, and human action through history. I prefer to do things that help people, through which I learn new things, and get to make a tangible difference. And I like to repurpose existing things—objects, ideas, approaches—to address existing needs. Still, I can’t say I’ve followed a career path in the traditional sense or even had a specific career in mind.
I decided at a very young age that I wanted to be an anthropologist, but less as a profession and more as an approach to understanding the world in which I was growing up. At the same time, I had a fascination for technologies that were maturing in the 1960s and 1970s, including computer programming. I learned to apply the ideas and practices embedded in my studies and interests to the occupations that presented themselves. Today I combine all the things I’ve studied and worked at into a useful and flexible skill set that serves the work I do every day.
What do you like most about working at the Institute?
The list is extensive, but here are a few. I like that my work and the work of my colleagues can have a direct and lasting impact on the quality of life of the people with whom we work, as well as the challenge of scaling this work. I like that I work with smart people who truly lead with a desire to make an enduring difference. And I like that working at the Institute forces me constantly to evaluate assumptions, and to adapt theory, knowledge, and skills to the work.
What led you to work in global health and what do you like about it?
I had done international work in disaster preparedness and response technology, archaeology, and cultural and forensic anthropology for a number of years before joining the Institute. So, the transition was fairly organic. All the pieces were in place waiting for the opportunity to present itself. As for why I like it, for the same reasons I like working at the Institute: enduring impact, smart people, scale, and constant challenges to my world view.
Can you tell us more about your research and how it has affected your work?
My work tends toward the applied, though sometimes it is in support of the academic research of others. One of the paths that led me here was translating social science to action. What we now call Translational Social Science (TSS). One of the best examples of TSS, for which I can take no credit, is Social Determinants of Health—which is now pervasive.
Combining TSS with informatics, I’ve developed and taught TSS courses, particularly in the context of digital health interventions. These interventions cover everything from EHRs and telehealth to all the devices we use to monitor our health and well-being. How do they shape us? What aren’t we seeing or misunderstanding when we use them? What are the unintended consequences and how do we think about and anticipate what we don’t yet understand? Social science, information systems and technology, and global health have come together in a way that lets me contribute to the global work that the Institute and Mount Sinai are doing in places such as Guyana and our other global partners, from Nepal to New York City.
What is some advice you would give someone looking to go into informatics?
Informatics is an enormous field with many, many sub-specialties, some very technical, others organizational, and still others process oriented. As you find the facet of informatics that most interests you and matches your skills, connect those skills with your unique life experience. Through this approach you can extend the value of your informatics work to the social, lived world. Hopefully, one result is that you create the basis for change and inspire new ideas and ways of doing things. And don’t worry if your path is not a straight line.
Sep 26, 2023 | AIGH
We are currently in the midst of a global crisis in child and adolescent mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the significant barriers youth and their families experience to accessing quality, evidence-based mental health care in all settings, including those that are otherwise considered to be resource-rich. In Kenya, the 2021 National Adolescent Mental Health Survey found that 12.2 percent of Kenyan adolescents (10-17 years) met criteria for a psychiatric disorder. However, of those, only 11.1 percent had accessed any form of support for their mental health concerns in the prior year, in part because of a lack of available services.
Mental health plays a critical role in the development and overall well-being of young people, which is why efforts are being undertaken at the MTRH-Rafiki Center for Excellence in Adolescent Health to improve the availability of mental health services for youth in western Kenya.
Florence Jaguga, MBChB, MMed, and Brittany McCoy, MD, are working together to lead progress towards the mental health-related care, research, and education priorities set out by the AMPATH Adolescent Working Group at the AMPATH Adolescent Summit earlier this year.
Brittany McCoy, MD
Dr. McCoy is the new Adolescent Mental Health Team Lead for AMPATH, a T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychiatry, and an Instructor in the Departments of Psychiatry, and Global Health and Health System Design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a recent graduate of the Mount Sinai Triple Board Residency Program, where she trained in general pediatrics, general psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry, and completed the requirements of both the pediatrics global health and global mental health residency tracks.
Dr. McCoy has a long history of engagement with AMPATH Kenya, starting in 2016 when she served for a year as the Indiana University School of Medicine Pediatric Global Health Research Scholar working with Rachel Vreeman, MD, MS. She has completed AMPATH clinical rotations at MTRH and continued to work with Dr. Vreeman and her team on research projects related to the mental health of youth living with HIV throughout her subsequent medical education and residency training.
More recently, she completed a study funded by an Pediatric Research Scholars Award at Icahn Mount Sinai to adapt a battery of mental health measures culturally and developmentally for Kenyan youth living with HIV. In her new position at AMPATH, Dr. McCoy hopes to use the unique skillset she has gained as a “Triple Boarder” to inform research, care, and education initiatives aimed at increasing adolescents’ access to evidence-based, culturally and developmentally appropriate mental health services in western Kenya.
Dr. Jaguga is a psychiatrist at MTRH and Head of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation Services. She is co-chair of the AMPATH Adolescent Health Working Group. Dr. Jaguga has conducted research projects to evaluate the feasibility of a peer-led substance use screening and brief intervention program for youth at Rafiki. Her research findings support the feasibility of this program.
Florence Jaguga, MBChB, MMed
Dr. Jaguga has worked to integrate mental health and substance use screening for youth into the AMPATH electronic medical records system. The tools included in the screening are the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, and the Substance Use Screening to Brief Intervention (S2BI) tool.
Next steps include training peer counselors to conduct screening for mental health using the tools. Youth screening positive will be referred to the psychologist that is currently stationed at Rafiki Clinic. Rafiki now also runs a weekly mental health clinic led by an MTRH psychiatrist, and youths who screen positive for a mental health concern will also be referred to this weekly clinic.
Over the coming months, Dr. Jaguga and Dr. McCoy will work together with others in the adolescent health and mental health initiatives at AMPATH to continue to grow the mental health services offered by the Rafiki Center and support adolescents’ mental health.
Sep 13, 2023 | AIGH
Hilda has served as a peer navigator at the MTRH-Rafiki Centre for Excellence in Adolescent Health at AMPATH for six years, working with pregnant and parenting adolescents.
Approximately 15 percent of Kenyan adolescent girls 15-19 years old have either had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child. Globally, evidence suggests an estimated 14 percent of adolescent girls and young women give birth before the age of 18. Across Kenya, many women deliver at home without skilled birth attendants, increasing their chances of birth trauma, hemorrhage, infection, and maternal or neonatal death.
Many adolescents lack supportive communities both throughout their pregnancy and after their child is born due to stigma associated with pre-marital sex and adolescent pregnancy. Findings demonstrate that fears of becoming pregnant are motivated by worries that their community will find out that they are sexually active.
Without supportive relationships in the home or community, adolescent girls in resource constrained and rural communities frequently face challenges in receiving basic pregnancy care.
In African countries, peer navigators have been shown to provide connective care for adolescent pregnant and parenting people. Adolescent peer navigators are young people who, through lived experience, are able to connect and collaborate with adolescent in need of care.
Peers serve as a necessary bridge between patients and clinical providers, often working to alleviate the stigma associated with their lived experience. Peer navigators work within clinic systems and in the community to increase patient care, engage them in needed services, support medication adherence, and provide social support, among others.
Hilda has served as a peer navigator at the MTRH-Rafiki Centre for Excellence in Adolescent Health at AMPATH for six years, working directly with pregnant and parenting adolescents. Hilda is studying counseling and psychology, and has a passion for developing mental health resources for this population. Hilda sat down with Ashley Chory, Global Youth Health Senior Program Manager, to discuss her passion for helping others and advocating for more resources for pregnant adolescents.
What does the day in the life of a peer navigator working with look like?
I have been working as a peer navigator at the Rafiki Center for six years. A peer navigator is someone who works as a link between adolescents and the clinical team. It really helps the adolescents because the peer navigators work as a liaison to eliminate barriers between them and the clinical providers. Often times, adolescents do not feel comfortable opening up to a nurse about certain topics.
As a pregnancy peer navigator, I do retention work, which entails taking the client documents, holding one-on-one sessions, conducting support groups, and following up on those who come to the clinic. When adolescent girls take a pregnancy test, if they are positive, the clinical team hands the pregnant adolescent to me. I advocate for pregnant teenagers’ rights, safety, access to care, and referrals. Immediately, they are transferred to the Maternal Child Health facility where they deliver. I also work with pregnant adolescents who are not doing well; there is a lot of stigma around adolescent pregnancy, which is seen as a consequence due to having sex before marriage. They do not have the support needed because society views pregnancy in adolescence as taboo. Sex is a taboo subject for young people; however the reality is that adolescents are engaging in sex. Because of this stigma around pregnancy, adolescents drop out of school, but they do not get the necessary financial and psychological support needed. I believe it is crucial to have adolescent peer navigators who have been through similar experiences to support them. They might even need a psychologist to step in and assist them through this difficult period.
How has being a peer navigator changed your life?
Being a peer navigator has significantly improved my self-esteem. Now I feel like I can contribute to society. I can connect adolescents to the services they require, which has enhanced my overall skills. As a psychologist, I used to be shy, but now I perform at a professional level. I can now speak to large crowds without feeling anxious.
What are some of the challenges young people who you work with face?
Adolescents need to have access to a social support program because it allows me, as a peer navigator, to understand what kind of advice I can give by learning from their lived experiences. There are general support groups for anyone who is HIV positive, but there is a need to have groups for pregnant girls only. The pregnant girls I work with lack financial assistance, and their mental health is a contributing factor. Pregnant girls also experience postpartum stress since they are unsure of what to do because they have dropped out of school, are unable to take care of themselves, and have been disowned by their parents. This is an extremely difficult time for these adolescent girls and I want to help them.
When you see a young child, there needs to be a visible connection between the parent and the child. The girls may not be properly taking care of the child because they did not realize the responsibilities were much more significant than expected. At the Rafiki Center, there are no longer services available to teach the girls what they need to know on becoming a parent. There used to a program which included support groups and chamas, but it stopped due to COVID-19. Some of the topics included parenting practices, self-care, mental health, empowerment after childbirth, and how to assist the child.
What motivates you as a peer navigator?
My motivation is helping adolescents. If the adolescents are happy, and I can see that I did something good, that greatly inspires me, regardless of my personal problems.
How would you describe yourself?
I am patient, a people’s person, and have the ability to be accommodative.
What do you want the world to know about young people and young people in Kenya?
I want the world to know that young people are unique. They must be heard, listened to, and given a safe space to express themselves without being judged.
If you had three wishes, what would they be?
I would like to earn a higher wage and become a well-known psychologist. I wish to create an entire center dedicated to assisting adolescents regardless of their HIV status. Finally, I want to highlight peer navigator programs because they play an important role in demonstrating that it is possible for adolescents to pursue a career in this field.
Sakshi Sawarkar, MPH is an Associate Researcher, Arnhold Institute for Global Health and Department of Global Health and Health System Design
Ashley Chory, MPH, is the Senior Program Manager, Global Adolescent Health at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai and the Department of Global Health and Health System Design.
Updated on Sep 13, 2023 | AIGH
AMPATH Nepal recently hosted its first strategic planning workshop with stakeholders from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dhulikhel Hospital-Kathmandu University Hospital (DH-KUH), Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, AMPATH Kenya partners, and members of the AMPATH Secretariat. This process strengthened a shared vision and defined strategic priorities for work together over the next five years.
Rachel Vreeman, MD, MS, Chair of the Department of Global Health and Health System Design and Director of the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Icahn Mount Sinai, led us in an exercise to envision together how the partnership can indeed bring “quality health care for all.” We reviewed AMPATH’s vision: “a global partnership to ensure health for all,” which aligns well with DH-KUH’s vision of “quality health care for all.”
Our connection related to care stood out for all of us: Ampath’s motto of “leading with care” and DH-KUH’s motto of “we care” makes care the center of all we do within our partnership. To reach quality health care for all, we wanted to consider together in each of our priorities how to think across the health system from the community to the referral hospital and across the lifespan of the population to holistically address the health needs of the populations we serve.
Leading up to the strategic planning workshop, we identified priorities in care, education, and research based on burden of disease in Nepal, strengths of all partners, and priorities of our Nepal institutional partners and communities. This led us to prioritize noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), attributing to more than 70 percent of deaths in Nepal. Our work over the next five years will start in the community to develop a comprehensive care model to screen, link, treat, and retain patients with NCDs and incorporate guidelines for referrals. With this, we recognize the need to provide the highest quality subspecialty care within DH-KUH to care for those with complications from NCDs.
A drawing Rachel Vreeman, MD, MS, made during the strategic planning meeting in Nepal
Another care priority includes women’s and child health. While there has been success related to antenatal care and increasing institutional births, we still recognize gaps within ongoing postnatal care and child health. We hope to expand some of the Institute’s prior work using the community health worker model in Dolakha to improve outcomes in these areas. Additionally, as DH-KUH develops high-risk pregnancy services, we will work together to support increasing the number of normal deliveries in community facilities, screening for high-risk pregnancies, and guidelines for referrals. The partnership will also include important women’s health issues beyond reproductive health, such as cervical and breast cancer screening and treatment.
The education team meet in Nepal to discuss multilateral exchange programs.
Over the next five years, we will develop adolescent friendly health services to support the needs of adolescents in the communities served by DH-KUH. AMPATH Nepal is already supporting a population-based needs assessment among adolescents. With this data and input from adolescents, we will support trainings and development of adolescent friendly services in the community and at DH-KUH. This will complement the work AIGH is doing globally related to adolescent health.
For each of these care priorities, we need education and research to support their progress and inform future direction. Both our education and research teams worked together to consider how to grow the infrastructure to support multilateral exchanges, workforce development, and research training and capacity.
We not only strengthened our shared vision and defined priorities for the next five years, but also continued to build relationships and trust. We learned from one another and will always remember the wise words from our AMPATH Kenya colleagues—words of encouragement, reminders that, “Sometimes we will win and sometimes we will learn,” and of course, “If we want to walk fast, walk alone; if we want to walk far, walk together.” So, as we consider the first of many strategic plans, more than anything, we are committed to a long-term partnership of walking together to ensure health for all.
Rose House, MD, MS, an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, has served as Nepal Partnership Director since September 2022. She works alongside Nepal colleagues to develop and support our global health partnership between Mount Sinai, Kathmandu University School of Medicine, and Dhulikhel Hospital in Nepal. She also provides education and clinical care in emergency medicine and pediatric emergency medicine.
