Global Health Research Gets Local Promotion

Global Health Research became a major focus of discussion for faculty members, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows during a recent Workshop held on campus.

Through the Workshop organizers wanted to create an environment for researchers engaged in, or interested in exploring opportunities in global health research. They also wanted to create networking and potential collaboration opportunities for researchers.

Special guest speakers from a variety of agencies and organizations including the International Development Research Centre; CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health; Grand Challenges Canada; The Science and Technology Office of the Embassy of France in Canada and the International Science and Technology Partnership Canada spoke about the changing landscape and requirements and processes for funding success, funding trends and the shifting global health research collaboration paradigms.

More than 75 faculty members, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows engaged in plenary and break-out sessions on global health research collaboration and funding opportunities.

During the workshop Dr. Michael J. Strong, Dean, reaffirmed Schulich Medicine & Dentistry's commitment to globalization, through academic and research collaboration with a select number of countries and institutions around the world - which include developing countries.

As the Workshop concluded, participants called for sustained activities that will help promote, provide mentorship and build capacity in global health research in the Southwestern Ontario region, as this was deemed necessary for achieving a critical mass, for greater impact

Based on the success of this first workshop and the enthusiasm shared by participants, more workshops will be developed to encourage greater participation in global health research and more applications from Western and the region, to funding programs.