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Global Health Connections
July 2021

Leveraging Technology to Scale Outcomes in Global Health

"There’s a bit of a tragedy of the commons problem when it comes to digital infrastructure … We need focused investments on the system itself, not just trying to address the system in the periphery of other programs," said Clay Sader, Zenysis Technologies, during a Bay Area Global Health Alliance I Resonance-hosted Inclusive Innovation Exchange with Mastercard, Zenysis, and CcHUB. The webinar explored the challenges and crucial nature of technology infrastructure. Learn more.

UC-Wide Prospective Center of Expertise on Equity-Based Perioperative and Surgical Care Being Incubated by UCGHI

A Perioperative and Surgical Health Equity Center of Expertise (COE) has received an incubator award from the UC Global Health Institute (UCGHI). The COE would unite the Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia (CHESA) and seven other UC campuses and their respective international and local partners to address the need for equity-based perioperative care. Surgical conditions account for 30% of the global burden of disease, but surgical and anesthesia care remain under-supported. Read more.

Editor's Note: The original version of this story mistakenly indicated that the COE had been formed; rather, it is being incubated by UCGHI as a prospective center. We regret the error.

Trinity Challenge Selects Grand Prize Winner

The Bay Area Global Health Alliance is proud to be a member of The Trinity Challenge, a coalition focused on improving the use of data and analytics and our understanding of human behavior in response to health emergencies. On June 25, the judges selected the grand prize winner from among the16 finalist teams. The winning project was submitted by Participatory One Health Disease Detection (PODD), the Thai affiliate of Ending Pandemics. PODD's mobile app enlists tens of thousands of farmers across Thailand to be disease detectives and document reports of sick animals, creating a participatory surveillance platform to prevent zoonotic spillovers. Read more.

PATH Warns: The World Is Not Paying Attention as COVID's Third Wave Hits Africa

COVID is rolling across Africa in its third wave of attack; the death rate has tripled in a week in some countries. "We can turn this around, but we need quick action to increase vaccine access, better test and track cases, and ensure adequate oxygen supply. Global leaders and bodies have a responsibility to deliver on their commitments," said Nanthalile Mugala, MD, Chief of the Africa Region for PATH. Learn more.

How COVID-19 Can Damage the Brain

Stanford University researchers conducting post-mortem studies of the brains of people killed by COVID have discovered signs of inflammation, genetic changes, and circuitry changes. These findings may help explain the mysterious "brain fog" and mental struggles reported by many patients. The research also noted striking similarities with the brains of those killed by diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Read more here and here.

Private Sector Approaches for Global Health

"There’s a whole lot of work that the private sector can do and does very well to understand people’s needs, desires, and aspirations," said Margot Fahnestock, vice president of strategic development for Medicines360. "We can't sit in a conference room or outside of a community and design something without really listening to what people want and need." Marissa Gilman of Resonance, Brandon Soloski with PSI, and Medicines360's Andrée Sosler joined Fahnestock to discuss the private sector strategies that the global health community can adopt to develop, distribute, and market products for those most in need in low- and middle-income countries. Watch here.

India's Continuing COVID Crisis & AIDS Activist Emily Bass: New A Shot in the Arm Podcasts

"If you don’t hear the perspectives of all members of society—LGBT, women, children," commented Geeta Rao Gupta in a recent A Shot in the Arm podcast, "you’re unlikely to create the policy mechanisms that will address the needs of all." Gupta, executive director, 3D Program for Girls and Women and senior fellow at the UN Foundation, was joined in the conversation by Purnima Mane, former CEO and president of Pathfinder International and Bay Area Global Health Alliance board member. The two global health leaders (and cousins) reflected on how India’s cultural and structural barriers—particularly toward girls and women—enabled SARS CoV-2 to spread so widely.

Emily Bass, journalist, AIDS activist, and author of To End A Plague: America's Fight to Defeat AIDS in Africa, spoke with podcast host Ben Plumley about President George W. Bush's multi-billion-investment in life-saving HIV treatment in Africa and why this was the US's first moonshot of the 21st century. Watch/listen to both podcasts here.

Vaccine Confidence Fund's RFP Closes on Aug. 6

The Vaccine Confidence Fund will support research on how social media and online platforms can inspire confidence in and uptake of vaccinations. The fund will have a strong focus on historically excluded or marginalized communities. The RFP deadline is August 6. Apply now. The Vaccine Confidence Fund is the independent research fund of the Alliance for Advancing Health Online. Alliance members include the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, Facebook, and Merck, among others.

Members in the media

More member news

Events

This Is Public Health Virtual Fair [UC Berkeley, Jul. 14]
IAS Conference on HIV Science [IAS I Gilead I Merck for Mothers I Chevron, Jul. 18–21]
PHI's Mary Pittman Receives Award at Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference [Modern Healthcare, Jul. 22–23]
2021 Capstone Research Presentations, Day 1 [UCSF, July 26; Day 2, Jul. 27]
Let’s Talk About Money [Upswell, Jul. 27]
Transforming the WHO by Strengthening Its Science, Data, Funding & Governance [CUGH, Jul. 29]
Next Battles in the War Against HIV [STAT, Jul. 29]
Climate Change & Childen: Global Political & Economic Impact of Climate Change—Advocacy and Action [ISSOP, Jul. 29–30]
Interesting Cases in Hand Surgery: Virtual Grand Rounds [ReSurge International, Jul. 30]
Global Health Conference [HIMSS, Aug. 9–13]
Gene Therapy's Next Steps [STAT, Aug. 12]
Climate Change & Children: Leadership in a New World. Planetary Pediatrics & One Health [ISSOP, Aug. 26–27]
Merck for Mothers 10-Year Anniversary Virtual Event [Merck, Sep. 14]
Climate Change & Children: COP 26 (UN Climate Change Summit) & the Child Health Community [ISSOP, Sep. 23–24]
Save the Date: NorCal Symposium on Climate, Health & Equity [Stanford, Sep. 24]
Rural ACEs Summit [PHI, Sep. 29–30]
YTH Live Global [YTH, Oct. 4–6]
Climate Change & Health in Small Island Developing States (Caribbean) [CUGH, Oct. 5–8]
Global Health Impact Award Ceremony [Washington Global Health Alliance, Oct. 14]
Save the Date: Reimagining Leadership: Courage, Collaboration & Compassion [WomenLift Health I Stanford, Nov. 15–17]
2021 Annual Meeting [ASTMH, Nov. 17–21]
Participatory Surveillance Conference, Cambodia [Ending Pandemics, Mar. 2022]
CUGH 2022 [CUGH, Apr. 21–23, 2022]

On the move

Jobs

Postdoc Scholar, The Nicholas C. Petris Center of Health Care Markets & Consumer Welfare I UC Berkeley, Jul. 21
Chief Commercialization Officer I OmniVis, Jul. 30
Executive Design Director I IDEO.org
Program Manager, US Programs I Americares
Executive Assistant I WomenLift Health, Stanford
Senior DEI Advisor, Washington, DC I PHI
Project & Partnerships Manager, Brazil I Zenysis
Finance & Operations Associate, NYC I Global Health Corps
Graduate Student Instructor for Online Foundations of Global Health Course I UC Berkeley
Digital Manager I WomenLift Health, Stanford
Head of Research Projects & Training I IGHER, Rwanda
Foundation Relations Officer I Hesperian
Development Director I Hesperian
Various Openings I AbbVie
Various Openings I CUGH
Various Openings I IDEO.org
Various Openings I JSI
Various Openings I PATH
Various Openings I PHI
Various Openings I Seed Global Health
Various Openings I Triangle Global Health
Various Openings I UC Berkeley
Careers in Global Health I UCSF
Various Openings I UNICEF USA
Various Openings I Zipline

Opportunities

Youth Champions for Women, Youth & Girls Application [PHI, Jul. 15]
Call for Submissions, Advances in Global Health [UC Berkeley I UCGHI]
Introduction to Public Health Cours e [UCGHI]
Global Health Impact Award Nominations [Washington Global Health Alliance, Jul. 21]
Global Health Reporting Initiative Application [IWMF, Jul. 22]
Call for Nominations, Kenneth C. Frazier Award for Maternal Health Equity [Merck for Mothers, Jul. 30]
Call for Nominations: 2021 Innovating for Impact Awards [PATH I GHTC, Jul. 30]
"Global Challenges in Health" Photo Contest [RSTMH I ECTMIH, Jul. 30]
Nominate a 2021 STAT Wunderkind [STAT, Jul. 30]
Harnessing Social Media to Increase Vaccination Confidence & Uptake RFP [Vaccine Confidence Fund, Aug. 6]
CUGH 2022 Breakout Panel Proposal Submissions [CUGH, Aug. 31]
Call for Nominations, 2022 Tyler Prize [Tyler Prize, Sep. 22]
CUGH 2022 Abstract Submissions [CUGH, Sep. 23]
CUGH 2022 Satellite Submissions [CUGH, Dec. 15]
Training Capacity-Building Site [CUGH]
Survey on COVID-19 & Women's Health [Univ. British Columbia]
Online Scientific Writing Course [CDC]
JHU Funding Opportunities [Johns Hopkins University]
NIH Global Health Funding [NIH]
Various Fellowships [PHI]
Palliative Care Course, Coursera [Stanford]
COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers, Coursera [Stanford]
COVID-19 Training Course in Spanish [Stanford]
COVID-19 Training Course in Hindi [Stanford]
Advocacy Training for CHWs [CHW Advocates I Stanford]
COVID Resources in Spanish [UC Berkeley]
Graduate Program Opportunities, Various [UCGHI]
Fellowships, Various [UCSF]
Fellowships, Various [CDC]

Publications

Looking for more peer-reviewed news?

Or peer reviews of COVID-19 research preprints?

UC Berkeley's RR:C19

What we're reading

The World Is Unprepared for New 'Age of Pandemics,' G-20 Panel Warns [Boston Globe]
Crushing Climate Impacts to Hit Sooner than Feared: Draft UN Report [Yahoo News]
Forced Displacement Reaches New High amid COVID: UN [Al Jazeera]
UN Human Rights Chief Urges Immediate, Transformative Action to Uproot Systemic Racism [United Nations Human Rights]
2020 Annual Public Health Global Review [UNHCR]
Africa Shouldn’t Be Forced to Go It Alone When It Comes to COVID Vaccines [Guardian]
WHO to Study Social Measures That Keep COVID-19 at Bay, in Case of No Vaccines in Future Pandemics [Health Policy Watch]
WHO Supporting South African Consortium to Establish First COVID mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer Hub [WHO]
World Bank-African Union Deal to Speed COVID-19 Vaccine Purchases [Devex]
COVID Vaccines to Reach Poorest Countries in 2023 [Nature]
COVID-19 Crisis Caused Global FDI to Plummet by a Third, Threatening SDGs [Al Jazeera]
Forty New Medicines & 16 New Indications Under Consideration for WHO Essential Medicines List [Health Policy Watch]
UN World Food Program Says 41 Million on Verge of Famine [Al Jazeera]
Trauma & Land Loss: New Study Focuses on Mental Health of Evicted Indigenous People [Health Policy Watch]
In Pandemic, Drug Overdose Deaths Soar Among Black Americans [AP]
Prohibitive Policies Cause More Problems than Illicit Drugs, Say Experts [Health Policy Watch]
HIV SOS: Action Sought for Spike in Cases in West Virginia [AP]
In Colorectal Cancer Hot Spots, Young Men Are Dying at Higher Rates [STAT]
Black & Hispanic Americans Suffer Most in Biggest US Decline in Life Expectancy Since WWII [KHN]
Anatomy of a Health Conundrum: The Racial Gap in Vaccinations [Washington Post]
The US Health System Was Already Falling Short. Then COVID-19 Happened. [Vox]
Death Rates Are Declining for Many Common Cancers in the US, Report Finds [STAT]
Britney Spears Lost Her Reproductive Freedom. Tragically, Her Case Is Not Unique. [19th News]
How Federal Prisons Became Coronavirus Death Traps [Marshall Project]
Training the Next Generation of Indigenous Data Scientists [New York Times]
New Health Disparities Report Reveals Urgent Need to Address Maternal Mortality, Mental & Behavioral Health, & Food Insecurity in the US [APHA]
The CDC Has Updated Its Mask Guidelines for Schools. Some States Will Listen, Some Won't. [USA Today]
New, Deadly Bacteria May Be Lurking in US; CDC Warns of Three Puzzling Cases [Ars Technica]
Doctors Might Have Been Focusing on the Wrong Asthma Triggers [Atlantic]
These Games Target COVID-19 Misinformation. But Do They Work? [Devex]
Billions Pledged to Tackle Gender Inequality at UN Forum [Guardian]
New Recommendations for Screening & Treatment to Prevent Cervical Cancer [WHO]
From Wuhan to Paris to Milan, the Search for 'Patient Zero' [Washington Post]
Pakistan Introduces Single-Use Syringes as It Battles Fast-Rising HIV/AIDS Infections [Health Policy Watch]
China Is Certified Malaria-Free [WHO]
Vaccine Made of Live Malaria Parasites Shows Early Success [Nature]
Twin Epidemics in Haiti, Violence & Coronavirus, Usher in 'Critical Phase' in Wake of Assassination [Washington Post]
Could Editing the Genomes of Bats Prevent Future Coronavirus Pandemics? [STAT]
UK Aid Cuts Spark Fears over Parasitic Killer That Stalks the Poor [Thomson Reuters]
Up to 410 Million People at Risk from Sea Level Rises [Guardian]
Careful Mortality Data Analysis Uncovers Epidemic of Femicide in Brazil [Health Policy Watch]
Nowhere to Go: Brazil's COVID 'Refugees' Struggle After Eviction [Al Jazeera]
'COVID Vaccine or Jail?' Duterte Warns as Delta Variant Surges [Al Jazeera]
Dozens Die in Indonesia Hospital with Oxygen Shortage [CNN]
In Myanmar, Miltary & Police Declare War on Medics [AP]
A Crippling 3rd Wave of COVID Adds to Afghanistan's Woes [NPR]
African Union Special Envoy Slams COVAX as COVID Deaths Spike on the Continent [Health Policy Watch]
Guinea Ebola Outbreak Declared over by WHO [Guardian]
Measles Outbreaks in Africa [Precision Vaccinations]
Why Africa's Push to Make Vaccines Should Look Further than COVID-19 [Conversation]
Amid Fresh Virus Surge, Africa Sets Out to Save Itself on Vaccines Procurement [Politico]
South Africa to Tighten COVID-19 Restrictions for 14 Days [Reuters]
Fearing COVID, Malawaian Women Forgo Prenatal Care [AP]
MSF Mourns Three Colleagues Brutally Murdered in Ethiopia [Médecins Sans Frontières]
Revolutionary Solar Fridge Will Help Keep COVID Vaccines Cold in Sub-Saharan Africa [NPR]
Health Service Buckling as Third Coronavirus Wave Sweeps Across South Africa [Guardian]

Let us know your news for our next issue and your thoughts on this issue. Please write to communications@bayareaglobalhealth.org. Thanks!

Global Health Connections July 2021