GHP Weekly NewsletterMarch 29, 2024Please keep reading for new community updates, events, publications, and open opportunities in GHP.
If you have any suggestions on content you’d like to see included in subsequent issues of the GHP weekly newsletter, please contact the department’s administrative team at ghp@hsph.harvard.edu. We’d love to hear from you!
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Matilda Matovu joined GHP as the manager of administration for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) on February 26. Matilda is a dedicated community builder with a rich background in program management and administration. Before joining HHI, Matilda served as the program manager at the Harvard Law School (HLS) Office of Community Engagement, Equity & Belonging, where she oversaw a diverse portfolio, supervising over 100 official HLS student organizations. Outside of her institutional roles, Matilda demonstrates a deep commitment to community empowerment and social justice. She can be reached via email at mmatovu@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Jovine Bachwenkizi, PhD, joined GHP as a DSI Fellow on March 1. Jovine is a postdoctoral fellow in health data science at University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health. He works as a lecturer in the department of environmental and occupational health at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania. He has been involved in a wide range of environmental health research focusing on climate change epidemiology and the effects of air pollution in Africa, and his recent research focuses on the effects of climate change on feeding practices and nutritional status among infants and young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Jovine can be reached via email at jbachwenkizi@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Alice Mugisha, PhD, joined GHP as a DSI Fellow on March 1. Alice is a health informatics researcher and a lecturer in the department of information technology at the School of Computing and Informatics Technology, Makerere University, in Uganda. She thrives on finding solutions to major global health problems, particularly in low-income settings, using information technology and other computer science‒related methods. She is specifically interested in designing and developing health information systems to collect, store, and manage health data, with an aim of obtaining high quality data for evidence-based decision-making. Alice can be reached via email at amugisha@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Boikhutso Tlou, PhD, joined GHP as a DSI Fellow on March 1. Boikhutso is a postdoctoral fellow in health data science and a senior lecturer in the discipline of public health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa. His academic career spans 10 years, as a lecturer in the discipline of public health medicine and a biostatistician at the College of Health Sciences, UKZN, and now as the acting head of the biostatistics unit in the School of Nursing and Public Health at the College of Health Sciences. His research interests focus on child and maternal health and statistical modelling on spatial clustering and survival analysis. Boikhutso can be reached via email at btlou@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Upcoming Events
Speakers will share their own perspectives; they do not speak for Harvard.
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Ensuring Nutrition Equity for Women and Children Within the Context of Food Systems Transformation
Monday, April 1 / 1–2 pm / Kresge 502 & Zoom
The UN food systems summit in 2021 galvanized significant interest in supporting low- and middle-income countries to transform their food systems. In this talk, Shibani Ghosh, PhD, will examine the current status of maternal and infant nutrition and the evidence linking nutrition, health, and agri-food systems in relation to supporting optimal nutrition for these vulnerable populations and what are likely to be challenges in achieving equitable nutrition outcomes. Shibani Ghosh is a research associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University.
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When Youth Sue to Protect the Planet and Their Health: Inside a Bold Legal Strategy to Fight Climate ChangeMonday, April 1 / 6–6:50 pm / The Studio, 10th Floor Kresge / Pizza & wine reception to follow in FXB Atrium
Last summer, 16 young plaintiffs won a pioneering lawsuit against the state of Montana for violating children's rights to a clean and healthful environment by failing to consider the climate impact of fossil fuel projects. The lawsuit is represented and supported by the public interest nonprofit law firm Our Children's Trust, which has filed a similar case in Hawaii, as well as federal lawsuits. Panelists will discuss the novel legal strategy and share insights on new tactics for protecting the planet and our collective health and well-being from climate change, drawing on examples from the U.S. and Latin America. The discussion will be moderated by Chris Golden, faculty affiliate in GHP and associate professor of nutrition and planetary health.
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Takemi Program in International Health Weekly Seminar
Tuesday, April 2 / 1:30–3 pm / Building 1, Room 1208
Join Margaret Kruk and Jesse Bump for a discussion about Margaret’s research. Margaret Kruk is a professor of health systems and the director of the QuEST Center at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. To get the most out of this seminar, please be sure to arrive on time.
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Brown Bag Seminar: Empowering Healthier Communities: How Health Promotion Research Can Advance the Philippines' Universal Health Care Journey
Thursday, April 4 / 1–1:55 pm / Building 1, Room 1208 & Zoom
Join us for the next installment of the Brown Bag Series, featuring Katherine Ann V. Reyes, MD, MPP, LEAD fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute. Questions? Please contact Jessica Majano.
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Career Trajectories in Public Health: Public Health Outside the U.S.
Friday, April 5 / 1–2 pm / Zoom
Join us for a conversation featuring Nadeem Alduaij, MD, MPH, and Henry Mwebesa, MBCHB, MPH, moderated by Rashad Massoud, MD, MPH, FACP, visiting faculty. Nadeem Alduaij is the co-founder of Baraka Impact Finance and Henry Mwebesa is director general of health services in the ministry of health, Uganda. Nadeem and Henry will share their experiences working in public health outside the U.S. and hold a Q&A with attendees. We hope to see you there!
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Confronting State Violence Across the Globe
Friday, April 5 / 1–6:30 pm / 110 Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA & Zoom
Join this free, hybrid conference fostering cross-border, interdisciplinary dialogues examining the mechanisms and manifestations of state violence experienced by racialized communities across the world and identifying pathways for enacting reforms in law, policy, and practice that center on principles of justice, intersectionality, and racism. This constitutes the FXB Center Roma Program’s 12th Roma conference marking the annual International Roma Day celebrated worldwide every April 8. This conference aims to interrogate the genesis and sources of power and the mechanisms and manifestations of state violence experienced by racialized communities across the world. It will unpack the concept of “ungrievable lives”; the narratives of the Other, the Oriental, or the Oriental within; and the politics of death that validate state-sponsored violence and injustices. Discussing lives deemed ungrievable will be this year’s keynote speaker, Cornel West.
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Harvard Health Systems Innovation Lab 5th Health Systems Innovation HackathonApril 5 & 6 / Harvard Medical School Campus
This year’s theme is “Building High-Value Health Systems: Harnessing Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence.” This hackathon will have three tracks: cardiovascular disease and diabetes, cancer, and mental health. All students, postdocs, and young professionals with an interest in innovation, digital solutions, and health systems are welcome to apply as individuals or as teams. Questions? Contact Bukhtawar Azhar, Caroline Bulstra, or the Health Systems Innovation Lab.
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Framing Public Health: Evidence-Based Strategies for Effective Communication
Tuesday, April 9 / 1–1:50 pm / Kresge 502 & Zoom / Lunch provided
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Building a Career in Health Communication: Insights from Industry Experts
Tuesday, April 9 / 5:30–7 pm / FXB Atrium / Dinner provided
This health communication career panel will feature LaVerne Canady, Moira O’Neil, Katelyn Billings, and Mary O’Reilly. The first hour will feature the panelists reflecting on their careers in health communication and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for networking. This event is presented in collaboration with the Health Communication Concentration.
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Predatory Extractivism: Brazil’s Mining Catastrophes in a Global Context
April 11 & 12 / Tsai Auditorium, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA
What happens when millions of cubic tons of mining waste engulf entire communities and ecosystems? You are invited to join DRCLAS for a panel series that will focus on Brazil’s worst environmental and humanitarian disasters, both resulting from the collapse of mining tailings dams: the Samarco-operated Fundão dam in 2015 and Vale’s Córrego do Feijão dam in 2019, located in the state of Minas Gerais. Cases from other countries dealing with the harms of predatory extractivism will provide a wider view of the global issue beyond Brazil. Marcia Castro, Andelot Professor of Demography and chair of GHP, will moderate several panels. This event is presented in collaboration with DRCLAS, the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Extractives@Clark, and the Center for International Development.
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HUM SAB EK (We Are One) – Exhibition Opening and Reception
Monday, April 15 / 6 pm / Room Belfer S020, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA
HUM SAB EK, We Are One, is a multi-media exhibition based on a survey of over 1,000 households in Gujarat, India, and 30 hours of oral histories. It captures the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poor working women and families and how they navigated the greatest public health emergency of our times. Join us for the opening talk and reception with members of the research team, including project leader and curator Satchit Balsari.
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QuEST Network Seminar: Re-Centralizing Health Care in Mexico and Its Challenges
Wednesday, April 17 / 8–9 am / Zoom
Join the QuEST (Quality Evidence for Health System Transformation) Network for the second of its winter 2024 research seminars! This research seminar is open to all QuEST Center and affiliate researches. If you would like to be included in their distribution list, please contact project coordinator Kayleigh Lawson. We also encourage you to save the date for the third seminar to be held from 8 to 9 am on May 15, in which HwaYoung Lee will present “Regional Determinants of Quality of Care for Sick Children: A Multilevel Analysis in Four Countries.” Please share and encourage your teams to join!
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The Ethics of AI in Public Health Communication
Tuesday, April 23 / 1–1:50 pm / Kresge 502 & Zoom / Lunch provided
Join Robert Jennings and Connie Moon Sehat for a discussion of their work co-chairing the Analysis and Response Toolkit for Trust (ARTT) and National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) Ethical Use of AI in Public Health Communications Working Group. This event is presented in collaboration with the Health Communication Concentration and the Stanford Health Equity Media Fellowship.
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Global Health Week Symposium and Poster Day
Friday, April 26 / 1:30–5 pm, Reception 5–6:30 pm / Joseph B. Martin Conference Center, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA
Join us for the Global Health Week Symposium and Poster Day! The symposium will feature a keynote address from Natalia Kanem, MD, MPH, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), along with two panel discussions and the announcement of the poster day winner. Additional speakers and events during Global Health Week will be announced shortly!
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Open Calls for Applications
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Call for Abstracts: Global Health Week Poster Day
We are collecting abstracts for the Global Health Week Poster Day! Current Harvard students and postdoctoral fellows are invited to submit a poster presentation on global health and population studies. We particularly encourage submissions with topics related to population and development issues; however, we welcome submissions from many different disciplines and schools at Harvard University. For submission requirements and details, please see the call for abstracts. All abstracts must be submitted via email to ghp@hsph.harvard.edu by 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, April 7. Accepted abstracts will be presented as part of the Global Health Week symposium and poster awards will be announced at the symposium on April 26. One of the authors must be present at this session. If you have any questions, please contact ghp@hsph.harvard.edu.
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Academic PositionsStaff PositionsInternships and Internal Student Positions
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Submit to the next newsletter!
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Newsletter submissions sent before close of business Wednesday will be included in that week’s edition. Submissions sent Thursday or Friday will be included in the following week’s edition.
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