In past years, Roger Glass (top left), director of NIH’s Fogarty International Center (FIC), and I have taken an in-person group photo with the FIC fellows and scholars. This year, due to the international health and travel challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, a Zoom composite of some of the young researchers will have to do! I spoke to the group on the morning of July 13 as part of FIC’s week-long Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars. The program provides collaborative, mentored global health research training in low- and middle-income countries. Individual students, postdoctoral fellows, or faculty from the U.S. and abroad apply for a 12-month placement at a participating global institution. The meeting has brought together 122 fellows and scholars (US and international), seven Fulbright Fogarty Fellows, 16 alumni, and many others to the event. As you can see in my photo, I had to be out of town this year, and I spoke to everyone buckled up while returning to the Washington, D.C. area. But I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to share my vision for global health research and point to some of the many opportunities available in global health for young academics from the U.S. and other nations.
Given that multiple cultures have had their own medical approaches, it would seem that our international world would exchange/collaborate/share scientific information so that we could learn or try innovative approaches to many types of illness. Why don’t we hear more about the different approaches and results of other cultures? I just don’t want us to feel that we’re the only culture that is accurate or research oriented. Money seems to make a harsh difference in what medical research is done.
Given that multiple cultures have had their own medical approaches, it would seem that our international world would exchange/collaborate/share scientific information so that we could learn or try innovative approaches to many types of illness. Why don’t we hear more about the different approaches and results of other cultures? I just don’t want us to feel that we’re the only culture that is accurate or research oriented. Money seems to make a harsh difference in what medical research is done.