The Duke Global Health Institute celebrated its 10th anniversary during a day-long symposium Wednesday.
Featuring several speakers and presentations ranging from global mental health to harnessing technology in health care, the celebration chronicled the institute's growth and looked to the future. Presenters noted that DGHI's emphasis on interdisciplinary research has always been at the core of its mission, helping elevate the institute to national prominence.
“[The movement to promote global health] was a wave that was happening in the country when DGHI was founded," said Sherryl Broverman, associate professor of the practice in biology and global health. "Duke was very successful in catching that wave, and now leading it.”
Established in 2006, DGHI has focused on collaborating with other institutions and programs, wrote Randall Kramer, the institute's deputy director, in an email. DGHI is currently part of a robust network of 12 international partner programs, he noted.
“These mutually beneficially partnerships enable DGHI to share experiences and further support its collaborative approach to global health research and education,” Kramer said. “We have attracted outstanding faculty who are keen to engage in the kind of interdisciplinary research and teaching that is the hallmark of the field of global health.”
Many members of DGHI are also affiliated with the Duke-National University of Singapore medical school, a relationship which has helped the institute widen its global impact. Institute Director Michael Merson also formerly served as vice chancellor for Duke-NUS affairs.
Along with its focus on research, the institute has also made strides in integrating global health into the University's teaching curriculum.
“[The institute] has developed an education program to fully engage both undergraduate and graduate students in the highly complex challenges and successes of global health," he wrote. "Our undergraduate co-major is paired with 23 different majors so students are bringing very different perspectives to the study of global health."
In addition to a major and minor in global health for undergraduate students, the institute also offers a Master's degree in global health, which Kramer noted has achieved a "national and international reputation."
Looking to the future, Kramer wrote, DGHI hopes to both maintain its interdisciplinary framework and expand on the various themes of its research projects. These include tackling climate change and infectious diseases such as Zika and Ebola, he noted.
Correction: The article has been updated to reflect that Merson formerly served but is no longer vice chancellor for Duke-NUS affairs. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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