Global Health
Global health research examines the social and environmental determinants, issues related to health equity, power relations, post-colonialism, migration, globalization and epidemiology, among other things. The Research Exchange Group on Global Health is a collaborative forum that connects researchers, clinicians, students, and community members with an interest in health-related research, practice, and policy development that exists beyond the local context.
See Group Activities and Presentations
Group Conveners
- Dr. Kimberly Jarvis, Faculty of Nursing, Memorial University
Goals & Objectives
The Research Exchange Group on Global Health aims to:
- Facilitate multi-disciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration on research projects related to Global Health
- Support Memorial University’s strategies for internationalization
- Promote student interest and participation in global health research
- Showcase the research activities of academic members, and programs/ opportunities available through community and government partner members
- Work collaboratively to identify funding opportunities and develop research teams
- Promote public engagement in issues of global health research
Join Us
NLCAHR’s Research Exchange Group on Global Health welcomes anyone with an interest in global health to join us. Please see our calendar of meetings for information about upcoming webinars or email rochelle.baker@med.mun.ca for more details.
Group Activities & Presentations
2024
May 28, 2024 at 12:30PM NT |Kinship, lineage resources and intimate partner violence among women in Ghana |Abstract: This study used self-reported and multidimensional measures of lineage to explore its relationship with intimate partner violence (IPV), focusing particularly on resources as the mechanisms linking the two. We hypothesized that wielding resources would be negatively associated with IPV. Furthermore, matrilineal women’s access to lineage resources would reduce their vulnerability to IPV relative to patrilineal women. To examine these hypotheses, we collected data from 1700 ever-married Ghanaian women residing in three ecological zones (coastal, middle, northern). We found that part of matrilineal women’s reduced IPV risk was explained through access to maternal resources. While patrilineal women experienced higher levels of IPV, this was reversed with resources from paternal kin members. The IPV outcomes for bilateral women were mixed. Our findings suggest that as resources are fundamental to reducing IPV, lineage can serve as a conduit for resource exchange and wealth transfer.|Bio: Eric Y. Tenkorang is Professor of Sociology, cross-appointed to the Division of Population Health and Applied Health Sciences at Memorial University. He is a Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar and a Member of the Royal Society of Canada (The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists). Dr. Tenkorang has served as a member of the Institute Advisory Board for Gender and Health of the Canadian Institute of Health Research. He is currently a member of the National Taskforce for Women’s Economic Justice of the Canadian Centre for Women’s Economic Empowerment, dedicated to dealing with economic abuse among Canadian women. He has broad research interests in population health, especially in limited-resource settings. This includes investigating the sexual and reproductive health of marginalized populations in sub-Saharan Africa. His most recent research has explored links between gender-based violence and health outcomes.
February 27, 2024 at 12:30pm NT | Dr. Jill Allison, former Global Health Coordinator, Memorial University on the changing meaning of global health| Dr. Allison hosted a discussion around the changing meaning of global health based on her long relationship with Nepal. Dr. Allison drew on examples of how our attitudes and perspectives have changed from paternalistic and neo-colonial (or frankly colonial) attitudes and ways of working to quasi-humanitarian paternalism and now (hopefully) de-colonizing and partnership-based relationships.
January 16, 2024 12noon to 1:30pm NT | Dr. Wahid Majrooh is the Former Minister of Health of Afghanistan | Dr. Majrooh is a future-facing healthcare and policy leader, with an MD, two Master Degrees in Global Health Policy and Political Science,14+ years of experience in international relations, strategic communication, management and leadership of healthcare service delivery to underserved populations.
Previous Talks
October 10, 2023 , 12:30pm NT | Rozane El Masri on EQUIP| Ensuring Quality in Psychological Support. EQUIP is a joint WHO/UNICEF project to improve the competence of helpers and the consistency and quality of training and service delivery. The EQUIP platform makes freely available competency assessment tools and e-learning courses to support governments, training institutions, and non-governmental organizations, both in humanitarian and development settings, to train and supervise the workforce to deliver effective psychological support to adults and children. EQUIP used a consensus-building approach including key stakeholders to develop the evidence-informed competency-based training materials and guidance, as well as the competency assessment tools. These resources have been tested in Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Peru, Uganda and Zambia, with results demonstrating training improvements in groups that used the EQUIP platform. For example, use of EQUIP in Lebanon with children and adolescents led to an increase in mastery of core helping skills compared to standard training approaches. Rozane El Masri was involved in the project in Lebanon and will speak to her work there.
November 21, 2023, 12:30pm NT | Dr. Joyce Kamanzi on Experiences of Mothers Using the Prevention Mother-to-Child Transmission Program to Prevent HIV Transmission in Rwanda | The health of women and children is interlinked. HIV/AIDS is among the causes of death of millions of children under five. Without preventive interventions, 20% to 45% of HIV mothers will transmit HIV to their children. This presentation will focus on experiences of mothers using the Prevention Mother-to- Child Transmission (PMTCT) program to prevent HIV transmission. Each of the HIV women’s stories and experiences represent different pathways and intersections that determine their vulnerability. Dr. Joyce Kamanzi was a Lillian Meighen Wright Postdoctoral Fellow in Maternal-Child Health (Supervisor: Professor Nazilla Khanlou) at York University. Dr. Kamanzi completed her doctoral studies at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Canada. She is a nurse and previously worked as Quality Manager in Rwanda. Her doctoral research focused on exploring the experiences of mothers using the PMTCT Program to prevent HIV transmission. Presentation by Dr Joyce Kamanzi on HIV Research in Rwanda
December 8, 2023, 3:30pm NT | Shela Hirani, University of Regina on Breastfeeding advocacy in diverse care settings and health promotion of the vulnerable and marginalized population, specifically women and young children affected by the disaster and displacement | Dr. Shela Hirani is a neonatal and child health nursing professional, academician, researcher, volunteer and an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant. She has completed her PhD in Nursing from the University of Alberta, Canada. Dr. Hirani is the recipient of Canada's most prestigious scholarship awards, including the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Award, Honorary Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship Award, and Dorothy J Killam Memorial Graduate Prize. She is also the recipient of several other national, international, and university-based awards based on her outstanding academic performance, leadership potentials and research outputs. She is actively involved in curriculum development, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, and execution of community-based research work. Her professional goal is to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children and marginalized women through her research work, leadership, and community services. Dr. Hirani’s program of research is pertinent to breastfeeding advocacy in diverse care settings and health promotion of the vulnerable and marginalized population, specifically women and young children affected by the disaster and displacement. She has sound experience of undertaking scoping reviews, retrospective reviews, concept analysis, instrument development and validation studies, qualitative studies (critical ethnography and descriptive design) and quantitative research (cross-sectional, cohort, randomized control trials). She has mentored and supervised undergraduate, advanced diploma level and masters students for their clinical and community based small scale studies. Dr. Hirani is actively involved in serving as a peer reviewer for several international refereed journals.
January 8, 2019 | Uncovering Global Health Research Opportunities—Lessons Learned in Ethiopia | Dr. David Allison | Link to Presentation |
April 16, 2019 | Sharing responsibility in Bangladesh: Perceptions and Awareness of Male Partners Regarding the Effects of Female Contraception | Sadia Chowdhury, University of Amsterdam | While a large body of research is devoted to contraception and male and female attitudes towards contraception, few studies focus on male perceptions and awareness of female contraception. To help address this knowledge gap, Sadia Chowdhury explored this subject for her Master’s in Medical Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Her study was conducted in an urban slum in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, where several government and non-government organizations have programs for fertility control; however, most programs focus on women. While working with women in the field of maternal health, Sadia had learned that they often associated feelings of poor health with the use of hormonal contraception. The side effects of hormonal contraception were common among the female informants and women generally shared complaints about contraception with their husbands. However, even when there was improved spousal communication, it did not always help to involve men in contraception use. Rather, it appeared that extensive programs for female contraception make men reluctant to use male contraception. |
2018
November 14, 2018 | "A Hundred Little Violences, A Hundred Little Wounds": Privacy, Personal Disclosure and Abortion Disclosure in the Republic of Ireland | Dr. Katherine Side, Department of Gender Studies | Link to Presentation |
2016
June 16, 2016 | A Qualitative Exploration of the Housing and Health Conditions of HIV Positive Persons in Lower Manya Krobo District, Ghana | Rev. Dr. Yaa Adobea Owusu, University of Ghana |
February 17, 2016 | Vitamin D for Active Tuberculosis | Peter Daley |
April 15, 2016 | The Rural-Urban Divide: Realities in Practice | Mohamed Ravalia |
June 17, 2016 | Rural Global Health: A Student's Experience Participating in the International Summer Institute for Global Health Training (InSIGHT) | Paula Slaney |
2015
October 21, 2015 | Overview of Memorial’s International Office and Marine Institute International | Bill Chislett and Glen Penney | Link to Presentation |
November 18, 2015 | Global Health Research and the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research | Dr. Vic Neufeld, McMaster University | Link to Presentation |
December 18, 2015 | Mobility, Migration, and Access to Legal Abortion in (and beyond) the Republic of Ireland | Dr. Katherine Side |