Global Health

VUMC clinicians are seeing a connection between how much time children spend in front of screens and a host of adverse health conditions.
January 26, 2022

Smartphone app supports EHR efforts in low-income countries

A smartphone app developed at Vanderbilt is assisting health care efforts in low- and middle-income countries.

By Paul Govern
October 11, 2021

Trevathan announces plan to step down from role as VIGH director

Edwin Trevathan, MD, MPH, has announced plans to step down from his role as director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health.

By Holly Fletcher
June 16, 2021

VUMC joins national effort to improve disease prediction in diverse populations

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will participate in a new federal initiative aimed at improving the use of polygenic risk scores (PRS) to predict complex diseases in diverse populations.

By Bill Snyder
The study team includes, from left, Douglas Heimburger, MD, MS, Kondwelani Mateyo, MBChB, MMed, Justin Banerdt, MD, MPH, and E. Wesley Ely, MD.
April 22, 2021

Vanderbilt, Zambia researchers identify predictive factors of delirium in Sub-Saharan Africa

Severity of illness, history of stroke, and being divorced or widowed were independently predictive of delirium in hospitalized patients in Zambia, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.

By Holly Fletcher
Mohammed Umar, chief EEG tech for the SEED project, supervises Community Health Workers training in EEG. Here, he looks on as Hauwa Yusuf Nuhu places EEG electrodes on Musa Sanusi Muhammad.
March 2, 2021

NIH grant bolsters childhood status epilepticus and epilepsy research in Nigeria

The Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) has received a new research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Fogarty International Center of the NIH to establish a large childhood status epilepticus (SE) cohort in northern Nigeria with key partners Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Bayero University, and with the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa.

By VUMC News and Communications
February 18, 2021

VUMC investigator expands HIV research into South Africa

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigator is hoping to improve access to HIV testing in South Africa, where more than 7 million people are known to have the virus, by training traditional healers to perform the tests.

By Jake Lowary
February 11, 2021

Vanderbilt, Zambia researchers find delirium in hospitalized patients linked to mortality, disability in Sub-Saharan Africa

Delirium, a form of acute brain dysfunction, is widespread in critically ill patients in lower resourced hospitals, and the duration of delirium predicted both mortality and disability at six months after discharge, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.
By Holly Fletcher
December 10, 2020

HIV patients stay away after Nigerian clinic introduces fees

Six years ago, in Nigeria, funding cutbacks for HIV treatment and the consequent introduction of patient fees were associated with sharp declines in new HIV clinic enrollments and patient adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART).
By Paul Govern
August 28, 2020

From organizing ugly sweater parties to serving as a guide for new international students, Jennifer Craker does it all.

“I’ve worked in four institutions with a ton of people in a role like hers, and I’ve never encountered anyone even close to her caliber.”
By Nancy Humphrey
July 23, 2020

VUMC’s program to repurpose drugs lands international acclaim

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is attracting international attention for its proposal to repurpose existing drugs for new uses in ways that can dramatically improve access to medicines by billions of people throughout the world.
By Bill Snyder
June 9, 2020

VIGH awarded $3 million for building research capacity in Nigeria and Mozambique

Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH) has received a new research training grant and a renewal for an existing training program from the Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build HIV-focused research capacity with key partners in Nigeria and Mozambique.
By Kristin Centers
May 7, 2020

Team to test app for improving HIV care for new mothers in South Africa

As South Africans with HIV move around the country, there is a risk they will disengage from the health care system or otherwise become lost to follow-up care.
By Paul Govern
February 19, 2020

Vanderbilt University Medical Center among top 100 proposals for MacArthur Foundation $100 million grant

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today unveiled a grant proposal from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) as one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the “Top 100,” in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world’s most critical societal challenges.
By Bill Snyder