HYC in the News

As Gerald S. Bloomfield, M.D., saw heart patients in Kenya over the past decade, he knew that cardiovascular disease was on the rise in the country. However, he also noticed that many of the patients who came in with heart issues also had HIV. “We scratched our heads and asked, ‘Is there something to this?,’” recalls Bloomfield, a Duke associate professor of medicine and global health who works in Kenya through AMPATH, a network of academic institutions partnering with Kenyan health centers. Bloomfield wasn’t alone in seeing the correlation. An emerging area of research is showing that people living with HIV may have twice the risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. While the exact reasons for the link are not yet clear, the findings are leading doctors to…

Anthony Eze, MD, a global health trainee in Duke’s General Surgery program, is among those researching the issues so often overlooked in the aftermath of gun violence. Eze spearheaded the recent study on disparities in post-acute care, which also proposed solutions. Among them were employing pseudonyms, giving patients a different name to shield their identities and safeguard them from additional harm when admitted to skilled nursing facilities; and recruiting home health workers from the communities where gunshot victims are affected. “Many times, people who are victims of gun violence have difficulty getting access to the rehabilitation facilities that they need. Even though these survivors have not lost their life to gun violence, they are at risk of losing their livelihood,” Eze said. Read more here

The Duke Global Health Institute has tapped one of its own, G. Titus Ng’eno, M.D., a Duke cardiologist and a native of Kenya, to lead its longstanding partnership in the East African country. Ng’eno, an assistant professor of medicine and global health, began his role as the Kenya Partnership Site Lead on Jan. 1. He will advance the work among Duke, Kenyan and global partners pursuing initiatives to reduce health care inequities in communicable and non-communicable diseases. In addition to DGHI, those partners include Duke’s Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health, the Duke-affiliated nonprofit Innovations in Healthcare and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret. “It’s a great opportunity to support the collaborative education, research and service missions by Duke and our partners,” says Ng’eno. “I look forward to the…

Dr. Kristin Schroeder, a GHP alumnus and current Duke Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Global Health, was recently nominated as a finalist for the Opus Prize, one of the globe’s most significant faith-inspired recognitions for social entrepreneurship. “I was in shock and deeply honored, as someone had learned about what we do in Tanzania and was deeply moved and decided to put us forward for this award,” says Schroeder, an associate professor of pediatrics and global health who has been working for nearly a decade to improve pediatric cancer survival rates in Tanzania. The Opus Prize is an annual accolade that acknowledges individuals or groups advocating for transformative change infused with faith. It aims to support the humanitarian initiatives of the awardee but also to motivate others to embrace a…

Rolvix “Robbie” Patterson has turned a passion for global health into opportunities to improve otolaryngology care around the world, thanks to opportunities through Duke Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences’s NIH R25 Surgeon Scientist Track and the Global Health Residency/Fellowship Pathway at Duke. Read more here

Dr. Deng Madut, a GHP alumnus and current Duke Infectious Disease faculty member, was recently featured in the DGHI’s Research News for his work on Rift Valley Fever, a lesser known but dangerous disease in East Africa. When an outbreak of the disease occurred in cattle in Northern Tanzania in 2018, Dr. Madut was contacted. Based in Moshi, Dr. Madut realized the disease had infected persons who had handled those cattle. Read more here

The REPRIEVE study, a global study investigating the cardiovascular disease and AIDS, recently published primary results showing that pitavastatin calcium lowers the rate of heart disease for people living with HIV by 35%.  Dr. Gerald Bloomfield, a GHP graduate and the Associate Director for Research at DGHI, is a study cardiologist and serves on the risk panel for the project. Read more about the findings, the study’s goals, and Dr. Bloomfield’s involvement here

The Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for early clinician-scientists with an interest in research in LMICs and underserved populations, the Dr. G. Ralph Corey Legacy Award. In 1985, Dr. G. Ralph Corey spent three months working in a small missionary hospital in the western highlands of Kenya. This life-altering experience for him became the inspiration that allowed for hundreds of young physicians to travel abroad to improve the health circumstances of people in the developing world through clinical service, education, and research. Dr. Corey’s career in academic medicine and medical education allowed him to both build relationships internationally and facilitate the placement of young physicians in resource poor settings. Dr. Corey became the founding director of the Hubert-Yeargan Center (HYC) for Global…