Global Health News
This page features news from the Office of Global Health at Drexel University's Dornsife School of Public Health and global news from Dornsife research centers, programs, students and faculty conducting research in global public health.
Featured Global Health News
February 28, 2025 - A study, led by researchers at the Salud Urbana en América Latina - Urban Health in Latin America (SALURBAL) project, analyzed data to map the geographic distribution of cancer deaths for seven common types of cancer. The findings, which were published in The Lancet Global Health, provide valuable insights into the impact of socioeconomic factors on cancer outcomes in urban Latin America.
February 18, 2025 - Luwam Gebrekristos, MPH, PhD student, led research that examined the links between social support and postpartum depression symptoms. The research was published in Reproductive Health.
January 8, 2025 - Pooja Doshi, MPH, COA, a DrPH candidate in Health Management and Policy, wrote about global eye health research for the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness. Doshi's research focuses addressing health disparities among blind and visually impaired vulnerable populations in low-and-middle income countries.
November 4, 2024 - About 70 members of the SALURBAL-Climate team came together in Mexico City to share updates from the project’s first phase and outline the roadmap for year two.
August 8, 2024 - Jeff Mathwig, MPH '24, wrote about the value of his study abroad experience in Cuba through one of Drexel's Intensive Courses Abroad.
July 22, 2024 - Alex Quistberg, PhD, MPH, associate research professor in the Urban Health Collaborative (UHC) and the department of Environmental & Occupational Health, evaluated the impact of a drunk driving intervention in Leon, Mexico on road traffic safety with fellow researchers at the UHC and the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica. They found that drunk driving policies led to fewer traffic collisions and injuries during the first year of implementation, with a weakening of this effect over time, similar to interventions in high-income settings and other Latin American countries. Researchers urge the expansion of similar policies in other cities in the region to potentially improve road safety.
June 18, 2024 - Online graduate student Sheila Chamberlin, CO, is pursuing her MPH in Global Health while providing eye care to her community in Vermont and volunteering abroad.
June 10, 2024 - An editorial co-authored by Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, Director of Global Health and editor of HHR Journal, introduces a special section that commemorates HHR Journal's 30th anniversary. As part of the issue, Amon also co-authored a viewpoint on drone attacks.
May 22, 2024 - In a newly released report for 2023, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) documented 2,562 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in 30 conflict zones, a 25% increase from 2022. Health facilities were bombed, looted, and repurposed for military use, while health workers faced killings, kidnappings, and arrests. Drexel’s Dornsife School Office of Global Health is a member of the coalition and Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, director of the Office of Global Health, was a contributor to the report.
May 20, 2024 - A new study published in Social Science & Medicine led by researchers at the Dornsife School of Public Health including Ali Groves, PhD, MHS, associate professor of community health and prevention, and Luwam Gebrekristos, MPH, doctoral student, builds on this research to understand whether the benefits of a cash transfer program were sustained 2.5 years after the cash ended.
May 13, 2024 - Esther Chernak, MD, a clinical professor at the Dornsife and Drexel's College of Medicine and Director of the Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication, explains the current global situation for dengue.
May 9, 2024 - A SALURBAL study sheds light on how congestion taxes and fare subsidies can be powerful tools for policymakers in low- and middle-income cities, where walking is the primary means of transportation for many residents.
April 26, 2024 - Emily Lincoln, a second-year MPH in Environmental and Occupational Health student at Dornsife, will study Portuguese and then travel to Brazil through the National Security Education Program (NSEP) Boren Fellowship.
March 21, 2024 - Seventy-five years after the United Nations’ ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the fundamental human rights of all people is under threat. The International AIDS Society–Lancet Commission on Health and Human Rights, launched in 2021, and including Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, Director of Global Health, among its members, examined the deterioration of human rights over the past two decades and the implications on health, particularly of the most vulnerable. The group’s report, Under Threat: the International AIDS Society, examined the failure to achieve international solidarity in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent spate of restrictive laws governing sexuality and reproductive health, and the inequitable costs of climate change, as well as issues related to displacement, migration, refugees, and conflict; structural racism, inequity, and discrimination against marginalized groups; artificial intelligence; the economic and commercial elements of the right to health; and the impact of criminalization (eg, of personal drug use, one or more aspects of sex work, consensual same-sex relations) on health.
February 21, 2024 - An interdisciplinary team worked on an initiative with FMC to bring potable water to villages in India. Jerry Fagliano, PhD, MPH, clinical professor and chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Dornsife, spoke about Dornsife's research on the potential health benefits derived from having better access to potable water.
January 23, 2024 - Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, Director of Global Health, co-authored a Health Affairs article that examines the public health field's priorities and pressing needs.
January 12, 2024 - Victoria Rodríguez Villarreal, public health ‘25, represented the school and university at the 28th annual UN Framework Convention for Climate Change’s Conference of Parties (COP) in Dubai. She connected with fellow climate changemakers and gathered new ideas to return home with.
January 9, 2024 - Pedro Gullón, MD, former visiting scholar and postdoctoral research fellow at Dornsife's Urban Health Collaborative (UHC) has been appointed the new General Director of Public Health and Health Equity of Spain. Researchers at the UHC will continue research collaborations with Gullón as he steps into this new role.
December 10, 2023 - An editorial by Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, Director of Global Health, published in the December 2023 issue of the Health and Human Rights Journal, reflects on the importance of keeping the right to health central to public health. The issue also has a section of articles examining the role of neoliberal policies in exacerbating economic inequality and preventing efforts to progressively realize the right to health.
December 5, 2023 - The Lancet Planetary Health published a new paper on fossil fuel pollution in 47,000 Latin American neighborhoods. Lead author is Josiah L. Kephart, PhD, MPH, CPH, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Urban Health Collaborative and part of the Drexel FIRST cohort.
November 28, 2023 - A new qualitative study led by former DSPH doctoral research fellow Catalina Correa-Salazar, PhD, sheds light on an evidence gap in HIV prevention and care for Venezuelan migrant/refugee women and girls in Colombia.
November 8, 2023 - Drexel Dornsife and Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights, co-publishers of the Health and Human Rights Journal, have announced new editor-in-chief Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, clinical professor and director of the Office of Global Health.
November 7, 2023 - Drexel Dornsife's Urban Health Collaborative (UHC) received a multi-million dollar grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to establish a climate change center at Drexel University, with additional research centers at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Sao Paolo in Brazil, and the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama in Guatemala. The UHC will also be working with its network of institutions in Latin America and the U.S.
September 12, 2023 - Dornsife and the Universidad de los Andes in Columbia are partnering to increase opportunities for student exchange and global practicums on urban health, health equity and resiliency.
September 7, 2023 - Kati Hinman, PhD candidate in Community Health & Prevention, was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship. Hinman will use the award to spend eight months in Columbia conducting research on resilience and resistance to intersectional violence.
August 1, 2023 - Principal investigator Ana Martinez-Donate, PhD, professor in the Community Health and Prevention department, and lead author Jamile Tellez Lieberman, DrPH, a Dornsife alum and senior vice president at Esperanza, spoke to the Drexel News Blog about their two-year project conducted with researchers at the Mexico Section of the US-Mexico Border Health Commission and several other collaborators.
June 20, 2023 - A new Inter-American Development Bank documentary titled "Salud y Ciudad" analyzes the relationship between zip code and health and features researchers from The Urban Health Network for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC-Urban Health), which is coordinated by the Drexel Urban Health Collaborative.
May 31, 2023 - Luwam Gebrekristos, MPH, doctoral student, Allison Groves, PhD, assistant professor, and Alex Ezeh, PhD, professor of Global Health, participated The Lancet's Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing this May in Nairobi. The Commission is co-led by Dr. Ezeh.
May 25, 2023 — Yazid Barhoush, an MPH in Epidemiology student and Dornsife international research fellow, wrote an opinion article published in the Oxford Human Rights Hub blog about violence and insecurity causing the decline in health care availability, accessibility and quality in Sudan over the past four weeks.
May 24, 2023 — Alex Ezeh, PhD, professor of Global Health at Dornsife, participated in a panel discussion on the state of Africa's health systems and access to equitable health during a African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) 20th anniversary event.
May 2, 2023 - New research co-led by Ann Klassen, PhD, suggests that Tajik households could benefit from WASH interventions.
April 25, 2023 - Learn more about the ways that our global health work has continued to expand at a rapid pace, including new global health research, training projects and a 20-country evaluation research project.
March 31, 2023 - Recent analysis by SALURBAL, published in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, found that higher rates of youth homicide in Latin America were associated with income inequality and neighborhood isolation.
March 16, 2023 - Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH, clinical professor and director of the Office of Global Health, authored an opinion piece for The Hill on the global toll of health workers coming under attack.
February 10, 2023 - A partnership between the Dornsife School of Public Health and Columbia's Universidad de Los Andes has received funding from the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund to increase opportunities for student exchange and global practicums that address important issues in urban health, health equity, and resiliency.
January 31, 2023 - The newly CIHR-funded PAN-DIASPORA project (Pan-American Data Initiative for the Analysis of Population Racial/Ethnic Health Inequities) released this new data brief. Partners of the PAN-DIASPORA research initiative include Dornsife's Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity and the SALURBAL Project at the Urban Health Collaborative.
January 24, 2023 - Researchers from The Ubuntu Center at Dornsife recently traveled internationally for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) and the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (ABRASCO) 13th National Congress.
January 13, 2023 — Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH, clinical professor and director of the Office of Global Health at the Dornsife School of Public Health, was interviewed by the UCLA Law COVID Behind Bars Data Project about health in prisons, COVID in jails and prisons, and the status of a global “pandemic treaty” that would include obligations for countries to report public health data on people in custody.
November 15, 2022 - Drexel News interviewed College of Engineering graduate J’Anna-Mare Lue, who was a Dornsife Global Development Scholar and STAR scholar during her time at Drexel. Lue talked about the personal and professional impact of her research in southern Africa.
October 27, 2022 - Alex Ezeh, PhD, professor of Global Health at Dornsife, discussed sustainability issues posed by global population growth on Al Jazeera's The Stream.
October 19, 2022 - Sarah Wetzel, public health '23, was part of a group of Drexel students and faculty in an environmental studies class who met to discuss climate change collaboration with visiting ambassadors from Denmark, Cyprus, and Luxembourg.
October 5, 2022 - The theme for ICUH 2022 was "Growing Our Global Community. Driving Action. Ensuring Equity."
October 4, 2022 - Findings will help to inform urban policies and interventions as cities in Latin America and around the world prepare for and respond to climate change.
September 23, 2022 - Through her ILE project, Pascale Vallee, a recent MPH in Global Health graduate, aimed to improve linkages to care for released detainees. The City of Philadelphia hopes to use Vallee's findings as a road map for change.
July 15, 2022 - Sofia Gruskin, director of USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, interviewed Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, clinical professor and director of the Office of Global Health, about the impacts of harm reduction measures in the COVID-19 pandemic response.
June 27, 2022 - Nina Sun, JD, former Deputy Director of Global Health and Assistant Clinical Professor, wrote in The BMJ that the impact of overturning Roe will have global repercussions and abortion criminalization is of particular concern.
June 27, 2022 — New SALURBAL research underscores the need for cities to prepare for the increasingly frequent and extreme temperatures that are expected in the coming decades because of climate change.
June 13, 2022 - The June issue of the Health and Human Rights Journal memorializes editor and chief Paul Farmer and focuses on compulsory drug treatment and rehabilitation. The journal is co-published by the Dornsife School of Public Health and the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.
May 26, 2022 - The Office of Global Health has released its 2021 annual report, which highlights ways that the office overcame challenges, fostered innovation, and developed strong research partnerships over the last year.
May 24, 2022 — Dornsife researchers from the Office of Global Health participated in the preparation of a new annual report by Safeguarding Health in Conflict that documents global incidence of attacks and threats against health workers.
May 6, 2022 — Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH, Clinical Professor and Director of the Office of Global Health at the Dornsife School of Public Health, and fellow public health and medical practitioners signed and issued an amicus brief on Title 42, which is the law that allows the CDC to prevent immigration ostensibly due to COVID. It concludes that "Title 42 is not an effective public health mechanism but does harm asylum seekers by blocking them from seeking safety. Through multifaceted and science-based public health measures, the CDC can protect both public health and the rights of asylum seekers."
April 28, 2022 — In partnership with Asia Catalyst, the Office of Global Health has developed a free, online course—Know It, Prove It, Change It, that provides tools and strategies for human rights advocacy.
April 22, 2022 — A new SALURBAL publication describes what some cities in Latin America are doing to maximize the co-benefits of climate action, and how public health researchers and policymakers can support effective urban policies and interventions.
March 24, 2022 — Cuba's University of Cienfuegos and the Dornsife School of Public Health have renewed a partnership to continue their Community, Health, and Environment (CHE) program. This joint program began in 2016 as a short-term study abroad opportunity to learn how public health in Cuba, and it continues to grow. Representing Dornsife was Idris Robinson, MPH, Director of Global Health Engagement at Drexel.
March 23, 2022 — Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH, Clinical Professor and Director of the Office of Global Health at the Dornsife School of Public Health, helped to organize a letter asking the World Health Organization (WHO) to take additional steps as health care increasingly becomes a target in Ukraine.
March 22, 2022 — On World Water Day, March 22, the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project reflected on what the project's research reveals about inequities in access to water and sanitation across Latin American cities.
February 23, 2022 — Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH, Clinical Professor and Director of the Office of Global Health at the Dornsife School of Public Health, reflects on the many public health contributions of Dr. Paul Farmer, a leader in health equity and inspiration to so many, who passed away unexpectedly on February 21, 2022.
February 19, 2022 — Nina Sun, JD, Deputy Director of Global Health and Assistant Clinical Professor, and Joseph Amon, PhD, MSPH, Clinical Professor and Director of the Office of Global Health, both at the Dornsife School of Public Health, joined colleagues from UNAIDS in publishing an article in BMJ Global Health that analyzes criminal and punitive approaches to COVID-19.
February 13, 2022 — Researchers from the Dornsife School of Public Health including Allison Groves, PhD, MHS, assistant professor, Alex Ezeh, PhD, MSc, professor, Luwam T. Gebrekristos, MPH, doctoral student, and Patrick D. Smith, RN, doctoral student, co-led a publication in the Journal of Adolescent Health that examined the intersection between adolescent motherhood and HIV infection across 10 Eastern and Southern African countries, where over half of all HIV infections occur among adolescent girls.
January 31, 2022 — The Office of Global Health co-sponsored an inaugural health and human rights workshop on reproductive justice. Participants learned more about opportunities and strategies in health and human rights advocacy.
January 27, 2022 — Attendees at January's Global Health Brown Bag Talk, presented by the Office of Global Health, heard from Mariana Lazo, MD, PhD, SCM, associate research professor in Community Health and Prevention, who spoke about “Alcohol consumption in Latin American cities: Burden and inequalities.” Then Rosie Mae Henson, PdD (c) in Health Management and Policy, presented “Exploring U.S. influence on drug use and overdose in Mexican cities.” Watch the brown bag talk.
January 20, 2022 — A new SALURBAL study explores the role of greenspaces in determining mortality inequalities in cities across Latin America, and sheds light on the complex connections that should guide urban planning and decision-making to promote health equity.
December 21, 2021 — Ana Ortigoza, MD, PhD, MPH, MS, senior research scientist II, Urban Health Collaborative, and Ana V. Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH, Dean of the Dornsife School of Public Health and Director, Urban Health Collaborative, will lead a study on the impacts of paid maternity and paternity leave policies on health outcomes in Latin America and their potential for the United States.
December 9, 2021 — At the 5th Healthy City Design International Congress, Nishi Dsouza presented dissertation research at a session entitled "Citizen perspectives on urban health." Dsouza, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Community Health and Prevention who is advised by Dr. Ana Martinez-Donate, wrote about the experience for Drexel's Office of Global Engagement.
November 25, 2021 — Ali Groves, PhD, MHS, assistant professor in the Community Health and Prevention department, led a team that published an analysis in JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes that concluded adolescent motherhood "increased risk of HSV-2 and engagement in age-disparate partnerships, both known risk factors for HIV infection."
November 17, 2021 — Ana Ortigoza, investigadora de SALURBAL se une a la expresidenta Michelle Bachelet y a autoridades locales para resaltar la importancia de mejorar la calidad el aire en las ciudades de Latinoamérica.
October 7, 2021 — Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, clinical professor and director of the Office of Global Health, and Jamile Tellez Lieberman, MPH, a doctoral student at Dornsife, co-authored this Inter-Press Service opinion piece about the intersection of public health policy and migration at the United States border with Mexico. They make the case for a repeal of the CDC’s Title 42 policy, which "enables profound and irreparable harm to migrant families and single adults."
October 4, 2021 — The Drexel Urban Health Collaborative, in partnership with the Institute for Nutrition of Central America and Panama have partnered to establish a training program focused on developing the research capabilities of trainees and local capacity building in the conduct of policy-relevant research on the influence of social determinants and place-based factors on CVD risk across the lifespan.
September 22, 2021 — A recent SALURBAL investigation published in the Lancet Digital Health examines the longitudinal associations between population mobility and COVID-19 incidence at the subcity level across a large number of Latin American cities.
August 24, 2021 — Nishi Dsouza, Urban Health Collaborative Doctoral Fellow, and Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, facilitated a session on monitoring & evaluation for the Mandela Washington Fellows, a group of young African leaders. They discussed core principles and key challenges of policymaking amidst uncertainty – an appropriate topic given the current coronavirus pandemic.
August 17, 2021 — Alex Ezeh, PhD, professor of Global Health at Dornsife, co-authored this opinion essay for The Conversation about why the impact of COVID-19 has been lower in Africa than in many other areas of the world. Ezeh proposes several policy prescriptions to help improve health practice based on research.
August 9, 2021 — A recent SALURBAL investigation published in the International Journal of Epidemiology highlights differences in the number of deaths that could have been prevented through medical and health care across urban settings in the Latin America region.
May 5, 2021 — A report from the Office of Global Health and 40+ other members of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identifies 4,000+ incidents of violence against health care in the past five years and highlights the need for the UN Security Council and all nations to prevent attacks and hold those accountable.
April 14, 2021 — Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, director of the Office of Global Health, in collaboration with experts from the UN Office of Drugs and Crime, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, the International AIDS Society, the International Network of People who Use Drugs and other civil society leaders and researchers, wrote a statement on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to HIV, hepatitis and harm reduction services that was read at the opening plenary of the 64th annual meeting of the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
March 24, 2021 — Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, director of the Office of Global Health, and other members of The Lancet Commission on Health and Human Rights call for COVID-19 vaccine access for low and middle-income countries.
March 24, 2021 — Mariana Lazo, MD, PhD, ScM, associate research professor at Dornsife's Urban Health Collaborative, participated in an expert panel focused on the public health burden of fatty liver disease in Latin America. The panel and subsequent white paper were organized by The Economist Intelligence Unit and the International Liver Foundation.
February 9, 2021 — Dornsife 2019 Visiting Global Health Scholar Victoria Gammino, PhD, MPH, discusses her Mitre Corp's team efforts to develop a machine learning model to identify health facilities in Africa.
January 25, 2021 — A recent investigation from the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) Project published in Nature Medicine showcases the differences in life expectancy and causes of death in Latin America and highlights the importance of identifying urban and health policies and interventions to promote health in the region and in the growing urban areas of the world.
December 8, 2020 — Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, director of the Office of Global Health and Nina Sun, JD, deputy director of global health and human rights and assistant clinical professor in the department of Community Health and Prevention co-authored this piece for the Health and Human Rights journal along with Kenechukwu Esom and Mandeep Dhaliwal. It outline key harms related to digital technologies for health, as well as ethical and human rights standards relevant to their use.
October 14, 2020 - Nina Sun, JD, deputy director of global health and human rights and assistant clinical professor in the department of Community Health and Prevention, hosted a Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) interview about protecting girls from sexual violence in schools.
September 22, 2020 - Alex Ezeh, PhD, professor of Global Health in the department of Community Health and Prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health, received two honors that recognize his commitment to global health.
May 18, 2020 - The virtual event, moderated by Nina Sun, JD, assistant clinical professor and deputy director of Global Health at Dornsife, focused on the urgent need to protect populations and communities left behind during the pandemic.
April 23, 2020 - Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, director of the Office of Global Health, authored an op-ed about how doctors and nurses decide who receives care and what that means for health and human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic.
October 14, 2020 - Nina Sun, JD, deputy director of global health and human rights and assistant clinical professor in the department of Community Health and Prevention, hosted a Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) interview about protecting girls from sexual violence in schools.
December 18, 2019 - Ali Groves, PhD, MHS, assistant professor of Community Health and Prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health (DSPH), was selected to participate in an advocacy development session at a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
Groves was joined by her mentee, Sarah Bowler, MPH ’20, a Dornsife Fellow and student in the department of Health Management and Policy.
She spoke about her current projects, research goals and challenges. Read a Q&A with assistant professor Ali Groves.
September 7, 2019 - Claire Slesinski was one of the researchers representing the Salud Urbana en America Latina (SALURBAL) project at an event organized by the Planetary Health Alliance. This annual meeting works toward “catalyzing efforts towards resolving the great planetary health crises of our time.”
She spoke about challenges, predictions, and advice as a global health professional. Read a Q & A with Claire Slesinski, SALURBAL project manager.
July 2, 2019 - Ana Martinez-Donate, PhD, an associate professor in the department of Community Health and Prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health, was awarded a 5-year, $3.1 million R01 grant, from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in June 2019.
She shared some of her team’s achievements and important next steps in understanding and improving health care for migrants.
Read At the Border: Q&A with Ana Martinez-Donate on the Drexel News blog.
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