The Center for Global Health and Diseases was formed in 2002 as a result of a merger between the Center for International Health (first established in 1987) and the Division of Geographic Medicine. The new center is located on the fourth floor of the Biomedical Research Building on the Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine campus in Cleveland, Ohio. The center provides a coordinating structure to help link the numerous international health resources of the university, its affiliated institutions, and the Northern Ohio community in a multidisciplinary program of research, training and clinical application related to global health. The center brings together many disciplines at CWRU to make life better in developing countries, and thus facilitates international collaborations throughout the institution.
Our Mission
The mission of the Center for Global Health and Diseases is to promote health in the world and enrich the community around CWRU.
This is accomplished by:
- bringing together experts from the university’s community that specialize in infectious diseases, epidemiology, anthropology, tropical diseases, neglected tropical diseases (dengue, dracunculiasis [guinea-worm disease], lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis [river blindness], rabies, schistosomiasis, and various helminthiases), nursing, pediatrics, etc.
- uniting university faculty in programs of collaborative research and education, student and faculty international exchanges, and community enrichment to promote health in the world and enrich the international community.
Our Objectives
The center focuses on three main objectives that have been present throughout its history:
- developing a critical mass of creative investigators with multidisciplinary capabilities and providing them with appropriate resources and environments for basic, clinical and epidemiological research, in order to develop linkages within and beyond the university community.
- establishing an education and training program to ensure the continuing replenishment of the pool of intellectual talent in this country and to enhance the scientific proficiency of scientists from developing countries via an educational program based at the university, reaching a wide audience.
- advancing a collaborative interdisciplinary application program in international health overseas to bring together diverse disciplines, adaptation, and adoption of practices and the application of technology to underserved populations of the world.
Training and Education
The center provides training opportunities for both MD and PhD candidates, as well as for postdoctoral fellows engaged in either field studies or basic bench research on globally important infectious diseases. Interested candidates looking for doctoral training can apply to the CWRU School of Medicine for entry into the Medical Scientists Training Program (MSTP) that confers the MD-PhD dual degree. Candidates interested in a PhD degree can apply to the Biomedical Scientist Training Program (BSTP). Postdoctoral candidates interested in a specific project are encouraged to apply directly to the center.