Our Fall/Winter 2023-2024 global health interns will be giving a short 3-minute presentation summarizing their experience working on research and global health projects at the Dahdaleh Institute under the guidance of Institute faculty staff and fellows. They will cover their research findings and results, what they learned in their role, and how they will apply their experiences in a future opportunity.
Please join us at to celebrate the work of our interns participating in the Dahdaleh Institute Internship Program. The presentation topics is as follows:
Presentation Title
Presenter
Assisting Social Science Research in Tuberculosis
Gurher Sidhu
Global Health: Wellness Impact Lab
Shamim Samadi
Overview of Internship Experience at the Dahdaleh Institute
Shaista Alokozai
Designing for Global Health and the SaTS Lab
Gaurika Agarwal
Developing Methodologies for Analyzing Experiences with Chronic Pain
Yashi Papola
Drinking Water Systems and Issues in the Canadian North
Ravjot Chana
Building Equitable and Resilient Community-Based Emergency Response Strategies in Rural Guatemala
Amen Okungbowa
Association Between Housing Insecurity and Respiratory Diseases in Kenya
'Looking Into the Fire'? From Climate Distress to Action, with Harvey Skinner and Susan Harris
Local Time
Timezone: America/New_York
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Location
Online
This seminar is in recognition of Earth Month 2024
Our planet is on fire due to climate change and the window of opportunity may be closing to secure a more livable and sustainable future. Most people now acknowledge global warming, yet many are paralyzed about taking action because of hopelessness, fear, guilt, and other strong emotions. What can be done to help us ‘look into the Fire’?
This online interactive seminar will address the question by: a) providing an update of emerging concepts and research on climate distress and action, b) demonstrating evidence-based practices for fostering resiliency and healing ourselves (mindfulness meditation and qi gong – tai chi), and c) discussing what can be done individually and collectively for healing our planet.
To help guide research and activities in the Wellness Impact Lab, Pihkala’s (2022) Process Model of Eco-Anxiety and Ecological Grief is reviewed. This model provides an integrative approach for understanding the mental health impacts of climate change and environmental disasters along with coping strategies and actions. To provide a safe forum for people to talk about and understand their feelings about climate change, our Lab is initiating a Climate Café dialogue series drawing on best practices and latest research. An important outcome is to reduce barriers to action.
Speaker Profiles
Dr Harvey Skinner PhD, CPsych, FCAHS is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology & Global Health; Senior Fellow, Dahdaleh Institute; and was Founding Dean of York University's Faculty of Health (2006-2016). Harvey co-Leads the Wellness Impact Lab. He teaches and maintains a daily practice of qi gong wellness practices.
Susan Harris MSW, RSW is a Community Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute and was a practicing social worker and Program Director at Catholic Family Services Peel-Dufferin. Susan co-Leads the Wellness Impact Lab. She has been cultivating her meditation practice with retreats and study for over 30 years along with completing advanced meditation teacher training programs.
Register below and join us on Wednesday, April 24, at 1 p.m.
Participants will engage with the research community at York University to generate new insights, foster collaboration, and discover new research opportunities in global health research with critical social science perspectives that uses social science theory and methodology with social justice aims in global health. It is transdisciplinary, participatory, experimental, or experiential. It seeks greater effectiveness, equity, and excellence in global health by engaging directly with global public health actors, structures, and systems to transform global public health.
This year, Professor Cary Wu (Department of Sociology, York University) will be delivering the keynote presentation titled "A triple trust penalty? The majority-minority gap in subjective wellbeing."
Following the keynote, we will hear from the 2023 seed grant recipients regarding the progress of their global health research projects funded by the Critical Perspectives in Global Health Seed Grant. The seed grant program supports critical global health research within the three themes at the Dahdaleh Institute (planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting).
Finally, York faculty and global health researchers will then have the opportunity to deliver a brief 5-minute presentation on any current or planned research project that takes a critical social science approach to global health at the workshop. Register as a presenter to receive valuable feedback on your proposal from expert researchers. Please complete the registration form to present a new research idea by Monday, April 22, 2024, by 9 a.m.
Agenda
9:30
Continental Breakfast
10:00
Welcome and Overview to Workshop
10:10
Keynote Presentation and Q&A with Cary Wu
11:00
Break
11:15
Research Updates from the 2023 CPGH Seed Grant Recipients
Join us for the 2024 World Health Assembly Simulation beginning virtually on May 1, 2024 and in-person from May 2 to May 3 in Toronto, Ontario. This immersive experience replicates the highest level of governance at the World Health Organization. Students will engage in captivating discussions on urgent global health matters, connect with an array of diverse experts, and gain valuable insights into potential global health career paths and more. The theme for the WHA SIM 2024 is "One Health", which emphasizes the interconnected nature that binds together human, animal, and environmental health. This event is brought to you by the School of Global Health.
Seats are limited, so don't delay and secure your place today to be a part of this transformative event!
Learning to Shift the Goal Post: One Health Research and Policy, with John Amuasi
Local Time
Timezone: America/New_York
Date: Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location
Hybrid
John Amuasi is head of the Global Health Department at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and a W2 Professor of Global One Health in Hamburg, Germany. Via a talk and discussion titled "Learning to Shift the Goal Post: One Health Research and Policy", he shares his rich experience in infectious disease research from a One Health perspective.
Speaker Profile
John Humphrey Amuasi is based at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where he is Head of the Global Health Department of the School of Public Health and Leader of the Global One Health Research Group at the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR). Amuasi is also a W2 Professor of Global One Health at the Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine and the University of Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, an adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in the USA, and an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford in the UK. Amuasi trained as a physician in Ghana, and later graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, USA, with post-graduate degrees terminating in a PhD in Health Research and Policy.
Amuasi set up and was the inaugural head of the Research and Development Unit at the 1,200-bed Komfo Anokye teaching Hospital in Kumasi. For over 20 years, he has engaged in Tropical Medicine and Global Health research in LMICs - including in malaria, NTDs, AMR and One Health. He has also consulted for several Global Health-focused organizations and supported civil society organizations with technical expertise on matters related to access to drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics, as well as strategic advice related to Global Health research priorities. Amuasi’s current research involves clinical and field epidemiologic studies on malaria, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, AMR, snakebite and other neglected tropical diseases. He further serves as Co-Chair of The Lancet One Health Commission, an adjunct to a number of academic institutions, and as a regular technical advisor/contributor to the WHO, Africa CDC, African Academy of Sciences, and several other Global Health organizations. John is a board member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in the USA, The Soulsby Foundation in the UK, and an advisory board member of The British Medical Journal. Amuasi is passionate about mentorship and sustainably building both clinical and non-clinical health research capacities in Africa.
Gender Inequality in Health Across Life Cycles in India, with Rajnish Prasad
Local Time
Timezone: America/New_York
Date: Wednesday, May 08, 2024
Time: 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Location
Online
On Wednesday, May 8, Dahdaleh community fellow Rajnish Prasad will provide a brief overview of gender inequity in health, followed by detailed analysis of health inequity among girls and women across life cycle in India. He will discuss the role of social and gender norms in perpetuating inequities and the health outcomes. Drawing from his own experiences working at the UN Women's Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Rajnish will share the insights gained from implementation of community-level health initiatives in India. Register below to join us in an engaging discussion about the implications of gender inequality.
Speaker Profile
Rajnish Ranjan Prasad is currently working as Programme Specialist- Gender Equality and Health & HIV/AIDS at the UN Women’s Asia-Pacific Regional Office. He has around 17 years of experience in addressing inequalities, empowering marginalized communities and providing technical support to Governments. Rajnish is working with UN Women Country Offices in the Asia Pacific region to address gender inequality in planning, and utilization of health services. He has previously worked with UNFPA and supported Government of Rajasthan, India in strengthening of large-scale programmes for holistic development of young people specially girls, addressing gender inequalities and to promote youth leadership. He has also worked with National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), Government of India and managed large-scale HIV/AIDS programme.
Rajnish holds a Doctorate in Public Health from IIHMR University, India, a Postgraduate Certificate in Global Health from the University of Manchester, Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from University of York, Master’s in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management (IRMA) and Bachelor’s in Computer Application from Devi Ahilya University, Indore.
Register below and join us on Wednesday, May 8, at 10:30 a.m.
Increasing Ambient Temperature Disrupts Sleep and Impairs Cognitive Function, with Godfred Boateng and Gabriel John Dusing
Local Time
Timezone: America/New_York
Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location
Hybrid
Cognitive decline and sleep disorders are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, but the role of extreme heat in these conditions remains poorly understood. In this seminar, Professor Godfred Boateng and Dr. Gabriel John Dusing will discuss their latest research findings analyzing extreme heat events which are increasing in frequency and intensity, and impacting the health of older adults. Their study explored the relationship between temperature, sleep quality, and cognitive function in Ghanaian adults over the age of 50, particularly women.
Using structural equation models and accounting for data clustering, they examined the direct and indirect relations between increasing average temperatures in the past, sleep difficulties, and cognitive impairment, while adjusting for appropriate covariates. They created a novel dataset by combining data from the WHO Ghana Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (2014/2015) with temperature measurements derived from the Climatic Research Unit (University of East Anglia) gridded Time Series (CRU TS v.4.07). The speakers will then recommend the acceleration of climate mitigation and adaptation practices that aims to reduce the effects of global warming for Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Join us for this talk addressing global health inequities for socially disadvantaged populations, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, amidst a rapidly changing environment.
Speaker Profile
Godfred Boateng
Dr. Godfred Boateng is an Assistant Professor at the School of Global Health, Director of the Global and Environmental Health Lab, a Canada Research Chair in Global Health and Humanitarianism, and a faculty fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at York University. Dr. Boateng is an expert in the design and application of culturally relevant scalable methodologies to study the multidimensional factors and processes that shape health and health equity across spatial scales (household, community, institutional, national), and how they can be promoted and sustained. His research program is transdisciplinary and focuses on resource insecurity, health, and sustainable livelihoods; the socio-ecological determinants of cardiometabolic conditions in aging adults; social inequity in health systems; quantitative data analysis methods and survey scale development; and COVID-19-related health effects. Dr. Boateng’s research in these areas has been critical in transforming the understanding of the key social and structural determinants of health among vulnerable populations, including women, infants, children, and older adults.
Dr. Boateng’s research is supported through both internal and external funding sources from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Canadian Foundation for Innovation; International Development Research Centre; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; United States Health Resources & Service Administration; the National Institute of Transportation and Communities; and the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research.
Gabriel John Dusing
Dr. Dusing's research utilizes linked longitudinal health administrative data and employs techniques such as survival analysis and difference-in-differences to examine complex social and health issues. He holds a PhD in mathematics from the University of Tennessee. His publications in journals such as, Psychological Medicine, Social Science & Medicine, PLoS One, and the American Journal of Psychiatry, highlight his expertise in addressing critical topics such as mental health, population health, and the social determinants of health.
Register below and join us on Wednesday, May 15, at 1 p.m.