3rd Annual VCU Global Health Showcase Recap

Dr. Kerkering speaking on the West Africa Ebola outbreak

Today was VCU's 3rd Annual Global Health Showcase, an opportunity for people around VCU and the greater Richmond community to share and discuss global health projects.

With Dr. Bearman and GH2DP residents and students

The day started with a keynote presentation from Dr. Thomas Kerkering on his work treating Ebola patients in West Africa. Dr. Kerkering is a VCU alumnus and his talk was both moving and compelling. He showed excerpts from a documentary on the early days of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa (this documentary can be found here).

Subsequently there were several 'break-out'
sessions: one discussing getting involved in global health research, one focused on training opportunities for medical students and residents and one focused on providing healthcare in resource-limited settings.

Viewing posters

There was an excellent poster section exploring global-health related research from around VCU. VCU's Global Health & Health Disparities Program was well represented with our students and residents presenting seven different projects.

The day ended with an excellent session focused on some of the ethical challenges of getting involved in global health work.

With Dr. Bearman and current GH2DP Pathway Residents

3rd Annual VCU Global Health Showcase: Making it Work, Getting it Right

The 3rd annual Virginia Commonwealth University Global Health Showcase is coming up on April 20, 2015. This is an all day event featuring an exciting keynote from Dr. Tom Kerkering discussing his experience with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, several breakout sessions and a poster session featuring global-health related work from trainees across the university. This year's meeting is called "Making it Work, Getting it Right." The theme of the meeting is giving students and faculty key tools to engage in global health work.

VCU EWB students trailing a novel water catchment device
in Yoro, Honduras, June 2014

Prior showcases have been a wonderful opportunity to network, share ideas and build new relationships. The first showcase led to our program's (the Global Health & Health Disparities Program, GH2DP) current partnership with VCU's Engineers Without Borders (EWB) student chapter. This relationship has led to the development of several novel clean water technologies for use in rural Latin America as well as helped support or ongoing clean water campaign in Yoro, Honduras.

VCU EWB students trailing a new biased filter,
Richmond, VA, 2015

It is not too late to register and come out for the showcase on April 20th! Details about the showcase (including the agenda) can be found here.