Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research and Training MHIRT Program

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Minority Health and Health Disparities
International Research and Training (MHIRT)
Program
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Sponsors

• The Center for International
• Rural and Environmental
• Health (CIREH)
• interdisciplinary program dedicated to research,
  training and education concerning global issues
  in public health
• Special concentration on issues concerning
  environmental and occupational health
• focus on countries with substantial agrarian
  economies and countries with new democracies

• The Iowa Biosciences
• Advantage (IBA)
• Mission maximize diversity in the biosciences
• Science majors with an interest in diversity gain
  research experience with cutting-edge faculty and
  benefit from professional development seminars
  and a strong community of people with similar
  interests

The MHIRT program is funded by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
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Program Staff

• Tom Cook, Director of CIREH and MHIRT Program
  Director
• Kristina Venzke, MHIRT Program Coordinator
• Danielle Dahl, CIREH Secretary
• Sarah England, Director, IBA
• Jodi Linley, Assistant Director, IBA
• Jessica Tellez, Program Assistant, IBA

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Purpose of Award

• Because of the significant disparity in the
  overall rate of disease incidence, prevalence,
  morbidity, mortality and survival rates in
  minority populations as compared to the health
  status of the general population, there is a
  national need for increasing the number of
  well-trained minority scientists and scientists
  from medically underserved regions of the US in
  the fields of biomedical, clinical, behavioral,
  and health services.

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Purpose of Award

• According to the Institute of Medicine, "for the
  health professionals, racial and ethnic
  disparities in healthcare . . . will be among the
  most significant challenges of today's rapidly
  changing health system." And, "from a public
  health standpoint, racial and ethnic disparities
  in healthcare threaten to hamper efforts to
  improve the nation's health."
• Medically underserved refers to individuals
  that lack access to primary and specialty care
  either because they are socioeconomically
  disadvantaged and may or may not live in areas
  with high poverty rates or because they reside in
  underserved areas. Geographic isolation,
  socio-economic status, health risk behaviors, and
  limited job opportunities contribute to health
  disparities in underserved communities.

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Purpose of Award

• The health gap between minority and non-minority
  Americans has persisted, and in some cases, has
  increased in recent years. The inclusion of
  underrepresented populations, such as minority
  populations, the medically underserved, and women
  in the scientific, technological and engineering
  workforce will enable society to better address
  its diverse needs.

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Purpose of Award

• A primary objective of the MHIRT program is to
  effectively recruit and retain underrepresented
  minorities and students from medically-underserved
  backgrounds who wish to matriculate into
  biomedical research training programs leading to
  Ph.D.s, M.D./Ph.D.s, D.D.S./Ph.D.s or MPH/Ph.D.s.
  
• MHIRT training is not viewed as merely an
  isolated international training opportunity but
  rather as part of a comprehensive program of
  nurturing and developing individuals from health
  disparities populations to become productive
  biomedical and behavioral health researchers.

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Eligibility

• Must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the
  United States, or have been lawfully admitted to
  the United States for permanent residence (i.e.
  possess a currently valid Alien Registration
  Receipt Card I-551, or other legal verification
  of such status)
• Non-citizen nationals are generally persons born
  in outlying possessions of the United States
  (e.g. American Samoa). Individuals on temporary
  or student visas are not eligible to participate
  in the MHIRT program
• Must be from health disparities populations that
  have been determined to be under-represented in
  basic science, clinical, biomedical or behavioral
  health research, including, but not limited to
• African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native
  Americans, Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians and
  Pacific Islanders, and the medically underserved
  (i.e., socio-economically disadvantaged
  individuals in rural and urban areas). For more
  information on the definition of a medically
  underserved area, please contact our office or
  refer to the HRSA website http//hpsafind.hrsa.g
  ov/HPSASearch.aspx

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Eligibility

• Participants must be currently enrolled in a
  degree-seeking program, or provide proof of
  imminent acceptance to a degree-seeking program,
  at the time of submission of the MHIRT
  application
• Undergraduates must have completed three years of
  coursework in a major related to biomedical or
  behavioral health science
• Minimum GPA 3.0
• Priority considerations shall be given to the
  following
• Students attending the University of Iowa or the
  University of Northern Iowa and
• Students that can demonstrate financial need
  (e.g. copies of need-based awards and/or of
  University financial aid award letter).
• Undergraduate and graduate/professional students
  with senior status are eligible provided they are
  able to comply with the obligations (stated
  below) to MHIRT.

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Terms of the Award

• Duration
• The summer internship will last a minimum of ten
  weeks and a maximum of twelve weeks.
• Covered Expenses
• Round trip airfare
• Stipend-33/day
• Housing costs at host institution
• Passport, pre-departure immunizations, and
  insurance expenses

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Internship Placement Sites

• SLOVAKIABratislava
• SLOVAKIATrnava
• ROMANIACluj-Napoca
• THE GAMBIABanjul
• HONDURAS
• CROATIA (tentative)Zagreb
• YOUR CHOICE (if you already have a contact in
  that country)

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SLOVAKIA, BRATISLAVA

• Slovak Medical University
• Founded September 1, 2002
• Provides undergraduate, graduate, and
  postgraduate education of health care subjects
  and post-secondary specialization studies in
  medicine
• SMU research and clinical studies are geared
  toward solving the problems of preventive and
  clinical medicine with the purpose to improve
  health status and quality of life, including, but
  not limited to

• public health important infections (HIV/AIDS,
  viral hepatitis, prion
• diseases, salmonellosis, infections caused by
  enteral viruses,
• nosocomial injections)
• civilization diseases, healthy lifestyles, and
  community
• programmes (cardiovascular, immunopathologic
  and allergic
• diseases, osteoporosis, metabolic disorders,
  etc.)
• environmental health research
• research in cancer and chronic degenerative
  diseases.

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SLOVAKIA, TRNAVA

• The Department of Public Health, Faculty of
• Health Care Social Work
• Established in 1994.
• Mission to educate university-trained
  professionals for nursing, rehabilitation, public
  health, hygienic services and institutions of
  social care
• The faculty educates specialists in the field of
  Nursing, Rehabilitation, Public Health, Hygienic
  Services and Institutions in the field of Social
  Care in Slovakia and also in Africa.
• Projects conducted through Trnava University
  specialize in
• Public health research, health promotion and
  education, especially regarding issues of health
  disparities
• Immigrant health
• Migration and public health
• Romani (gypsy) health issues

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ROMANIA

• Center for Health Policy and Public Health
• Babes-Bolyai University
• Established within the Faculty of Political,
  Administrative and Communication Sciences,
  "Babes-Bolyai" University Cluj, Romania
• CHPPH Mission to develop and support
  interdisciplinary collaboration for needs
  assessment, planning, implementation and
  evaluation of health-related programmes that
  respond to the complex needs of communities and
  individuals
• Promotes an interdisciplinary approach to health
  sciences research
• Currently initiating a wide range of research
  projects with researchers from variety of
  disciplines Medicine, Veterinary Medicine,
  Public Health, Communication and Public
  Relations, Psychology, Sociology, Public
  Administration, Political Sciences, Law,
  Economical Sciences, Geography, Information
  Technology
• On-going projects include a variety of
• research opportunities, such as
• Increasing Initiation and Duration of
  Breastfeeding
• Factors Influencing Breastfeeding Attitudes and
  Behaviors
• Rural Health Information Assessment Study
• Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

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THE GAMBIA

• The Gambia School of Public Health
• Founded in 1968 initially to train Environmental
  Health Inspectors and also act as a base for
  Health Education within the Gambian community
• Gambian students pursuing the Higher National
  Degree (HND) program in the School of Public
  Health are placed in a variety of units under the
  Department of State for Health in order to gain
  firsthand experience on the nature and scope of
  national mandates. 
• The School of Public Health also provides
  training to personnel at the National
  Environmental Agency
• The School of Public Health also works closely
  with the School of Medicine and the School of
  Nursing and Midwifery
• The Schools new complex building at Brikama
  Campus has well-equipped, modern laboratories
  where students are trained in analytical methods
  and laboratory procedures relevant to public
  health and environmental health sciences
• The School of Medicine in Banjul is located next
  to the Royal Victoria Hospital - a 650-bed
  tertiary health care institution and central
  referral point for all health facilities in the
  country

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CHINA

• Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
• (formerly Shanghai Secondary Medical School)
• Founded in 1952 from the incorporation of St.
  John's Medical College (18961952), Aurora
  Medical College (19111952), and Tong-De Medical
  College (19181952)
• 12,400-member staff team and 9,900 specialists in
  various fields. 
• SJTUSM system includes ten colleges such as the
  Basic Medical College and Clinical Medical
  College, six affiliated university hospitals, 15
  teaching hospitals, one vocational nursing
  school, and one national nursing school
• Research initiatives Ponsetti Project

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CROATIA

• The Andrija Stampar School of Public Health
• Located in Zagreb, Croatia
• Founded in 1926 and formally opened in 1927 by a
  group of public health workers led by Dr Andrija
  tampar, with the financial support of the
  Rockefeller Foundation
• In 1947, after World War II, the School became
  independent from the Medical School at the
  University of Zagreb, taking over teaching for
  medical students in preventive medicine subjects

• Research work concentrated in the
• fields of
• social medicine and epidemiology
• training activities
• medical sociology
• health ecology
• environmental sanitation
• microbiology
• informatics and statistics
• primary health care and family medicine

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Obligations to the MHIRT Program

• Students must complete a course in responsible
  conduct in research
• (such as 650270001-- Responsible Conduct in
  Research, or an equivalent course) prior to the
  internship departure date
• Should a participant choose to conduct research
  involving human subjects of their own design
  (rather than participate in an on-going, already
  approved project coordinated by the international
  host institution), s/he must complete and IRB
  application and receive IRB approval prior to the
  internship
• Note this process can be lengthy! If you are
  considering conducting research with human
  subject, please contact our office as soon as
  possible for further information about this
  process
• Students must comply with mandatory pre-departure
  activities, such as orientations and training
  regarding research involving human subjects
• FebruaryTBA
• April 11Pre-departure Orientation
• During the semester following project completion,
  students must present their research results as a
  means of sharing information and experiences,
  typically at a seminar arranged by IBA and CIREH
• Students must complete a 10 page paper describing
  their research projects or internship experiences
• Students must complete a program evaluation, both
  written and in person, with a MHIRT staff member

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Evaluation Criteria

• Applications will be read and evaluated by MHIRT
• application committee members and awards will be
  made
• based on how well they meet the following
  criteria
• Appropriateness of assignment/project to the
  trainee's academic level and career plans
• A demonstration of background knowledge of
  research and/or technical skills for acquiring,
  processing and interpreting information to be
  gathered
• Priority will be given to those who are
  interested in research pertinent to reducing
  and/or eliminating health disparities
• Students who demonstrate financial need

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Important Dates

• Mandatory Orientation, University of Iowa
• April 11th, 2009
• Depart for Internship Site
• Week of May 15th, 2009
• Applications Due
• DECEMBER 5, 2008
• All applicants will be notified of award
  decisions by Friday, December 19, 2008  

Applications can be found on-line at
http//www.public-health.uiowa.edu/cireh/MHIRT