SPH receives $1.3M to study fish processing impact in Ghana
The School of Public Health has received a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to study the impact of the fish processing industry on persistent anemia among adolescent girls and women in Ghana. Andrew Jones, John G. Searle Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences and assistant professor of nutritional sciences, SPH; and research assistant professor, Center for Human Growth and Development, leads a team that will determine if increased consumption of fish produced in an environmentally safe way, along with additional interventions, could be answers to one of the greatest public health concerns in that region and many other low- and middle-income countries. The team, which includes the University of Ghana and several nongovernmental organizations, will conduct a pilot-scale randomized trial involving 120 subjects from 12 communities among fisheries along the Gulf of Guinea and Lake Volta.
Nominations sought for Distinguished University Innovator Award
The U-M Office of Research is seeking nominations for the 2018 Distinguished University Innovator Award, the university’s highest honor for faculty who have shown leadership in bringing new ideas to the marketplace. Nominees can include current tenured, tenure-track or research faculty, or a team of up to three such faculty members. Details on the award criteria, the nomination and selection processes, and previous winners can be found at myumi.ch/659wp. Nominations are due March 28 and the selection will be announced in October at the annual Celebrate Invention event, sponsored by UMOR. The Distinguished University Innovator Award is supported by endowments from UMOR and the Stephen and Rosamund Forrest Family Foundation.
U-M Flint launches new global outreach program
The U-M Flint International Center has launched a new program to further support faculty, staff and students who promote the university internationally. The Global Outreach Ambassador program provides training and materials about UM-Flint for those interested in speaking about the university while traveling. Ambassadors can receive a stipend for their time and efforts, and can do the outreach during work travels or on personal trips to other countries.
SPH establishes accelerated master’s program with Chinese schools
The School of Public Health has established an accelerated master’s degree program with undergraduate programs on campus and at Tsinghua University School of Environment and Peking University College of Environmental Science and Engineering. The new program takes five years to complete, and university officials expect to receive the first cohort of students this fall. The hope is for the program to help strengthen student diversity at SPH, increase collaborative research opportunities between institutions and build the next generation of environmental leaders in China. After completing three years of undergraduate education at their home institutions, students can apply to the program. Accepted students will take environmental health sciences courses at SPH during the fourth year of the program. Students then apply to the master’s degree program at SPH, and those who are accepted will graduate with a master’s degree in environmental health sciences at the end of the fifth year of the program.
— Compiled by Safiya Merchant, The University Record
