Recognizing the potential of technology to revolutionize global health outcomes, IGHS consistently integrates innovative technologies into its research projects. This includes harnessing modern data analysis tools, utilizing mobile technologies for health interventions, and exploring digital solutions to streamline health service delivery. IGHS’s approach focuses on implementation science to ensure that health interventions aren’t just theoretical but practical, effective and scalable in real-world settings. IGHS aims to deliver tangible solutions to pressing global health challenges by melding implementation science with technological innovations.
Projects
The CHESA Fellowship is a one-year, part-time, non-ACGME fellowship for individuals committed to building careers focused on advancing health equity in perioperative care. The program leverages UCSF resources and expertise to foster the next generation of global surgery and anesthesia leaders who use research, education and advocacy to address disparities in perioperative care.
Country of activity
The program is administered in the United States. Fellows are from Haiti, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Jordan, Romania, and the United States.
IGHS Center
Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia
Contact
Doruk Ozgediz, MD, MSc doruk.ozgediz@ucsf.edu
Lia Jacobson, MD lia.jacobson@ucsf.edu
Sriranjani Padmanabhan, MD sriranjani.padmanabhan@ucsf.edu
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The CHESA Fellowship
The CREST Initiative aims to be a beacon of interdisciplinary research, education and outreach in pioneering initiatives that harness technology to fortify societies against present and future adversities, such as pandemics and human-caused disasters.
Country of activity
United States
Partners
Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences (PACEs) Connection, Resilient Collective
Funders
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Science Foundation, UCSF Resource Allocation Program
IGHS Center
Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
Contact
Mohsen Malekinejad, MD, DrPH mmalekinejad@ucsf.edu
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Collective for Resilient Societies and Technology (CREST) Initiative
CULTIVATE uses virtual reality (VR) to deliver diversity, equity, and inclusion training to health care providers. This project aims to understand if changes in medical education enhanced by VR will improve health access, quality of care, and health outcomes of individuals who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Country of activity
United States
Funder
Genentech
IGHS Center
Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
Contact
Nova Wilson, MPH nova.wilson@ucsf.edu
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CULTIVATE
The Malaria Elimination Initiative leads two randomized controlled trials to reduce malaria transmission. CHILD (Child Health and Infection with Low Density) Malaria in Tanzania assesses the health and socioeconomic impacts of testing and treating low-density malaria infections among children. FLAME (FocaL Mass Drug Administration for Vivax Malaria Elimination) in Peru evaluates the efficacy of focal mass drug administration in reducing malaria transmission.
Countries of activity
Tanzania, Peru
Partners
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Ifakara Health Institute, PATH, Stanford University, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
Funders
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
IGHS Center
Center for Global Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
Contact
Sylvia Jebiwott, MPH sylvia.jebiwott@ucsf.edu
Sydney Fine, MPH sydney.fine@ucsf.edu
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FocaL Mass Drug Administration for Vivax Malaria Elimination (FLAME), CHILD (Child Health and Infection With Low Density) Malaria
Accurate diagnosis of malaria is critical for appropriate patient management and population-level surveillance. While standard diagnostics such as microscopy and rapid diagnostic testing (RDTs) are generally considered to have reliable accuracy, the changing epidemiology of malaria in low-transmission settings presents new challenges. Specifically, a higher proportion of infections in these settings is below the reliable detection limit of RDTs and microscopy. The Malaria Elimination Initiative uses research to assess the effectiveness of existing diagnostics in low transmission settings and the factors that influence the accuracy of these tests when used for passive and active case detection for surveillance.
Countries of activity
Tanzania, Peru
Partners
Ifakara Health Institute, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Stanford University, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, PATH
Funders
National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
IGHS Center
Center for Global Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
Contact
Michelle Hsiang, MD michelle.hsiang@ucsf.edu
Sylvia Jebiwott, MPH sylvia.jebiwott@ucsf.edu
Sydney Fine, MPH sydney.fine@ucsf.edu
The Open Oximetry Project improves access to safe pulse oximeters worldwide by sharing data and creating new standards and technologies for oximeter validation that better account for skin color. The project brings together a diverse community of oximetry experts, including engineers, academic researchers, clinicians, community members, manufacturers, and regulatory bodies, to partner to tackle these issues.
Country of activity
United States
Partners
The UCSF Hypoxia Lab
Funders
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, PATH with funding from Unitaid, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USAID-STAR Sustaining Technical and Analytic Resources (STAR) Project, The UCSF Hypoxia Lab
IGHS Center
Center for Health Equity in Surgery and Anesthesia
Contact
Michael Lipnick, MD michael.lipnick@ucsf.edu
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Open Oximetry
Despite significant progress in the fight against malaria, 239,000 cases were reported in the Greater Mekong Subregion in 2019, with most cases reported in Cambodia. Multidrug-resistant malaria remains a threat to regional elimination goals and global health security, and mobile and migrant populations, including forest-goers and forest rangers, remain at the highest risk for malaria. Moreover, many malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in the region bite and rest outdoors, yet the availability of effective protection against outdoor-biting mosquitoes is severely limited. One vector control project, Project BITE, is assessing the entomological protective efficacy, as well as the acceptability, durability, and cost, of a curated forest pack of bite prevention tools compared to the standard of care among high-risk forest rangers and forest-going populations in Cambodia, following evaluations of the same tools through semi-field studies in Thailand. Ultimately, Project BITE aims to inform the scale-up of effective outdoor bite prevention tools across Cambodia, the Greater Mekong Subregion, and the Asia Pacific region to support near-term malaria elimination goals.
Countries of activity
Thailand, Cambodia
Partners
University of Notre Dame, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Thailand, Kasetsart University in Thailand, Cambodia’s National Center for Parasitology, Entomology, and Malaria Control
Funder
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Innovative Vector Control Consortium
IGHS Center
Center for Global Infectious and Parasitic Diseases
Contact
Elodie Vajda elodie.vajda@ucsf.edu
More information
Project BITE