Health & Medicine

Using mutlidisplinary and transdisciplinary research approaches to enhance the livelihoods of communities in Northern Kenya 

The Mumbai Center  partnered with Columbia University’s Institute for Training Outreach and Community Health for a day-long symposium.

The Masters Direct Entry program is designed to teach nursing students more about real-world experiences and scenarios.

Addressing the importance of equitable access to vaccines, both during and beyond pandemics, Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at Christian Medical College, Vellore, delivered the Distinguished Yusuf Hamied Lecture online.

Building on the initiative to strengthen research on menstrual health through its Period of Life project, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai conducted an online workshop entitled ‘Resources for Menstrual Health: Proposal Writing, Research Design and Funding Access’ on April 17, 2023.

Research and training workshop focused on environmental and occupational health in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo 

Colorectal cancer screening and optimal strategies lecture by Chin Hur, Columbia University Irving Medical Center professor.

Sydney Fontalvo will research the effect of different countries’ levels of individualism on older adult loneliness and depressive symptoms.

Professor Maya Deyssenroth, a 2021 Yusuf Hamied Fellow, delivered a talk entitled Perinatal Signatures of Exposure-Induced Health Outcomes.

Dr. Linda Fried, Dean of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and Director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, delivered the Fourth Distinguished Yusuf Hamied Lecture online.

On April 5, 2022, CGC | Mumbai organized an orientation program for six nursing students from Columbia School of Nursing, to familiarize them with the public health landscape and nursing ecosystem in India.

To understand the current status of TB and discuss recent advances in research and control, Columbia Global Centers Mumbai and Nairobi organized a panel discussion with leading experts on the topic,

A moral compass, epitomized by caring for the sick with compassion, is one of the essential building blocks of an effective healthcare system, remarked Vikram Patel, Pershing Square Professor of Global Health at Harvard Medical School.

Screening programs can play a key role in reducing cancer. Over the last year, the Center has hosted a six-part webinar series to promote research, scientific knowledge exchange, and information about the detection and prevention of cancer in India, and raise awareness about dealing with the disease during the pandemic. Key learnings from this series can be read in this easy-to-read booklet.

Are vaccines effective against variants of the SARS CoV-2 virus? To discuss the emergence of Covid variants and understand the clinical processes associated with vaccine research and development in India and globally, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai organized an online panel discussion on July 28, 2021.

The third phase of the illustrious Yusuf Hamied Fellowship, a joint program of Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, has been awarded to four faculty members from Columbia University and Indian research institutions.

In India, liver cancer is the tenth most common cancer and recent trends show that the number of cases are on the rise. To discuss the current status of liver cancer, explore efforts undertaken for hepatitis vaccinations, and understand linkage to care and routine screening procedures, the Center focused the fifth webinar of its Screenings that Save series on liver cancer on June 22, 2021.

Globally, oral cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer, with India contributing to almost one-third of the total burden. Despite being one of the most preventable and easily detectable cancers, it continues to pose a serious public health problem. As part of global Oral Cancer Awareness month, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai organized the fourth online seminar of its series, Screenings that Save.

Studies show that one woman dies of cervical cancer in India every eight minutes. To discuss the primary and secondary prevention approaches associated with this illness, the Center organized the third webinar of its series, Screenings that Save: A Seminar Series on Cancer Diagnosis and Prevention

The coronavirus pandemic set off an extraordinary race to develop a vaccine at a speed unmatched in the history of vaccine research. In an effort to understand the development, distribution and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines, the Center organized a panel discussion on February 8, 2021. 

What are the risk factors for stomach and pancreatic cancers? How feasible are individual and population-based screening strategies? The second webinar of Screenings that Save was held in November, the Global Stomach and Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month to answer these questions

“The relationship between income and health is a gradient; every step up the occupational ladder, improves life expectancy,” remarked Professor Gita Sen, Public Health Foundation of India, as she presented the Second Annual Yusuf Hamied Distinguished Lecture by a leading expert from India.

In October 2020, CGC | Mumbai launched an important new initiative entitled Screenings that Save: A Seminar Series on Cancer Diagnosis and Prevention in partnership with the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University, beginning with a webinar to mark Global Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“The economic and human impact of Covid-19 will dwarf any outbreak that we have experienced so far” noted the celebrated virologist, Professor W. Ian Lipkin, as he presented the Third Distinguished Yusuf Hamied Lecture on July 8, 2020.

This two-part series addressed the challenges faced by dental professionals and showcased innovative approaches in providing oral healthcare services and educating dental students across India, Kenya and the United States.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States and India. On June 4, 2020, a webinar was hosted to discuss how the coronavirus crisis has altered the way in which women seek cardiovascular care and the various approaches to improving women’s health during a pandemic. The event was organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai in partnership with the Women Creating Change initiative.

How have nursing schools responded in clinical and education settings to this unexpected outbreak? How have nurses dealt with the psychological distress that accompanies such a crisis? These were some of the questions that were discussed during a webinar organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai in collaboration with the Columbia School of Nursing on April 30, 2020.

“40% of people living with HIV currently are not accessing treatment...to combat the spread of diseases, it is essential to gain access to the population, identify people at risk and provide treatment to such individuals", said Wafaa El Sadr, University Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, Columbia University, as she presented the Second Distinguished Yusuf Hamied Lecture organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on January 30, 2020.  

From this webinar on ‘Frontline Nurses: Leaders in Pandemic Response’ you will get to hear the voices of the Ebola nurses, understand their insights, and consider the implications for all of us today in the battle against COVID-19.

Want to help others during the pandemic but don't know how? Here are four charities you can donate to to support others during this crisis.

A saúde de todos é a nossa prioridade, e por essa razão, decidimos adiar todos os nossos eventos como medida de prevenção. Novas datas serão definidas e informadas a todos.

As India is considered the pharmacy of the developing world, the pricing of drugs within the country is a very important national and global issue. In the last two decades, several policies have been put in place to regulate pricing and access but the comprehensive impact of these policies is yet to be explored. On November 12, 2019, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai hosted a panel discussion on the subject featuring two winners of Yusuf Hamied Fellowships.

“Around 3.8 million people die every year around the world due to ambient air pollution,” remarked Jeanine D’Armiento, Columbia University Professor of Medicine, at the opening session of a symposium on the topic held at Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai.  The symposium was one among multiple events organized at the Center between December 2-4, 2019, to deliberate the health impact and clinical significance of air pollution in India.

Building on the mission to strengthen public health research on India, six faculty members from Columbia University and Indian institutions have been awarded the prestigious Yusuf Hamied Fellowship of 2019-2020. In its second year, the Fellowship has been awarded to projects focusing on occupational health, environmental health, non-communicable diseases, and aging in India.

More than 400 million people lack access to essential health services around the world, and nurses, the largest cadre of healthcare providers globally, are key to addressing such health disparities, emphasized Professor Jennifer Dohrn from the Columbia School of Nursing in a symposium entitled Technologies of Care: New Directions in Nursing Education organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on December 12, 2019.

Microbial matter in the gut has been linked to a host of conditions and diseases, including diabetes, cancer, anxiety disorders, and infectious diseases.  To explore the gut microbiome as a critical area of health in India, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai organized a seminar in partnership with the Shillim Institute on September 29-30, 2019. 

“Diseases in India can be tackled only with an equity plan,” remarked Dr. Nerges Mistry from the Foundation of Medical Research, an expert speaker invited for the orientation program organized by the Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on April 8, 2019 for nursing students from the Columbia School of Nursing.  The students were beginning a six-week global clinical practicum to care for patients with infectious diseases at the Bel-Air Hospital in Panchgani and St. Philomena’s Hospital in Bengaluru.

An ongoing research exchange between faculty at the Columbia Mailman School and scholars in India is laying the groundwork for a series of innovative public health collaborations. The Yusuf Hamied Fellowship Program, supported by the celebrated Indian scientist and pioneering business leader, is stimulating research partnerships that address key public health challenges in India.

“The whole point of medicine is that it is oriented towards people, care, emotions and the real lived experience. And often that is lacking when we practice medicine. One of our goals is to think about how do we reinvigorate, how do we reintroduce those kinds of questions and concerns back into our practice of medicine on a daily basis,” observed Dr. Rishi Goyal, at a two-day conference at Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on February 18-19, 2019.

Is human growth determined more by our genetic makeup or by environmental nurture?  Even as this question has been the source of serious scholarly debate over the years, it gains added significance when making critical decisions about health care.  Presenting the Yusuf Hamied Distinguished Lecture at the Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on March 4, 2019, Gary Miller, Vice Dean and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, demonstrated how the study of the human genome and genetics has now been expanded by a new and complex set of di