The President’s Global Innovation Fund (PGIF) was launched in March 2013 by President Emeritus Lee C. Bollinger to increase global opportunities for research, teaching, and service. The initiative supports Columbia Faculty in developing projects and research collaborations within and across the University’s nine Columbia Global Centers.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Nelson Mandela.
The PGIF Round 6 Projects (2018)
This project sought to host a meeting of critical pediatrics health care leaders and related governmental officials from Sub-Saharan at the Columbia University Global Center in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2018. This meeting was the first step in developing a Sub-Saharan Children's Hospitals Mapping Survey which would then be used to identify sites of care, develop a practical working definition of a children's hospital, and subsequently develop a pediatric-specific Global Health Security Agenda evaluation tool. The purpose of this tool was to evaluate the capabilities of children's hospitals to respond to biological, chemical, and nuclear threats that can endanger the lives of children in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Research Team
- Principal Investigator: Philip LaRussa, M.D: Professor of Pediatrics; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.
- Co- principal Investigators: Lawrence Stanberry, M.D. Ph. D: Professor of Pediatrics; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University; Wilmot James, Ph. D: Visiting Professor of Pediatrics; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.
- Other Participants: Stephen Nicholas, M.D. – Professor of Pediatrics; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University; Murugi Ndirangu – Director, Columbia Global Centers | Nairobi
- Local Collaborator: Dr. Carlos Navarro Colorado, MD MSc PhD – Principal Adviser for Public Health Emergencies at UNICEF; The ELMA foundation.
This project aimed to strengthen collaborations between the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia Law School, ICAP at Columbia University and in Kenya, Columbia Global Centers in Nairobi, and the local health system in Kisumu, Kenya. The project created new practicum opportunities for Mailman and Law School students. These practicum opportunities involved programming through the Columbia Global Centers Nairobi and the Kisumu-based Gender-Based Violence Recovery Center (GBVRC) at Jaramogi Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH). The program aimed to develop innovative, field-based practicum programming in areas of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya.
The Research Team
- Principal Investigator: Terry McGovern: Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professor; Chair, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
- Co- principal Investigators: Wafaa El-Sadr: University Professor and Director of ICAP at Columbia University.
- Other Columbia Participants: Kristen Underhill – Associate Professor of Law and Population and Family Health, Columbia University, School of Law.
- Local Collaborators: Gender Based Violence Recovery Center (GBVRC) at Jaramogi Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH); Doris Odera, MSc, MPH - Director of Strategies and Partnership for ICAP in Kenya.
The PGIF Round 7 Projects (2019)
This project sought to build on the previous project that brought together key stakeholders to begin the dialogue needed to assess oral health needs and gaps in Kenya and the East African region. This project relied heavily on addressing a vital issue in prior works on oral health workforce training and retention. Given the small number of dentists practicing in Kenya and the growing oral health burden, the project sought to address the need to integrate oral health programming with existing health services delivery systems in a system where program planning and evaluation were lacking.
The Research Team
- Principal Investigator: Kavita Ahluwalia: Associate Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical College.
- Co- principal Investigators: Bill Bower: Special Lecturer, Helibrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; Linda Cushman: Associate Dean for Field Practice; Professor of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Medical College.
- Local Collaborator: Regina Mutave James, BDS, PhD - Dean School of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi; Oral Health Unit, Ministry of Health, Kenya; Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC)
This project was built on the work of an existing PGIF project (Addressing Gender-Based Violence: A Public Health and Law School Partnership in Kisumu. This part of the project developed, piloted, and disseminated an approach to evaluating the impact of paralegal services provided to survivors of gender-based violence. This project entailed collaboration across the University, specifically from; the Program on Global Health Justice and Governance in the Department of Population and Family Health, ICAP in the Department of Epidemiology, the Law School, the Columbia University Global Center in Nairobi, the Kisumu-based Gender-Based Violence Recovery Center (GBVRC) at Jaramogi Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), and, Strathmore University in Nairobi. Furthermore, the project sought to build on the programmatic learning and relationships established during the previous PGIF planning process to co-design and co-implement a mixed-method evaluation of the legal services provided at the GBVRC, which will deepen intellectual exchange within multi-disciplinary, multi-institution teams and result in a product that can improve services in the GBVRC and GBV clinics in medical settings more globally.
The Research Team
Principal Investigator: Terry McGovern: Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professor; Chair, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
Co- principal Investigators: Wafaa El-Sadr: University Professor and Director of ICAP at Columbia University.
Other Participants: Kristen Underhill – Associate Professor of Law and Population and Family Health, Columbia University, School of Law.
Local Collaborator: Strathmore University, Kenya
The PGIF Round 8 Projects (2020)
Children are vulnerable to illness and death from extreme heat, but data on the magnitude of this public health problem and potential solutions are lacking, particularly in developing countries. This project proposed a 2- year project to investigate the impact of extreme heat on children's health in three sub-Saharan African countries. The project leveraged the Columbia University Children's Hospitals in Africa Mapping Project (CHAMP), which assessed the resources and capabilities of 24 hospitals in 16 sub-Saharan African nations. This project was considered the first prospective study to assess the impact of extreme heat on children's health in sub-Saharan Africa and laid the groundwork for practical solutions to meet the medical needs of children impacted by extreme heat.
The Research Team
- Principal Investigator: Lawrence R. Stanberry: Professor of Pediatrics/Associate Dean for International Programs, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
- Co- principal Investigators: Lisa Saiman: Professor of Pediatrics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
- Other Columbia Participants: Jane W. Baldwin – Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University; Robbie M Parks - Earth Institute Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Columbia University; Wilmot G. James - Visiting Professor of Political Science (and Pediatrics), Department of Political Science, Columbia University; Philip S. LaRussa - Special Lecturer in Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University; Shannon Marquez - Dean of Undergraduate Global Engagement, Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement, Columbia University.
- Local Collaborators: Irene Merete - Moi University Referral Hospital; Ra’ana Husain - Aga Khan University Hospital; Ruth Nduati - University of Nairobi Hospital.
