The overarching goal of this proposal Tufts-CMC Framework Program for Global Health Innovation is to develop novel architecture for postdoctoral training, wherein the breadth of interdisciplinary expertise at the long term, collaborative partner institutions of Tufts University, Boston, MA, and Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, India can be focused on solving current challenges in global health. We will accomplish this goal through an integrated, systems approach to hands-on training of interdisciplinary teams of paired postdoctoral fellows from Tufts and CMC in global health innovations. Our consortium includes 5 Schools (Medicine, Nutrition, Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Engineering, and International Affairs) and their departments, divisions and programs at Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center (together referred to as Tufts) and CMC. Collectively, we are engaged in substantive global health research and training activities. While we have successfully implemented global health training at the pre- and postdoctoral levels, we have identified critical gaps and areas for growth in our postdoctoral training programs. To address these gaps and areas for growth and to recruit new investigators to the full spectrum of translation of global health research, we propose to develop a sustainable interdisciplinary training program that will build training and research capacity at both institutions through a nove team-based structure. Each team will be composed of two postdoctoral fellows from diverse disciplines at Tufts and CMC, their mentors in each discipline, and an interdisciplinary mentorship committee. These teams will implement a systems approach to global health research and the translation of this research into new and innovative, implementable products, processes, or policies that address specific global health challenges. The proposed training program will build on our collective, interdisciplinary strengths, which encompass both infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) relevant to global health in low and middle-income countries (LMIC).
The Specific Aims are 1: To develop and implement interdisciplinary team-based training of postdoctoral fellows from Tufts and CMC through a systems approach to global health innovations; 2: To implement the translation of the research findings of the interdisciplinary teams from bench to bedside and to public health benefits and policy appropriate to low resource settings in LMICs; 3: To promote and implement interdisciplinary collaboration between faculty with diverse expertise both within and among the various schools and departments at Tufts and CMC; and 4: To enhance and build institutional capacity at Tufts and CMC for sustainable interdisciplinary training in global health innovations.
This grant proposal 'Tufts-CMC Framework Program for Global Health Innovation' describes a proposed postdoctoral training program in global health which includes interdisciplinary, translational training in non- communicable disease as well as in infectious diseases that pose significant public health problems in resource limited settings. This collaborative project between Tufts University and Christian Medical College in Vellore, India will train 4 postdoctoral fellows (2 from Tufts and 2 from CMC) each year; under the supervision of an interdisciplinary team of mentors, the fellows will work in pairs on a research project with an expected deliverable of a specific product, process or policy that is effective, affordable, and accessible and that takes into account India's cultural contexts.
| Kattula, Deepthi; Jeyavelu, Nithya; Prabhakaran, Ashok D et al. (2017) Natural History of Cryptosporidiosis in a Birth Cohort in Southern India. Clin Infect Dis 64:347-354 |
| Dinh, Duy M; Ramadass, Balamurugan; Kattula, Deepthi et al. (2016) Longitudinal Analysis of the Intestinal Microbiota in Persistently Stunted Young Children in South India. PLoS One 11:e0155405 |
| Kattula, Deepthi; Venugopal, Srinivasan; Velusamy, Vasanthakumar et al. (2016) Measuring Poverty in Southern India: A Comparison of Socio-Economic Scales Evaluated against Childhood Stunting. PLoS One 11:e0160706 |
