Political, economic, ethnic, or geographical boundaries that divide mankind in so many different groups are no match when it comes to the spread of deadly diseases. In March 2003 the world was stunned by the rapid spread of a serious and unknown respiratory infection that killed people from all walks of life, spreading from Southern China to Hong Kong, from other Asian countries to Canada. A quick response was set in place in many parts of the world, including Rio. The present proposal of a planning grant for the program announcement """"""""Framework Programs for Global Health"""""""" wants to build upon this experience to set up new concepts in interdisciplinary work to face major health threats. The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) is a melting pot of many different disciplines and has a strong tradition in teaching and research in Infectious Diseases. As the training and research field for Basic Research in Life Sciences, Public Health, Clinical Research and with the largest graduate program in Engineering in the country (COPPE, ? Coordination of Graduate Programs in Engineering), UFRJ has already in place a great deal of elements to implement new curricula in Global Health. Its association with FIOCRUZ, the largest biomedical research institute in Latin-America, will allow the development of a solid training program in Global Health.
The aims are to develop an infrastructure for global health research and training and build global health research linkages, leading to a full Framework Program application in 2007. UFRJ has a long history of international collaborations in global health issues, particularly with US institutions. Problems such as tuberculosis, AIDS, hospital infections, malaria, dengue, Chagas Diseases have been object of partnerships, many funded by NIH and other agencies. Partners include University of California (Berkeley and San Francisco), Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, and more recently Vanderbilt University. Scientists and educators from these institutions are either collaborators or supporters of this initiative. Seven units of the UFRJ and two from FIOCRUZ are involved in this Program Plan. The development of new curricula in global health will be the prime objective of this project, using foundational courses and interdisciplinary approaches to deal with diseases that are major public health hazards not only in Brazil but in many parts of the world. ? ?
