Congratulations to affiliate Division faculty members, Steve Swanson and Bill Stauffer, for their New England Journal of Medicine article on reduction of enteric parasite infections in U.S.-bound refugees after a program of mass pre-departure treatment of refugees with a single dose of albendazole.

Read the full article

Be sure to check out Minnesota Medical Foundation's April 19 blog post, which highlights contributions and efforts by U of M Academic Health Center faculty toward reducing the global burden of disease on children in Africa.

Global Pediatrics adjunct faculty member, Robert Opoka (Makerere University; Kampala, Uganda), is quoted, and the joint research efforts of Drs. Opoka and division director, Chandy John, are described in the piece.

Dr. Opoka will be visiting the University of Minnesota this week, where he will give a lecture on bacterial meningitis as well as a separate address to pediatric and medicine-pediatric residents. Both events take place Thursday, May 3.

A huge congratulations to International Adoption Clinic co-founder, Dana Johnson MD, PhD, who was presented with a lifetime achievement award in New York City on April 12, 2012, by Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS). Dr. Johnson has made a difference in the lives of thousands of orphaned children worldwide through his pioneering efforts to help establish adoption medicine as a field of practice and his legislative advocacy.

Said current IAC director, Dr. Cindy Howard "We are thrilled that Dana and his work have been recognized with this award. He is a tireless advocate for orphans throughout the world, and we share his passion that every child deserves a family."

View the video made by Emerson Hatch, thanking him for saving her life.


Dana Johnson with Angelique Hatch, co-founder and president of the non-profit
International Child Advocacy Network (ICAN) and member of the board of directors for JCICS.

To help foster the next generation of global health scientists, Fogarty International Center and its partners at the National Institutes of Health are building a network of U.S. academic institutions to provide early-career physicians, veterinarians, dentists and scientists with a significant mentored research experience in a developing country.

About $20.3 million will be awarded over the next five years to support 400 early-career health scientists on 11-month research fellowships in 27 low- and middle-income countries.  The Fogarty Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars will provide five consortia of academic institutions with about $4 million each, to support the training activities of a total of 20 partner institutions.

The University of Minnesota is part of the Northern and Pacific Universities Global Health Consortium, which includes the University of Washington, the University of Minnesota, the University of Michigan and the University of Hawaii.

The University of Minnesota was one of one of only two universities in the Midwest to receive a Fogarty award.

The award builds on UMN's strong global health research programs in Uganda and Kenya.

"This award will allow UMN to foster the next generation of global health researchers and confirms UMN's role as a leader in global health research and education," stated Dr. Chandy John, UMN principal investigator on the award and director of the Division of Global Pediatrics.

Application materials are at z.umn.edu/fogartyscholars

Global Pediatrics announces a new online training module for Minnesota pediatricians. The module as authored by Matthew Jones, M.D., during his fourth year of residency at University of Minnesota, with the assistance of Dr. Mohamed A. Hagi Aden (Regions Hospital). Click the image to view, or click here.

Maria Kroupina, child psychologist for the International Adoption Clinic, traveled to Russia for in February 2012 to lead a four-day professional training program for social workers, families and clinicians. The training, which focuses on helping children who have experienced early trauma, was developed with support of a Zero To Three fellowship (2008-2011) and will soon be offered in the United States. Contact us if you are interested in bringing Dr. Kroupina to your area.

The 36th Annual Child Welfare Symposium, sponsored by Joint Council on International Children's Services, will be held in New York City, April 16 - 18, 2012, and will include lectures by internationally recognized child development and adoption medicine experts Dana Johnson, MD, PhD, Michael K. Georgieff, MD, and John Himes, PhD, MPH, all from the University of Minnesota.

Screen grab courtesy Joint Council on International Children's Services

Every year the Symposium brings together professionals in the fields of child welfare, adoption and orphan care for three days of information gathering, idea sharing and networking. All those with an interest in ensuring that children live, grow and flourish in a permanent, safe and loving family are invited to attend. Four topic-focused tracks: Medical and Nutritional Institute; U.S. Foster Care and Domestic Adoption Curriculum; Intercountry Adoption Curriculum; and Orphan Care Curriculum. 

Global Pediatrics division director, Chandy John (pictured), presented as part of a panel at the International Research Conference February 17, 2012, sponsored by Global Programs and Strategy Alliance. The panel plenary session was titled Global U Forum and addressed the pressing questions:

• How should global governance shape the international research agenda?
• What are the opportunities and where are the gaps in solving problems on a global scale?

Other panelists included Eric P. Schwartz (Dean, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Moderator); Abdi Samatar (Professor, Geography, CLA); Karen Seashore (Regents Professor, Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, CEHD); and Marla Spivak (Distinguished McKnight Professor in Entomology, CFANS).

Global Pediatrics division faculty, Sarah Cusick, chaired a session titled "Iron Deficiency, Malaria, and Neurobehavioral Development", at which Drs. John and Maria Kroupina, also presented.

Read more about the conference

The Division of Global Pediatrics was pleased to host Janet Serwint, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins this week, who specializes in health care issues of underserved populations.

Dr. Serwint presented a Pediatric Grand Rounds at University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital and St. Paul Children's Hospital, titled "Humanism in Pediatric Death and Bereavement".


Residents attended Dr. Serwint's workshop, "Sharing Bad News: Anatomy of an Interchange", which included content adapted from her 2000 article in Contemporary Pediatrics, "Sharing Bad News With Parents" (coauthored by Lorene Rutherford, M.D.).