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Global health research highlights of 2023 from Fogarty and NIH

January 5, 2024

The year started with the conclusion of a singular chapter in the Fogarty International Center's history—the end of Roger Glass' tenure as Fogarty's longest-serving director. Still Fogarty maintained focus on its core programs and core values in 2023—from celebrating the 20th anniversary of two flagship grant programs to working towards equitable research by elevating underrepresented voices and groups.

The following selections from readers and editors of Global Health Matters demonstrate Fogarty's continued dedication to support, fund, and train the next generation of global health leaders.

Participants sit on a stage at the plenary session at CUGH 2023 on global health in the 21st century  

Alumni and NIH moderators sit at a table on the stage of the Natcher Center at NIH.  

Dr. Tetiana Nickelsen stands at a podium with a screen showing a slide with the title “Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD.” Students are seated on folding chairs in an underground bunker in Lviv, Ukraine.  

Monica Pajuelo (right) introduces scientists in her lab. From left: Lucero Merino, Lucero Mascaro, Maryhory Vargas-Reyes, and Andrea Diestra-Calderon (behind Pajuelo)  

Photo credits:
Fogarty International Center
Fogarty International Center
Tetiana Nickelsen
Fogarty International Center

  1. Leadership transition at Fogarty: Peter Kilmarx stepped in as acting director and Rachel Sturke as acting deputy director in January 2023. Kilmarx emphasized the center's continued commitment to global health research, partnership building, capacity strengthening, pandemic preparedness, planetary health, noncommunicable diseases, and implementation science. In February, we celebrated the extraordinary career of outgoing director Roger Glass.
  2. 20 years of Global Health Fellows & Scholars and Global Brain: Fogarty's flagship Global Health Fellows & Scholars turned 20. Profiles of several alumni caught readers attention, including those of Yvetot Joseph, Anubha Agarwal, Alex Kayongo, and Eric Nelson. Another Fogarty program also turned 20: The Global Brain and Nervous System Disorders Research across the Lifespan program has supported research in 66 low- and middle-income countries.
  3. Reimagining global health at revitalized CUGH: The Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) returned “in real life," holding its first in-personal conference since 2019. A plenary session co-moderated by Acting Fogarty Director Peter Kilmarx discussed reimaging global health in the 21st century. Other sessions focused on climate change, nutrition & health and reducing waste and environmental impact of eye surgeries.
  4. Persevering in Ukraine: Fogarty-supported researchers in Ukraine are persevering despite the war with Russia. Acting Fogarty Director Peter Kilmarx visited Warsaw, Poland, to learn about Fogarty's impact in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We also profiled a bioethics program in Ukraine which has persisted through COVID-19 and the war.
  5. Diversity and equity in global health research: Fogarty's notice of special interest in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion beyond borders resulted in supplemental awards to bolster research equity. Our Bioethics program has been diversifying voices in bioethics since it began in 2000. Fogarty grant recipient Purnima Madhivanan works to create health equity through community-based participatory research. NIH published the NIH Report on Request for Information on Promoting Equity in Global Health Research.
  6. Preparing future generations of African researchers: The African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI) welcomed its third round of fellows. APTI provides African researchers with four-year fellowships—two years spent in an NIH lab and an additional two years at home institutions in Africa. We caught up with three fellows from the first cohort and the two from the second cohort.
  7. Using data to understand the global burden of diseases: A study calculated a new estimate of dementia prevalence in India, showing that it affects 3 million more people than previously thought. Noting that their data is used to guide allocation and prioritization of resources, the Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Collaboration announced plans to publish the cardiovascular disease dashboard annually rather than every few years.
  8. Building research infrastructure and capacity: Three decades of Fogarty-supported training programs have allowed Peru's research infrastructure to blossom. Fogarty grant recipient Jerrold Ellner, an immunologist and HIV researcher, helped build Uganda's exceptional scientific infrastructure.  
  9. Shining a spotlight on Fogarty's Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies: Between January and November 2023, Fogarty's Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies (DEIPS) published 25 studies in peer-reviewed journals on a range of topics related to both domestic and global health.
  10. Remembering colleague and friend Rob Eiss: Rob Eiss, a long-term member of the Fogarty team, passed away in late October. He leaves a legacy as an advocate for global health research partnerships. 


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