Written by Kim Furlow, communications manager, Institute for Public Health
If you have been considering becoming a part of WashU’s growing global health community, you should know about the Global Health Center’s new Early Stage Investigators (ESI) Meeting. The group meets monthly and is open to any early investigator interested in or currently conducting global health research.
The new group:
- Convenes external early-stage investigators, including international partners who are also early-stage investigators
- Creates and nurtures a community of global health early-stage investigators at WashU, including peer support
- Provides a platform for deeper engagement, sharing, and structured feedback plus a review of current and future global health research methods, projects and proposals, including work-in-progress and mock study section activities
- Enables sharing of experiences, knowledge, and resources related to common global health research challenges and opportunities, including but not limited to ethics and research regulations
Christine O’Brien, PhD, assistant professor at McKelvey School of Engineering, and ESI participant says, “It’s a forum to ask practical questions and brainstorm with peers about various funding opportunities; tips and resources for initiating and conducting research in low and middle income countries; obtaining international IRB approval; and, help with identifying collaborators at, and outside of, WashU.”
Research Director of the Initiative on Social Work and Forced Migration, Mitra Naseh, PhD, an assistant professor at the Brown School, is also a participant in the new ESI meetings. She says they are, “A great opportunity to learn about ongoing efforts and projects related to global health across the university. They provide opportunities for networking and collaboration. Listening to other researchers presenting their work has been also inspiring for me.”
Professor O’Brien continues: “The ESI meetings can provide essentially any type of support needed and have already evolved to meet the needs of its participants. The leaders are genuinely invested in helping to develop ESI’s into successful global health researchers. I look forward to continuing my participation in this program and the WashU global health community.”
For more information about Early Stage Investigator Meetings, please contact the Global Health Center at the Institute for Public Health.
The Global Health Center improves global health through transdisciplinary programs and partnerships across Washington University in St. Louis and around the world.