Global Health Sciences

Global Health Network Meetings

*Meeting details will be posted progressively as they are set up over the year.

June 10: HIV prevention with adult male circumcision

April 3: Documentary screening Questioning AIDS in Africa

The documentary explores the controversy surrounding President Thabo Mbeki's inquiry into the HIV / AIDS hypothesis and has provoked much debate among audiences around the world.

March 19: HIV ARV roll-out process in East Africa (Kenya & Tanzania)

Dr. Sophy Wong, a UCSF Clinical HIV/AIDS Fellow working with the ASPIRE Program, will present her work and experiences in Kenya and Tanzania.

February 19: Speaker Dr. Ndola Prata

Dr. Ndola Prata, an Angolan physician, will be give a talk about her research and advocacy work surrounding misoprostol for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage. Dr. Prata has a dual appointment at UC Berkeley and with Venture Strategies for Health.

February 7: Screening Baghdad Hospital: Inside the Red Zone
Scholar presentations

Al-Yarmouk hospital, which has become a "field hospital in a civil war," is located in the most dangerous part of Baghdad and serves as the epicenter of hope and despair for thousands of wounded civilians and their families. Filmed by an Iraqi doctor, the documentary chronicles the chaos both inside the ER and on the streets of Baghdad.

January 24:

Dr. Rob Renner will speak about his volunteer dental work in Cambodia, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Dr. Renner is a retired professor and dental specialist in prosthodontics. He and his wife, Purobi, spend their time traveling treating children's oral health.

January 8: Documentary screening Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge

Over the past 150 years, stunning breakthroughs in public health have enabled humans to live longer, healthier and more productive lives. Clean drinking water, modern sanitation and good nutrition, along with the development of highly effective vaccines and antibiotics have increased average western life expectancy by an astonishing 35 years. But, the benefits of public health have yet to be extended to many of the poorest nations in the developing world. Meanwhile, in the past two decades, infectious diseases that had nearly been conquered, such as tuberculosis, have come surging back, while devastating new diseases such as AIDS, SARS and West Nile Virus have emerged. Microbial resistance to many modern drugs is rising, threatening people everywhere. And in our world of globalized travel, the latest epidemic is only a plane ride away. Rx for Survival examines what makes us sick, what keeps us health, and what it would take to give good health the upper hand.

December 18: ASPIRE guest speakers To be rescheduled

ASPIRE (AIDS Services, Prevention, Intervention, Research and Education) is the international education and training arm of the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital. They help organizations around the world to build their capacity to serve local communities and enhance the quality of HIV/AIDS care in developing countries. Speakers will talk about the organization and projects and speak about their experiences with working in Tanzania.

December 6: Screening of "Darwin's Nightmare"

A moving documentary about the artificial populating of Lake Victoria with Nile Perch for export to Europe and how this has impacted the natural habitat of Lake Victoria and the local economy in Tanzania.

November 12: Speaker Matt Flannery, Cofounder: Microlending site Kiva

Kiva facilitates individuals making loans to small businesses around the world. Matt was just named one of America's top Young Innovators by Smithsonian magazine. Recent Press: Wall Street Journal

October 23: Malaria bednets trial and the WHO - policy vs evidence. (PDF)

October 11: Screening of new documentary film iSalud!

The new documentary film ¡SALUD! sheds light on how such a resource-poor country can provide its people with what the BBC calls 'one of the world's best health systems.' For 40 years, Cuba's taken it to the road, their doctors in demand by other struggling nations. ¡SALUD! reaches into The Gambia, rural South Africa, Honduran coastal villages, Caracas hillsides, and the Venezuelan Amazon, where a Cuban is often the first doctor a poor community has ever seen. In some nations, Cubans staff entire health systems. In all, they take on the toughest challenges, bringing with them the philosophy and experience of a community-oriented, preventive, and universal health care model. ¡SALUD! questions what propels Cuban doctors to serve where others won't, and grapples with the tensions their presence sometimes provokes. The film probes the motivations of international students at Havana's Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) where a bold paradigm shift is producing doctors committed to public service. Through these stories and testimony from experts around the world, ¡SALUD! traces the opinions and competing agendas that mark the battle for better global health.