Global Health
IMPACT: GLOBAL HEALTH
Driving Global Health Innovation from Local Action to Worldwide Impact
The Department of Global Health is committed to improving the health and well-being of people worldwide. This year, our faculty, students, and partners advanced this mission through groundbreaking research in infectious diseases, food systems, adolescent health, and digital health, while strengthening collaborations that connect local and global action. From securing transformative grants to influencing policy and winning competitive awards, DGH continues to demonstrate impact at scale.
BY THE NUMBERS
42
externally funded research projects, with more than $8.5 M expenditures this year, plus new research funding across 11 new projects, including major NIH awards.
60+
countries with global partnerships as part of faculty-led projects
100+
scientific publications and a few new book chapters from faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and PhD students.
100+
students enrolled across five programs, with 54 graduating students (including the first graduate of our PhD in Global Health Sciences program, which launched in 2021).
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Professors Sarah Baird and Jennifer Seager continue work on the Global Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE), the largest global study on adolescence. Dr. Baird also co-chaired the second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, launched this year, along with several publications. This work has been covered by National Geographic, Naked Scientist, and The Guardian. The Lancet also published a personal profile of Dr. Baird alongside the commission publications. Dr. Frehywot, along with colleagues at the Elliott school, organized the Africa’s Youth & the Tech Revolution conference.
- Dr. Nirbhay Kumar was awarded a new NIH R01 grant ($3.9M) to support the development of novel malaria vaccine strategies targeting multiple stages and species of Plasmodium. Together with Postdoctoral student Yi Cao and PhD students Clifford Hayashi and Cynthia Lorang, Dr. Kumar published a number of related high-impact papers (Cao et al. JID. 2024; Bansal and Kumar. Expert Reviews of Vaccines. 2024; Cao et al. Vaccine 2024; Cao et al. Vaccine 2025)
- Dr. Daniel Chen, with co-investigators Wendy Ellis and Uriyoan Colon-Ramos, were awarded $1.65M from Novo Nordisk to connect food systems to health equity in Washington, DC’s Wards 7 & 8. Dr. Colon-Ramos and colleagues published on interconnected drivers of sugary drinks and water consumption in D.C. (Estradé J et al. Academy Nutrition & Dietetics, 2025) and how to leverage systems science to work with independently-owned restaurants to increase access to healthful foods (Colon-Ramos et al. Frontiers in Public Health, 2025). Professors Ellis and Chen presented findings from their Closing the Wealth Gap study to county, city, and community stakeholders in Cincinnati, OH).