2021 Symposium
PRESENTERS & PROJECTS
Alexis Pramberger
Title of Project: Domestic Workers and the Employer-Employee Relationship in
Delhi: Personal Connection and Dissonance
Summary of Project: Domestic workers in India are common to most middle to upper-class households, but face intersectional issues based on identity and as workers in an almost completely unregulated part of the workforce. Conditions are determined by the employer-employee relationship which reflects larger societal dynamics, a relationship that often is characterized by overworking, abuse, and a lack of professional boundaries. Two interviews with advocates for domestic workers from Nirmana, an NGO in Delhi, and five interviews with female employers of domestic workers in Delhi were conducted over Whatsapp. Although employers largely referred to domestic workers as family, eliciting them for social support and doing some favors for them, they blamed poor conditions on things outside of their control, claiming feelings of helplessness. Employers do speak about and in some ways care about domestic workers as family, but they likely function at a level of dissonance, both being partially off and benefitting from the same system that oppresses domestic workers.
Bio: Alexis Pramberger is a Vanderbilt senior interested in how low-resources cope with issues through both social services and community infrastructure. In addition to her qualitative research project completed while studying abroad in Delhi, India, Alexis has worked in both developmental and clinical psychology labs and currently is an honors student in the Mood Emotion and Development lab under Autumn Kujawa Ph.D. She is an acting mental health advocate and peer mentor on campus and worked with both survivors of domestic violence and refugees in other roles.
Caitlin Washburn
Title of Project: Community Health Worker COVID-19 Response in Davidson County, TN
Summary of Project: I worked on a Community Health Worker (CHW) COVID Response Program that was an innovative partnership between the Metro Public Health Department and Siloam Health, a nonprofit health clinic that primarily serves immigrants and refugees in Nashville. I helped launch the program in the spring of 2020 and have been on board ever since. I produced a white paper in partnership with my mentor, Amy Richardson, to highlight the role CHWs in Nashville have played in the pandemic response.
Bio: Caitlin is a second-year MPH student in the Global Health track at Vanderbilt University. She has engaged in global health efforts in Cambodia and here in Nashville, by working at Siloam Health, Lwala Community Alliance, and the VIGH Student Advisory Council. Her interests lie in community health and development and she is passionate about connecting people with the resources they need to improve health outcomes.
Teresa Xu
Title of Project: The Stigma of Elephantiasis
Summary of Project: Written as a final paper for a course called Global Health Principles (MHS 3010), this project investigates how stigma surrounding elephantiasis, a neglected tropical disease, can be mitigated. It takes an inductive, contextual approach to understanding stigma-related needs and challenges in various areas that are endemic to elephantiasis, including Ghana, Nigeria, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and India. The needs and challenges revealed by these case studies - in particular, that stigma largely stems from inaccurate beliefs about elephantiasis - were used to evaluate stigma interventions that have been previously tested. Among educational interventions, comic books were identified as a promising new path for stigma interventions, especially if designed to fit local contexts and avoid oversimplifying or trivializing diseases. However, there is still a dearth of research in this area.
Bio: Teresa Xu is a second-year undergraduate student from Canada, studying Medicine, Health, and Society alongside Sociology and English literature. She is an intern with the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health's Education and Training team, and she is honored to be presenting at this year’s Global Health Symposium.
Claire Spralding
Title of Project: Implementation of a Cost-Effective Hybrid Obstetric & Neonatal
Crisis Simulation Course in East Africa
Summary of Project: Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a topic of growing interest in the global health community due to maternal and neonatal death rates in excess of 800 and 6,700 per day respectively. The Mobile Obstetric Simulation Training program (MOST), a hybrid simulation course, was implemented at several hospitals in Ethiopia to strengthen provider management of maternal and neonatal crises. A retrospective analysis of data collected during and after the course demonstrated improved provider knowledge, participant satisfaction, and trainer approval. Follow-up studies need to be conducted to assess long-term retention of knowledge and impact on clinical outcomes; these are currently in process.
Bio: Claire Spradling is currently a PGY-3/CA-2 resident in Anesthesiology at VUMC. She is from Saint Louis, Missouri, attended college and medical school at the University of Missouri where she earned a BS in Bioengineering, prior to an MD, and she plans to serve in the Air Force once she has graduated training.
Rachael Wolters
Title of Project: “Contact tracing” in dairy cows: a veterinary case report of
Enterococcus canis mastitis in a dairy herd in South Africa
Summary of Project: This case series documents the tracing of a point source infection of a rare bacterial cause of mastitis in a herd of lactating dairy cows in South Africa. This case report sheds light on the importance of outbreak investigation in food-producing animals, and the public health implications of animal diseases.
Bio: Rachael is a veterinarian that is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. She earned her DVM from the University of Tennessee in 2020, and during her time there was active in Zika virus research and a collaborative project with the University of Pretoria concerning antimicrobial resistance in dairy herds. Her interests include global public health, viral immunology, and zoonotic pathogens.
Mallory G. McKeon
Title of Project: Feasibility of an Asynchronous Head and Neck Ultrasound
Training Program for Head and Neck Surgeons in Low- and Middle- Income
Countries (LMICs)
Summary of Project: The purpose of this needs assessment is to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a previously in-person ultrasound teaching course via virtual modalities. Our primary goals are to characterize the wants/needs of international head and neck (H&N) surgery trainees and to identify an accessible asynchronous modality of teaching. The results of this needs assessment survey will be utilized to establish a cost-effective, sustainable teaching resource for our colleagues in low- and middle-income countries. As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and surgical missions commence again, we hope a well-investigated asynchronous teaching platform will augment the educational potential of such endeavors.
Bio: My name is Mallory McKeon and I am a third-year MD Candidate at Vanderbilt University planning to pursue a career in otolaryngology. I previously graduated from Columbia University where I studied global health through the lens of conservation ecology. Since then, I have had the great privilege of working with Dr. James Netterville and the Head and Neck Outreach Team at Vanderbilt. Our goal is to improve global surgical education, making safe surgical care accessible to all.
Dr. Michael C. Dejos, PharmD, BCPS, CHOP, LSSBB, DPLA
Title of Project: Measuring the impact and feasibility of trigger tools across a health-system
Summary of Project: Adverse drug events are a significant concern to healthcare as it is the fourth leading causes of death and accounts for billions of dollars to the US healthcare system. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement Global Trigger Tool was created to help hospitals more effectively identify and report adverse drug events that do cause harm to the patient. The aim of this study was to measure the feasibility and impact of implementing four trigger tools across a six-hospital healthcare system.
Bio: Dr. Dejos is the System Medication Safety Officer at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, Tennessee, and is actively completing the Vanderbilt Executive MBA. As a patient safety leader and pharmacist by training, he is interested in using innovative event detection methodologies to identify variations and defects in patient care.
Dr. Mpho Mogodi
Title of Project: ‘No student left behind’: justice as a driver for equitable remote
learning in the COVID-19 era
Bio: Mpho Mogodi is a medical doctor, public health specialist, and currently practice as a health professions educationist. Her interests are socially accountable transformational health professions education; community engaged medical education and quality responsive health systems. Her academic responsibilities include teaching undergraduates and postgraduate trainees, public health research, and scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as faculty development to Faculty of Medicine teaching staff.
Karan Varshney
Title of Project: Reconfiguration of Practice - Adaptation of Cultural Practices for
Infectious Disease Control
Summary of Project: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the intense vulnerabilities of health systems globally. Even with substantial gains in technology, biomedical innovation, and wealth amongst nations, elements of cultures have remained pivotal factors in the spread of infectious disease. Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need for public health experts and policymakers to understand how to effectively modify cultural landscapes and practices in a manner that will curb the spread of disease. Drawing upon insights from the sphere of medical anthropology, this work offers a multi-step tool which provides guidance on how to bring about important cultural adaptations.
Bio: Karan Varshney is a recent graduate of the Master of Public Health program at Thomas Jefferson University, and is a current medical student at Deakin University. His interests lie in the clinical aspects, as well as the social determinants, of infectious disease; in particular, his focus is on co-infections, syndemics, antimicrobial resistance, and diseases of poverty. In addition, he is passionate about understanding and addressing the unjust health inequities that are the direct and indirect results of genocide & European colonialism.
Amany Alshibi
Title of Project: Global Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A retrospective study of surgical care and outcomes at two tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia
Summary of Project: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to describe the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on surgical care and outcomes at two tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia. We analyzed perioperative data from surgeries performed at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Mekelle, Ethiopia and Tibebe Ghion Specialized Hospital in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Our results suggest that patients experienced significant delays in seeking and obtaining surgical care during the pandemic. For patients who underwent surgery, however, perioperative mortality did not differ significantly when comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic care.
Bio: Amany Alshibli is a third-year medical student at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, with a background in chemical and biomolecular engineering. During her time in medical school, she has developed interests in the fields of anesthesiology, global health, and medical education.
Victoria Umutoni
Title of Project: The association between smoking and anal human papillomavirus in the HPV infection in men study
Summary of project: Anal cancer incidence has been shown to be increasing over time in both men and women from developed countries. Previous studies have shown an association between smoking and HPV infection. Our objective was to assess the association between smoking and anal HPV in men.
Bio: Victoria Umutoni is a second-year Masters of Public Health student, in the Global Health Track. She is passionate about research, data analysis and aspires to use her findings to influence policies. She is presenting her thesis work on the association of smoking and anal HPV.
Ni Ketut Wilmayani
Title of Project: Ivermectin, Diethylcarbamazine citrate, and Albendazole (IDA) –Therapy for Lymphatic filariasis (LF) Elimination Program: Current roll-out in endemic countries and situation amidst COVID-19 pandemic
Summary of Project: I have conducted this paper/study for my summer practicum project. I was involved in a program Mectizan Donation Program (MDP) that focused on the Neglected Tropical Diseases Elimination, particularly in a low resource setting (Africa, South East Asia, Western Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean). The MDP affiliated with The Task Force for Global Health aiming to work with global partners to achieve a future free of worm infections onchocerciasis (river blindness) and lymphatic filariasis (LF or elephantiasis) by providing medical, technical, and administrative oversight of the donation of Mectizan (drug) to control these diseases. My responsibilities in this project were working on the country application, describing target population, surveillance data, epidemiology background.
Bio: Ni Ketut Wilmayani, M.D., M.P.H. candidate, is a second-year student in the Global Health track of the MPH program in the class of 2021. She pursues her degree as a Fulbright Scholars for a master's program of 2019-2021. She received a Bachelor of Medical Science and an M.D. in 2012 from the University of Mataram, Indonesia. Wilmayani serves as a Medical Doctor, Lecturer, and Researcher at the University of Mataram, as well as a volunteer for the Female Cancer Foundation at the Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Some of Wilmayani’s primary roles include performing physical examinations, teaching undergraduate students, developing preventative interventions for medical conditions, including cervical and breast cancer, neglected tropical diseases, and nutritional status of maternal and child. She involved as well in other various projects for public health promotion and disease prevention among communities collaborates with Primary Health Care in rural areas in Indonesia. She wishes to pursue her higher degree in a Ph.D. program after graduation from the Vanderbilt University MPH program.
Emily Kight
Title of Project: Urine-based point-of-care monitoring of the ovarian cancer biomarker HE4
Megan Gabruk
Title of Project: Frist Global Health Leaders Program: Supporting Global Health Trainees and Building Self-sustaining Caregiver Capacity in Underserved Communities
Summary of Project: The Frist Global Health Leaders (FGHL) program, supported by Hope Through Healing Hands, offers modest travel grants to universities and medical centers for graduate-level students and residents in the health professions to do service and training projects around the world. FGHL supported 83 trainees in medicine, nursing, and public health at Vanderbilt from 2009-2020. We analyzed the number of participants in each year, degree program, and country where their project took place as well as the impact of FGHL on trainees professionally and personally.
Bio: I am a senior at Vanderbilt majoring in Human and Organizational Development and minoring in Quantitative Methods. I am interning at the Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health this semester.
Christia Victoriano
Title of Project: Multiplexed Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Without RNA Extraction for Resource-Limited Settings
Silky Chotai
Title of Project: Neuro-oncology scope and capacity: a survey of Sub-Saharan African Centers
Summary of Project: The Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors are the number one cause of death in children. The burden of CNS tumors has been estimated to be nearly four times greater in low-middle-income countries (LMIC). However, the true burden of these tumors and scope of resources for management of these tumors is not well-reported. We aim to collect and analyze hospital-level burden and capacity-oriented data from pediatric neurosurgical oncology centers in Sub-Saharan Africa. With that aim we plan to conduct a cross-sectional epidemiological survey study to determine the incidence, diagnosis, management, and follow-up paradigm for pediatric brain and spine tumors.
Bio: Silky Chotai is a 4th-year Neurosurgery resident with an interest in neuro-oncology, both pediatrics and adult and she is passionate about global neurosurgery.
Dalton J. Nelson
Title of Project: Self-contained Magnet-based Enzymatic Assay for Highly Specific and Sensitive Detection of HIV Drug Resistance Mutations for Resource-constrained Settings
Summary of Project: HIV Drug-Resistant Mutations (DRMs) impede the success of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). The gold-standard method of HIV DRM detection is genetic sequencing, however, in resource-constrained, sequencing is not readily accessible. In this work, we report the development of a DRM assay that links highly specific enzymatic reactions with the high sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We further improved our assay via the integration of magnetism to perform self-contained bead-based processing to perform detection more easily and rapidly.
Bio: Dalton is a first-year Ph.D. student in Professor Rick Haselton's lab which is focused on the development of infectious disease diagnostics for use in resource-constrained settings. He has a background in many different disciplines with most recent emphasis on biomedical engineering (VU Class of 2020) and is excited about applying this knowledgebase and skillset toward global health. When Dalton is outside of the lab, he enjoys running, hiking in the mountains, and road cycling.
David Evans
Title of Project: Design of a mask insert for transmission-based detection of SARS-CoV-2.
Stephanie Pearlman
Title of Project: Improving diagnostic assessment by concentrating a M. tuberculosis sputum smear on a microscope slide using high-gradient magnetic enrichment and droplet-induced Marangoni flow
Kristyne Mansilla
Title of Project: Multicomponent Intervention to Improve Hypertension Control in Central America
Bio: Kristyne Mansilla is a Master of Public Health (MPH) student in the Global Health Track, at Vanderbilt University. She is a scholar in the Fulbright Foreign Student Program and David Satcher Public Health Scholars Program scholarship recipient. Kristyne is from Guatemala, where she completed a medical degree, has worked on several public health HIV projects with LGBTQI communities, and has conducted implementation science research on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in rural Guatemala. She is focused on helping underserved populations access quality medical care and achieve equitable human development.
Lorely Chavez and Duretti Ahmad
Title of Project: Using Online Platforms to Teach Anesthesia Educators 
in Ethiopia
Summary of Project: ImPACTAfrica and Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health (VIGH) have created a multi-faceted training course known as the ImPACT Africa Training of the Trainers (TOT) Course for Physician Anesthesia Educators. This course provides participants from Ethiopia be trained to become trainers through an accessible 12-module workshop with objectives and assessments surrounding topics on strengthening leadership skills and teaching design.
Bio: Lorely Chavez is a second-year dual master's student, studying Public Health (Global Health Track) and Latin American Studies. Her research focus is on systems change and access to health resources in low-resource countries.
Duretti Ahmad is a second-year undergraduate student, studying Medicine, Health, & Society with a concentration in Global Health, and Human & Organizational Development.
Lin Ammar
Title of Project: Evaluation of a leadership and management training program at the University of Zambia
Aditi Deepak and Océane Parker
Title of Project: Application of the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) Tool at the University of Zambia (UNZA) Mentor Training Program
Summary of Project: The University of Zambia’s (UNZA) Mentor Training Program was established to strengthen the mentorship capacity of the UNZA Ph.D. Program in the health professions. Faculty mentors participated in the five-day training program, and the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) tool was used to assess change in mentor competencies. The MCA consists of a questionnaire for mentors and mentees that includes the same 26 items that query on specific mentoring behaviors aligned with the six competency domains. In this study, the MCA tool was completed by 86 mentors and mentees at two-time points as an outcome measure to determine the success of the Mentor Training Program. Overall, mentors and their mentees noted mentor growth in all mentoring competency domains from post-program to one year later. This paper demonstrates that the MCA tool can be applied in diverse academic environments and demonstrates implications for the tool’s use in future mentor trainings in educational settings around the world.
Bio: Aditi Deepak is an undergraduate senior double majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) and Medicine, Health, and Society (MHS) with a minor in Spanish. As an Education and Training Team intern at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), Aditi has had the opportunity to work on the manuscript discussing the application of the MCA tool at the UNZA Mentor Training Program. Upon graduating in May, Aditi would like to pursue a career in public health.
Océane Parker is a senior undergraduate student double majoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Health, and Society (MHS). Océane is an Education and Training Team intern at the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health (VIGH), and has worked on a number of projects with the team. Currently, she has been given the opportunity to collaborate on a manuscript regarding the use of the Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA) on a faculty mentoring program at the University of Zambia. Océane will graduate in May and plans to pursue a career in global health research and development.
Bentley Akoko
Title of Project: HIV-related stigma and psychological distress in a cohort of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy in Nigeria.
Summary of Project: This research looks at mental health and HIV-related stigma in persons living with HIV. Mental health is being recognized as a barrier to care in persons living with HIV. In this study we looked at perceived stigma in a group of patients newly initiated on antiretroviral. We also assessed the relationship between stigma and psychological distress in these patients. We found that perceived stigma was higher and that patients with higher perceived stigma were more likely to be psychologically distressed.
Bio: Bentley is an MPH candidate in the Global Health track at Vanderbilt University. Prior to pursuing his MPH, he practiced as a physician in Cameroon. He has first-hand experience of the challenges associated with healthcare delivery in resource-limited settings. He is interested in improving health outcomes in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Robyn Pham
Title of Project: Economic Empowerment at the Foot of the Himalayas: One Village at a Time.
Bio: Before starting the nurse practitioner program at Vanderbilt, Robyn lived and worked in Nepal for 3 years implementing an economic empowerment program with ultra-poor villages. She has a background in public health research and looks forward to combining this, as well as her global health experience, with her future career in primary care.
Nicole Kloosterman
Title of Project: Mobile Ear Health Outreach Program in Malindi, Kenya
Summary of Project: To address the need for improved access to hearing screening, the Department of Otolaryngology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center created a hearing health initiative that takes place in conjunction with an annual surgical training camp in Malindi, Kenya. Through collaboration with a local NGO and schools, a team of community health workers is trained to conduct hearing screenings and video-otoscopy via a smartphone-based platform. Children >5 with potential for hearing loss are identified for screening by their teachers and participate in the program. Since the beginning of the program, over 600 children have been screened and current work is being done to continue to expand this model in the region.
Bio: Nicole Kloosterman is an M3 at VUSM interested in Otolaryngology. My work focuses on integrating my passions for global health and health equity to the field of Otolaryngology. I am most interested in creating sustainable global health interventions and better understanding the effects of various social determinants of health on surgical outcomes within this field.