UB to host 18th NIH international global health conference

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Health sciences researchers from around the globe will gather in Buffalo for the 18th Annual Conference for Administrators of Awards from the Fogarty International Center hosted by the University at Buffalo Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS).

The Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is dedicated to supporting and facilitating global health research by building partnerships between health research institutions in the U.S. and abroad while training the next generation of scientists to address global health needs.

The conference is scheduled for Sept. 12-13 at the UB New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

Conceived nearly two decades ago, the conference brings together Fogarty award administrators and program coordinators to share their collective experiences in building research programs around the world.

It has grown in significance as one of the primary mechanisms for creating efficient capacity building in the area of research administration with a focus on recruitment, fiscal management, core facility building and international travel.

“Being selected to host this conference, and the participation of Fogarty’s deputy director, Dr. Peter Kilmarx, highlights the NIH’s recognition of CIGBS’s commitment to build integrated global biomedical sciences capacity for health research in low-middle income countries, said Gene Morse, PharmD, CIGBS director and SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

“Our synergistic Buffalo-based collaborations with NIH-supported programs like the UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center help us achieve our sustainable development goals.”  

Emerging issues in global health

The conference will be preceded by Emerging Issues in Global Health, a mini-symposium highlighted by a keynote from Fogarty International Center Deputy Director Peter H. Kilmarx, MD.

Kilmarx, an expert in infectious diseases and the prevention of HIV and AIDS, will share the nation’s current priorities in global health research. After the symposium, he will meet with UB leaders to discuss the university’s capacity building partnerships with the University of Zimbabwe, University of the West Indies and more.

The symposium is scheduled on Sept. 11 from 12-2 p.m. in the Active Learning Room at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, 955 Main St. in Buffalo. Sponsored by CIGBS and the UB Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the symposium is open to the public.

Kilmarx began his international career as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he helped develop fisheries that are still productive today.

He has since held numerous positions within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that include country director in Zimbabwe; Ebola response team leader in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; and chief of the CDC’s sexual transmission research section in Thailand.

A rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service, he has also served as principal investigator on a number of clinical trials, including studies related to preventive microbicides in Thailand, tuberculosis and HIV in Botswana, and HIV in Zimbabwe.

Kilmarx has published more than 100 book chapters and articles in academic journals, and serves on the editorial board of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, the world's longest running international journal on sexual health.

He earned a doctorate in medicine from the Dartmouth College and Brown University combined medicine program, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Dartmouth College.

About the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences

UB CIGBS is one of numerous institutions funded by the NIH Fogarty International Center to facilitate capacity building programs across the world.

CIGBS has received multiple million dollar grants to support research related to Zika, HIV, hepatitis and other viruses in Africa and the Caribbean.

Some of the current programs include:

• The UB-UZ HIV Research Training Program, a joint initiative between UB and the University of Zimbabwe.
• A Global Infectious Diseases Research Training Program to train 15 scientists from the Caribbean in viral infection research formed in partnership with the University of the West Indies.
• A tuberculosis treatment and nanomedicine development program formed through a partnership with the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and the University of Zimbabwe.
• A partnership with The Center for Discovery, a New York State Center of Excellence, to advance critical research in autism and other complex conditions.

To learn more about these initiatives and more, visit the CIGBS website.