Faculty and staff interested in global public health are invited to attend the SUNY- University of the West Indies (UWI) Health Research Consortium Conference.

The daylong, virtual event aims to advance public health in the Caribbean region through facilitation of international partnerships among scholars, industry partners and government agencies.

Organized in collaboration with the National Association of Jamaican and Supportive Organizations, the conference will feature nearly 40 speakers, including Audrey Marks, Jamaica’s ambassador to the U.S. Speakers will discuss collaborative research opportunities focused on the study of global infectious diseases, climate change and agriculture, cancer, diabetes, the microbiome and mental health, as well as joint education initiatives that merge business with health care.

The free conference will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 25 via Zoom. The program is open to all SUNY faculty and staff. Guests are encouraged to register in advance on the conference website.

Additional conference organizers include the SUNY-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, SUNY Global Health Institute, the UB Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences, and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The SUNY-UWI Health Research Consortium has advanced health research in an array of areas, including COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics; and heart, liver, kidney and digestive diseases.

The consortium helped facilitate $1.1 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health to support creation of the Global Infectious Diseases Research Training Program, which trains scientists from the Caribbean in viral infection research at SUNY institutions. The program was the initial step in building the Jamaica Center for Infectious Diseases Research at UWI.

The consortium is led by Gene D. Morse, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and SUNY Global Health Institute co-director, and John F. Lindo, professor of parasite epidemiology at the UWI, Mona Campus.