Teaching and Research Activities Around the World-International Education and Research- Tufts University

Teaching and Research Activities Around the World

Every year, Tufts faculty and students undertake more than 500 innovative, international research projects on the four campuses in the United States and Europe. Tufts researchers collaborate with colleagues in medicine, public health, engineering, nutrition, dentistry, veterinary medicine, international relations, and the physical, biological and social sciences in dozens of countries. Federal funding for Tufts University's research projects annually totals $160 million, including its affiliated hospitals, and Tufts faculty and students are engaged in a wide-range of cutting-edge and innovative global research projects across many fields and disciplines. From developing novel optoelectronic integrated circuit architectures for broadband communication systems with our colleagues at University of Oxford to studying penaeid shrimp populations in Asia and Latin America, you will find Tufts scholars on land, under water and far above the Earth studying what makes the world tick.

Although at Tufts we value research and scholarly activities independent from their contribution to teaching, these endeavors will never outweigh our commitment to educating our students.

An Ecological Analysis of Cryptosporidium in Kenya

Led by principle investigator Jeffrey K. Griffiths, MD MPH&TM, the major goal of this research is to map the genotypes of /C. parvum/ isolates found in water, animal feces, and from cases of human diarrhea in a region of Kenya where HIV is prevalent and human-animal contact is frequent (Meru Town and Meru game park, Kenya). Collaborators include the Vice Chancellor of Kenya Methodist University and the Kenya Wildlife Service.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/phfm/faculty/griffiths-jeffrey.htm

Archaeology Field School: Programme for Belize Archaeology Project

Each summer, lecturer Laurie Sullivan leads Tufts and University of Massachusetts students in an Archaeology Field School on the Programme for Belize Rio Bravo Conservation Lands in northwestern Belize. Students participate in first-hand field excavation and laboratory research in a tropical rainforest setting that was the site of Maya occupation from ca. 900 B.C. to 900 A.D. They investigate social and political organizations through the excavation of small site centers and large ceremonial centers.

http://ase.tufts.edu/anthropology/archaeology.html

Center for International Environmental and Resource Policy (CIERP)

Established in 1990 to support the growing demand for international environmental leaders, the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy's mission is to educate students to become policy and decision-makers who will keep environmental concerns at the forefront of the national agenda. Through the Center, students develop the skills necessary to formulate effective environmental strategies and solutions.

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/ierp/

Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies

Established in 1989, The Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies has since served as New England's focal point for scholarship on the South Asian subcontinent and the Indian Ocean rim. With an emphasis on history, culture, literature, religion, politics, economics and diplomacy, it is committed to promoting interdisciplinary approaches to the study of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives, which together make up the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

http://ase.tufts.edu/southasian

Cryptosporidium in HIV Positive Children in Ecuador

Led by principle investigator Jeffrey K. Griffiths, MD MPH&TM, the major goal of this research is to test the hypothesis that micronutrient interventions will decrease the incidence of diarrheal diseases, and specifically cryptosporidiosis, in HIV seropositive children in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/phfm/faculty/griffiths-jeffrey.htm

Effectiveness and Cost of HIV Care Delivery and Treatment in Kenya

Dr. Mkaya Mwamburi of the Tufts University School of Medicine is conducting a trial of modified, directly observed therapy for HIV, and determining the cost-effectiveness of this approach. He is also doing qualitative research to determine why some people afflicted with HIV in Kenya may elect not to undergo antiretroviral therapy when it is available. His current focus is in operational and translational research in developing countries.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/stu-org/AMSA/faculty.doc

Flowers of the Alps

Flowers of the Alps is a biology and environmental studies course offered at the Tufts campus in Talloires, France, during the first Summer Session. The course focuses on the Savoy region's world-class display of montane and alpine floral diversity. Sessions highlight outstanding representatives of important plant families, their human and ecological relevance, and the design of dichotomous keys. Outdoor field sessions are devoted to recognizing species in their native environment, evaluating shifts in alpine vegetation, and enhancing agricultural diversity in the region's farm community.

http://ase.tufts.edu/frenchalps/tuftsintalloires.htm

Ghana Gold: A Corporate Social Responsibility Study Tour

The Ghana Gold program takes 16 students to Ghana for 12 days each January. Students are introduced to Africa through examination of the gold mining industry and a series of interrelated issues, such as globalization and Africa's place in the world economy. Participants will be challenged to think about strategies that may improve the lives of people living in mining communities. Post-tour activities include a spring semester colloquium and plans for civic engagement research.

http://ase.tufts.edu/anw/

Global Health Internship at Father Muller Medical College

Father Muller Medical College and the Public Health & Family Medicine Department at TUSM offer Tufts medical and public health students two-month summer fellowships in Mangalore, India. Each summer since 2005, six Tufts students have participated in a rich didactic and clinical program taught by Father Muller faculty. In addition, students visit local hospitals, community health centers, homeopathy clinics and other medical facilities including uniquely Indian health settings such as ashrams and ayurvedic medicine centers.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/education/globhealthedexp.html

Global Health Internships in East Africa

This project, based on work conducted by Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, Associate Professor of Public Health and Family Medicine, places students at the Institute of Public Health at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and the School of Public Health at Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Students function as facilitators, helping faculty at the participating institutions learn how to use Tufts University Sciences Knowledgebase (TUSK).

http://www.tufts.edu/med/education/globhealthedexp.html

Hickey-Peyton International Travel Fellowship

The Hickey-Peyton Travel Fellowship was established through an anonymous gift to the Tufts School of Medicine to support students interested in public health research/activities in international settings. It is hoped that, by taking advantage of this opportunity, students will gain a broader perspective on the roles of public health and medical care practice. Fellowships are awarded annually to first-year medical students.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/phfm/news.htm

Hummingbird Cay Tropical Field Station

The Biology Department collaborates with the Environmental Studies Program to offer a unique off-campus program at Hummingbird Cay (HBC) Tropical Field Station on a remote privately-owned island in the Bahamas. Each March, up to 15 students attend HBC for ten days of research and seminar activities related to the international aspects of climate change, disturbance ecology, land and water use, waste management, and ecotourism.

Innovative Curricula in Water & International Research

The Innovative Curricula in Water & International Research is a five-year NIH-funded "Roadmap" program. Its goal is twofold: to develop and implement a health and water curriculum in the new Tufts University Water: Systems, Science, and Society interdisciplinary program, and to create novel interdisciplinary Internet-based curricula linking Tufts University with East African public health educators, researchers, and institutions.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/education/globhealthedexp.html

Institute for Global Leadership

The mission of the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) is to prepare new generations of critical thinkers for effective and ethical leadership, ready to act as global citizens in addressing international and national issues across cultures. The Institute emphasizes rigorous academic preparation and experiential learning. Students learn through intensive engagement in classes, global research, internships, workshops, simulations and international symposia -- all involving national and international leaders from the public and private sectors.

http://www.tuftsgloballeadership.org/

International Marine Shrimp Environmental Genomics Initiative (IMSEGI): Monitoring Ecosystems, Animal and Public Health

This initiative at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine conducts research designed to monitor the structure of the meta-population of wild penaeid shrimp species, the levels of genetic diversity and differentiation of selected species, and the presence of pollutants such as pathogens, heavy metals, pesticides and antibiotics in penaeid shrimp populations along their natural range in Asia and Latin America.

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/aquatics/

International Nutrition and HIV Project in Hanoi, Buenos Aires, and Chennai

The Tufts University School of Medicine has established an HIV-related project in Argentina that studies the nutritional and metabolic status of intravenous cocaine users, as well as their co-infection status (i.e., hepatitis B, hepatitis C). This project is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Another project that examines the risk of HIV in non-injecting cocaine users is also submitted.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/stu-org/AMSA/faculty.doc

International Veterinary Medicine Signature Program

The International Program at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is one of Tufts University's five Signature Programs. It is recognized nationally and internationally as a leader in the field of international veterinary education, and for innovative approaches taken to support animal health in the developing world. The full and part-time faculties are joined by a large network of adjunct faculty based throughout the world and working in areas ranging from livestock health to wildlife conservation.

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/ivm/

Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies

The Jebsen Center's mission is to increase the knowledge and competency of counter-terrorism professionals around the world. To achieve its mission, the Jebsen Center funds a strong research and analysis program, hosts conferences, and underwrites a visiting fellows program. The Jebsen Center also conducts outreach activities to help a broader audience understand the value of the Center's research initiatives. Core research topics at the Center will focus on predicting, preventing, and preempting terrorist activity.

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/jebsencenter/

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance

The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (JHA) promotes the exchange of new ideas, previously unpublished research and the critical write-up of field experience by field workers and researchers in humanitarian assistance. JHA offers the humanitarian assistance community the opportunity to receive and provide rapid public feedback on cutting-edge ideas. This community includes humanitarian field workers and agency officials, scholars and researchers, government officials and residents of countries affected by crises and disasters, and donor agency officials. The JHA is published by the Feinstein International Center, part of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

http://www.jha.ac/

Kwabeng Project

Presently funded by Tufts University's Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, the Kwabeng Project builds upon the fieldwork of environmental engineer John Durant and epidemiologist David M. Gute in Kwabeng, Ghana, examining the area's increased rates of urinary schistosomiasis (Schistosoma haematobium) since the onset of surface gold mining activities in the early 1990s.

http://www.tufts.edu/home/feature/?p=gute&p2=2

Mercaz Gil Technical Assistance and Professional Development Center

In his capacity as a senior consultant, Professor Don Wertlieb collaborates with the Municipality Department of Social Welfare in Haifa, Israel, in the design, implementation and evaluation of programs at the Beit Maya Parent Child Center and Mercaz Gil TA & PD Center. The goal is to enhance mental health and social services for challenged and special-needs families. Recently launched action research on resiliency has engaged the University of Haifa as well.

Optoelectronic Integrated Circuits for Broadband Wireless Communication Systems Research

The Tufts School of Engineering is currently collaborating with the Optical Communications Group at the University of Oxford for this research project focused on developing novel optoelectronic integrated circuit architectures for broadband communication systems. The Oxford group provides expertise in the design of custom Indium Gallium Arsenide arrays of optoelectronic devices that are integrated with high-performance silicon electronic circuits developed by graduate research students in the Tufts Advanced Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, led by Prof. Valencia Joyner.

http://www.ece.tufts.edu/~vjoyner

Pharmacology, interactions between HIV and TB Medications

Led by program investigators Christine Wanke, MD, and David Greenblatt, MD, the program trains individuals in pharamacologic techniques to look at interaction of antiretrovirals with TB therapy. It relies on collaborations with the ICMR TB research institute in Chennai, India.

http://tufts.edu/sackler/pharmacology/faculty/greenblatt.html

Probiotics in Growth Faltering in Pakistan

This National Institutes of Health grant to Dr. Christine Wanke supports a collaborative research project examining the feasibility and efficacy of a probiotic intervention to prevent growth faltering in a birth cohort in Karachi, Pakistan. Malnutrition is associated with more than half of the 10 million deaths per year in children under the age of five in the developing world. In areas where breast-feeding is supplemented by additional foods, there is an increased risk of exposure to contaminants that cause diarrheal disease. Many communities in the developing world lack the resources for controlling such illnesses. The project studies the feasibility of using probiotic Lactobacillus GG (LGG) to break the cycle of malnutrition and diarrheal disease in these areas.

Study of Helicobacter Infection in Quito Children

Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths is Associate Professor of Public Health in the Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, and is the Global Health concentration leader in the MPH program. He is currently doing research on natural immunomodulation by agents such as Helicobacter pylori and Toxocara in children in Quito, Ecuador.

http://www.tufts.edu/med/phfm/faculty/griffiths-jeffrey.htm

Surface Mining Impact on Spread of Schistosomiasis in Ghana

Dr. John Durant is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the School of Engineering and teaches undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on environmental chemistry and chemical fate and transport. His research interests involve the human health consequences of environmental chemistry, particularly in air and water. Currently he is studying the influence of surface mining on changes in hydrology and its impact on the spread of schistosomiasis in Ghana.

http://ase.tufts.edu/cee/faculty/durant/bio.asp

The Educational Resource Center - Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine

The Educational Resource Center (ERC) for children with disabilities and their families at Beit Hana College in Dnepropetrovsk is known as a "little Eliot-Pearson" in the Ukraine. Teams of Tufts professionals and students in the fields of child development, pediatrics, and occupational therapy collaborate with colleagues in the Ukraine for this pioneering teacher-training program. Pilot research for a dissertation funded by the U.S. State Department was conducted at the ERC in 2004. Contact Child Development for more information.

http://ase.tufts.edu/epcd/

The Quito Integrated Environment and Policy (QUIEP) Program

This three-year National Institutes of Health-funded program, directed by Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, represents an international collaboration to encourage research in developing countries on topics that combine the issues of health, environment, and economic development. The goal is to improve understanding of the relationships between these topics and to help guide policy. The program encourages faculty and student exchanges at the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Fletcher.

Thermo-stable Measles Vaccine Research

In Sub-Saharan Africa, where measles is one of the top killers of children, vaccines are often rendered useless by lack of refrigeration. Led by Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, an interdisciplinary team from the Famine Center, the School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Medicine seeks to reverse that trend by developing a heat-resistant measles vaccine.

Tropical Ecology / Conservation - Bio181ww/Envi181ww

This fall semester seminar and field trip, listed under both Biology and Environmental Studies, provides 12 students with an in-depth understanding of terrestrial tropical ecology and first-hand experience in tropical Central America. After the fall semester, students travel to Costa Rica for a two-week field experience conducting hands-on research, hiking, and collecting data.

http://www.ase.tufts.edu/biology/courses/syllabi/181ww.pdf

Tufts in Talloires Summer Program

Tufts in Talloires, a six-week summer program for undergraduates at Tufts and other universities, offers dynamic and diverse courses taught by Tufts faculty. Students choose two courses from a selection designed to take advantage of Talloires' ideal location in the center of Europe as well as its striking alpine setting, which inspires reflection and thought. In addition to course work, a wide variety of optional outdoor activities, weekly hikes in the Alps, field trips, and organized events offer students the opportunity to explore France's unique Savoy region.

http://ase.tufts.edu/frenchalps/

Vitamin A and Zinc: Prevention of Pneumonia Study

Tufts School of Medicine's Vitamin A and Zinc: Prevention of Pneumonia (VAZPOP) Study, completed in 2004 by primary investigators Simin Meydani and Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, researched the effectiveness of vitamins A and zinc in treating malnourished children at high altitude in Quito, Ecuador. This four-year, nutritionally stratified, placebo-controlled, double-blind study helped to increase understanding of pneumonia and its treatments, as well as to control respiratory and diarrheal infections, improving the lives of many sick children.

http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00228254

Water: Systems, Science, and Society

Water: Systems, Science, and Society (WSSS) is an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to managing and understanding the complexity of water issues worldwide. Students who elect to enroll in the program to complement their graduate studies in a related field emerge with both their degree and a WSSS certificate. Students in the WSSS program conduct research and plan projects related to global water issues, take courses and seminars, and undertake a field internship, learning on-site skills from professionals.

http://www.tufts.edu/water

<h4>A Dental Education Delivered to your Doorstep</h4>

<p>Unlike most first-year students at Tufts, the students in the School of Dental Medicine's distance education program -- the first of its kind in the world -- don't get together on campus for study groups. Instead, they remain in constant communication with the school and each other from their homes around the world as they earn their M.S. degrees in craniofacial pain and temporomandibular joint disorder.</p>

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<p>Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, an associate professor of public health and family medicine, is always on the go. But then he needs to be: he is bent on nothing less than changing the world. What makes him run? "I'd just like the world to be a better place when I go," he says. "And it's fun doing this stuff."</p>

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<h4>A Mission to Help </h4>

<p>During the summer of 2007, Tufts dental student Marjorie Brisard traveled to her native Haiti this summer with a team of classmates and faculty members. For Brisard, the trip was one step toward fulfilling a life's goal.</p>

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<p>Working for the United Nations Mission in Sudan gave two Fletcher School students a unique view into an international peacekeeping operation and a new outlook on the Darfur conflict.</p>

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<h4>Bienvenue à Talloires</h4>

<p>The Tufts in Talloires program allows students to explore a foreign culture -- and themselves.</p>

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<h4>Castle in the Clouds </h4>

<p>Elliot Hirshon (A'05) recalls a trip to Tibet with Engineers Without Borders.</p>

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<h4>Change Agent</h4>

<p>Salome Otami, a Tufts Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development graduate student, hopes to make a difference when she returns to her native Ghana.</p>

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<h4>Connecting Across Continents </h4>

<p>Students in GMAP, a combined residency and Internet-mediated graduate program at Tufts University's Fletcher School, are gaining an interdisciplinary education in global affairs, while making lifelong connections with their classmates from around the world.</p>

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<h4>Deliverance</h4>

<p>Through the organization he founded, LimaKids, Joseph Donroe (A'98, MD/MPH'07) seeks to address both mental health and quality of life issues of orphaned children in Peru's capital city.</p>

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<h4>Depth of Field</h4>

<p>One of several programs offered by the Tufts Institute for Global Leadership (IGL), EXPOSURE is an institute for photojournalism, documentary studies and human rights. It all began when IGL Director Sherman Teichman and undergraduate Matthew Edmundson (A'05) teamed up with acclaimed photographer James Nachtwey.</p>

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<h4>Dr. Chotanga</h4>

<p>Jeffrey Lazar, M03, recalls his seven-week stint at Livingstone General Hospital in Zambia.</p>

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<h4>Growing Strong</h4>

<p>The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (NESFP), part of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, was founded in 1998. It now serves about 50 immigrant farmers from Laos, Cambodia, Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.</p>

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<h4>It's All Breaking New Ground</h4>

<p>As the directors of Tufts University's Nutrition/ Infection Unit, Drs. Christine Wanke, MD, and Sherwood Gorbach, MD, explore the link between nutrition and HIV/AIDS.</p>

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<h4>Making Its Mark </h4>

<p>A decade after its inception, Tufts University's Feinstein International Center is making a powerful impact on humanitarian work around the world.</p>

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<h4>Re-engineering a River</h4>

<p>Applying engineering principles to primary disease prevention can help bolster public health efforts, says David Gute, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Tufts.</p>

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<h4>Summer Smarts</h4>

<p>Through Tufts Summer Scholars program, Jamie Chang (A'06) spent a summer in Korea exploring her passion for theater history. With support from her faculty mentor, she studied how contemporary Korean theater incorporates traditional performance forms, such as one-man operas and masked dances.</p>

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<h4>True Blessings</h4>

<p>Sue Higgins, T86, G02, has seen firsthand the difference occupational therapy can make in the lives of adults and children living in Mexico.</p>

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<h4>Welcome to America </h4>

<p>In 2000, Jane Leu (J'91) founded Upwardly Global, a San Francisco nonprofit dedicated to helping legal immigrants find work in their field. Today, with more than a dozen employees and a field office in Manhattan, the organization has assisted immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from some 65 countries.</p>

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<h4>Welcome To Arada Vieja </h4>

<p>Jonny Crocker (E'07), the former president of Engineers Without Borders, talks about the group's water filtration project in rural El Salvador.</p>

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