News

​The GEOHealth Hub Peru team attended the NIH/FIC Annual Network Meeting 

This network meeting was for current grantees of the Fogarty International Center's Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEOHealth) program, which supports research and research training in environmental and occupational health in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). The program is led by the Fogarty International Center in partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH). This is a two-day fully in-person networking meeting with cross-cutting discussions around themes of mutual interest.
The GEOHealth Hub teams represented in the meeting were from Eastern Africa, Peru, Jordan, Lebanon, Mongolia, India, and Bangladesh. 

GEOHealth Hub ​Present at the COP28 

Stella Hartinger, co-director of the Clima Center and prominent researcher of the GeoHealth project, together with Luciana Blanco, Doctoral fellow of the same project, represented Peru at COP28 in Dubai. In this global event, both played key roles in the event "Health-Climate Interaction: Strengthening Alliances in the Community of Practice", held in the Peru pavilion. Hartinger presented the progress and relevance of the Climate Center's initiatives, placing special emphasis on the GeoHealth project. Luciana Blanco, assuming an active role, moderated the event effectively
During the event, Stella Hartinger highlighted the crucial need to integrate research with the training of new talents in the environmental field and the importance of inter-institutional cooperation to address global challenges. In addition, Luciana Blanco had a notable participation in the panel "Young Peruvians and Climate Change." From her scientific perspective, Luciana emphasized the importance of projects such as GeoHealth in the context of climate change and the challenges faced by young researchers in Peru. He highlighted how scholarships and academic support are essential to foster productive scientific careers with significant impact.

Our GEOHealth Hub Fellows Present their Research Projects 

​Demonstrating notable academic excellence and an unwavering commitment to advanced research, GeoHealth Hub M.S scholars Rodrigo Robles and George Castelar presented their research projects at the conclusion of their year of study. Rodrigo Robles focused on determining how altitude influences the risk of mortality from COVID-19 in Peru, considering variables such as age, gender, health conditions, socioeconomic status and vaccination. In parallel, George Castelar carried out a crucial study evaluating the association between exposure to fine particulate matter PM2.5 and the incidence of dementia in Metropolitan Lima during the period 2015-2019.
Complementing these efforts, doctoral students Cinthya Vasquez, Jose Espinoza and Luciana Blanco culminated their first year with significant presentations on their doctoral theses. Cinthya Vasquez investigated the interaction between altitude of residence and the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing COVID-19 mortality in Peru during 2021-2022. Jose Espinoza, for his part, analyzed the impact of LPG-improved stoves on the lung function of adult women in rural communities of Puno between 2017 and 2019. Luciana Blanco presented her project titled "Relationship between atmospheric pollution by PM2.5 and visits to emergencies due to asthma in Metropolitan Lima (2017-2019)", providing knowledge about the effects of air pollution on respiratory health.

The GeoHealth Hub In Peru was Awarded Supplemental Funds by NIH/FIC to Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Research

​The main goal of this supplementary project is to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in research training activities of the Geohealth Hub Centered in Peru, by focusing on increasing the recruitment and participation of trainees from Peruvian indigenous groups underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social sciences. The activities proposed from January 2024 to February 2025 will support collaborations with institutions in geographical regions where research training activities in Environmental Health are scarce, increase the participation of individuals from these regions in our activities, and promote a “train-the-trainer” model that enhances the scalability of our GeoHealth Hub training activities and foster ownership and long-term impact within the communities we aim to serve.

Resources

GeoHealth Hubs webpage
Fogarty Newsletter Global Health Matters May/June 2019: Focus on Global Environmental and Occupational Health hubs
Master class in Climate Change and communicable Diseases. Dr. Alejandro Llanos. Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander Von Humboldt. Play here (Spanish)
​Press Release: Rollins researchers receive global environmental research and training award
​Press Release: Presentation of the GeoHealth Hub in Iquitos, Peru
Fogarty Announcement: Regional GEOHealth Hub Centered in Peru
Information on Science and Technology activities in Peru: Academia Nacional de Ciencias

Hub Publications Period 2016-2027