On February 9, the Eck Institute for Global Health (EIGH) hosted the 4th Annual Global Health Case Competition. This competition brought together undergraduate and graduate students from multiple disciplines to creatively address critical global health challenges in a competitive and collaborative environment. Based on Emory University’s international competition model, the Notre Dame competition cultivates an innovative learning experience that trains future global health leaders.
This year’s case study focused on HIV Medication Adherence in St. Joseph County, Indiana. HIV is an infectious disease affecting millions of people in developing countries and our own backyard. The case study instilled in students the belief that global health is local health. The competition challenged students to develop a strategy to help increase HIV medication adherence in St. Joseph County while overcoming a variety of barriers encountered daily by people living with HIV, including transportation, stigma, mental health, housing, side effects, and more. The case was released on Friday, February 1, giving students only one week to prepare before presenting the following Saturday.
Students formed multidisciplinary teams representing the Colleges of Science, Arts and Letters, Engineering, and Business, Keough School of Global Affairs, the Entrepreneurship, Technology, & Innovation Master’s program, and the Master of Science in Global Health program. This year’s judges were experts in HIV care and treatment, including physicians, nurses, and public health professionals: Heidi Beidinger Burnett, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor of the Practice, EIGH; Marie Donahue, MPH MS, Notre Dame Haiti Program Director and Associate Professor of the Practice, Department of Biological Sciences; Leeah Hopper, MPH, Executive Program Director at AIDS Ministries AIDS Assist in South Bend; and Michael Kozak, MD, ‘08, Beacon Health Systems. The teams identified the need for better HIV data within the county, proposed potential community partners, researched innovative mobile health solutions, and addressed the problem from interpersonal, economic, and medical perspectives. The judges awarded first place to the team consisting of Henriette Balinda, Tyler Dann, Kyle Duffy, Morgan Foley, Mason Sponem, and Mariana Suarez. We thank all participants for their innovative thinking, integrative solutions, and most of all, their passion and commitment to global health.
The EIGH serves as a university-wide enterprise that recognizes health as a fundamental human right and works to promote research, training, and service to advance health standards and reduce health disparities for all. The EIGH brings together multidisciplinary teams to understand and address health challenges that disproportionately affect the poor and to train the next generation of global health leaders.
Contact Ashley Hudson, 574-631-9227, ascott12@nd.edu if you have any questions about the University of Notre Dame Global Health Case Competition or want to get more involved.
Originally published by at globalhealth.nd.edu on February 19, 2019.