School Notes: School of Medicine
July/August 2013

New certificate in global health

Six medical students are the first at Yale to receive a certificate in global medicine that recognizes their interest and efforts in global health. To receive the certificate, which was approved by the Yale Corporation last year, students must complete course work, do research in global health, demonstrate linguistic or cultural competency, show leadership in global health activities, and complete international electives at sites in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, or Latin America. Said Robert M. Rohrbaugh ’82MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the Office of International Medical Student Education, “It’s important for students who are interested in global health to have awareness of other cultures, and the best way to achieve awareness is to be ‘the other,’ not knowing the customs, feeling a little bit out of place.”

Celebrating women’s health research

Women’s Health Research at Yale (WHRY), whose mission is to ensure that women are included in research studies, that gender differences in health are examined, and that health outcomes are analyzed by gender, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Since its inception, WHRY has awarded more than $4.4 million in “seed” grants to more than 60 Yale investigators. Many of these scientists used the results from WHRY-funded studies to obtain a total of nearly $50 million in grants that further their work in key areas of research. Some of these areas include developing new models for treating breast cancer and preventing tumor metastasis; smoking and other addictive behaviors; cardiovascular disease; depression; osteoporosis; and adaptation of returning women combat veterans. WHRY’s mission also includes building interdisciplinary research cores, training the next generation of researchers, and engaging the community through outreach. WHRY was founded in 1998 with funding from the Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation.