Four New Trainees Join Hubert-Yeargan Center’s Global Health Pathway

HYC Trainees Group Photo

(From left): John Bonnewell (back), Global Health Pathway program coordinator Tara Pemble, Rebecca Lumsden, Neelima Navuluri, Sweta Patel and Global Health Pathway program director Nathan Thielman.

Published October 22, 2018, last updated on November 13, 2018 under Education News

This year, four new trainees joined the Global Health Pathway for Residents and Fellows, a program administered through the Duke Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health, a part of the Duke Global Health Institute. 

Established as a unique post-graduate medical training program in 2008, the Global Health Pathway engages medical residents and fellows from diverse departments across Duke Medical Center to address health disparities. The program integrates specialty-specific research opportunities, Master of Science in Global Health (MSc-GH) courses and research mentorship to support trainees who aspire to careers in global health.

“This year’s trainees are talented physicians with diverse clinical and research interests who care deeply about health disparities,” said Nathan Thielman, professor of medicine and global health and director of the Global Health Pathway program. “Each will begin to address complex determinants of disease and health in their respective research projects with an eye towards implementing interventions that will make a difference.” 

MEET THE NEW TRAINEES

  • John Bonnewell, an infectious diseases fellow, earned his MD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine and completed his residency at Brown University. Under the mentorship of Matthew Rubach, assistant professor of medicine and global health, he will research causes of febrile illnesses and deaths in northern Tanzania. Bonnewell is also pursuing an MSc-GH degree. 

  • Rebecca Lumsden, an internal medicine resident, received her MD from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Her research will explore the link between pre-eclampsia and cardiovascular disease and mechanisms for early disease prevention through linkage and retention to care in Eldoret, Kenya. Lumsden, whose research mentor is associate professor of medicine and global health Gerald Bloomfield, is also enrolled in the MSc-GH program.

  • Neelima Navuluri, a pulmonary and critical care fellow, earned her MD and MPH from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and completed her residency at Columbia University. Under the mentorship of Peter Kussin, professor of medicine and DGHI affiliate, she will research the epidemiology of chronic hypoxemia at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya, and explore options to improve capacity for long-term oxygen therapy in resource-constrained settings. 

  • Sweta Patel, a pulmonary and critical care fellow, earned her MD at the Duke University School of Medicine and completed her residency at the University of San Francisco. She will work under the mentorship of Matthew Kelly, assistant professor of pediatrics, to study HIV exposure and microbiome composition and pathogen colonization in the nasopharynx among pediatric patients seeking care in Gaborone, Botswana. She is also pursuing an MSc-GH degree.

NEW TRAINEES JOIN FIVE CONTINUING TRAINEES

Along with the four new trainees, six other doctors will continue the Global Health Pathway:

  • Emily Esmaili, a pediatric fellow, is conducting research on refugee child health in Durham.
  • Julian Hertz, an emergency medicine fellow, is researching the local prevalence of acute coronary syndrome, beliefs about chest pain, and emergency department management of severe febrile illness in Tanzania. 
  • Deng Madut, an infectious disease fellow, is evaluating strategies to increase HIV uptake while targeting alcohol-serving establishments and probing incentivized testing in Moshi, Tanzania.
  • Preeti Manavalan, an infectious disease fellow, is investigating the social determinants of health among vulnerable populations infected with HIV in Moshi, Tanzania. 
  • Tony Pham, a psychiatry resident, is is exploring the role of Nepali traditional healers on mental well being.
  • Sky Vanderburg, an internal medicine resident, is researching the epidemiology of severe acute respiratory infections in tropical climates and exploring the role of host-based diagnostics in reducing unnecessary antimicrobial use. His research is based in Galle, Sri Lanka.

To learn more about the Global Health Pathway, visit the Duke Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health website.

This year’s trainees are talented physicians with diverse clinical and research interests who care deeply about health disparities.

Nathan Thielman, director of Global Health Pathway