JacOB Kariuki

A New Leader Forges A New Path For Global Health Research

As a young nurse in Kenya, Jacob Kariuki, PhD, discovered the revelatory power of data collection and analysis — and the value of global perspectives to better understand health issues.

That background will serve him well in his new role as assistant director for global health research with the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility (LCC), where he will drive innovation and develop partnerships, primarily in Africa.

Before joining the LCC, Kariuki knew about its global health success, such as reducing household air pollution from cookstoves in Guatemala and strengthening the nursing workforce infrastructure and data collection in Kenya. He was particularly drawn to the School of Nursing’s Emory-Ethiopia Partnership, which includes a successful initiative to improve maternal-child health using simple, low- or no-cost measures in remote communities. The same partnership gave rise to Ethiopia’s first nursing PhD program, and “could become the North Star of the center’s engagement with the African continent,” he says.

Kariuki sees potential for growing research in a variety of ways. For example, the LCC’s International Visiting Scholars Program attracts health professionals from across the globe. These scholars, he believes, could foster new research collaborations.

“I’ve long admired the Lillian Carter Center’s work in global health, service learning, and community empowerment,” says Kariuki. “When Dean McCauley described the center’s plans to strengthen global health research, I knew immediately I wanted to play a part.” — Sylvia Wrobel and training programs. Phan plays a role in four of these projects and leads two of them.

Newborn health initiatives are part of the Emory-Ethiopia Partnership, which Kariuki believes could be a good model for the Lillian Carter Center’s work in Africa.

“All of the HRSA grants will help us address the social determinants of health and health equity at the community level,” says Phan. “Often, when people are disenfranchised, they don’t get the care they deserve. As nurses, we need to be better prepared to close that gap.”

In recent years, “community engagement” has taken on greater significance as a defining principle of Emory University, one that Linda McCauley 79MN, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, understands well as a public health nurse, environmental and occupational health researcher, and dean of the School of Nursing.

Community engagement and the HRSA projects are part of the work of the nursing school’s Lillian Carter Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility.

“The community is where much of care happens,” says McCauley. “As nurses, we have a responsibility to be part of the solution of making sure every individual has access to care. The funding from HRSA bolsters our efforts in preparing future nurse leaders to serve people in the communities where they live.”

Community engagement and the HRSA projects are part of the work of the nursing school’s Lillian Carter Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility (LCC). Established in 2001, the center aims to improve the health of vulnerable people worldwide through nursing education, research, practice, and policy.

“During its formative years, the LCC focused on strengthening the global nursing workforce and formalizing service-learning programs for students in Georgia and other countries,” says Tricia Benson 86MN, the School of Nursing’s chief engagement officer and executive director of the Lillian Carter Center.

“Today, the LCC’s work in community engagement, service learning, and global health is more deeply rooted than ever,” she continues. “Support from HRSA and other federal agencies is broadening the impact of the LCC’s work, especially in collaborative partnerships with Atlanta-area organizations. Our students will take this communitycentered understanding, skill, and sensitivity forward to their future careers in nursing.”

Community Collaborations: Working Alongside Our Partners

“We’ve always had partnerships with community agencies,” says Elizabeth Downes 04MPH, DNP, FNP-C, CNE, FAANP, ANEF, FAAN, assistant dean of global health and co-director of the LCC. “When the Lillian Carter Center was formed, we began to focus more on how to meet the needs of the communities we’re serving. Community impact and creating meaningful change are the bases of our program.”

Students and faculty collaborate with longtime partners to provide clinical care and health education in metro Atlanta and other parts of Georgia, as well as the Bahamas, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Peru, and other countries. For more than 20 years, students, faculty, and alumni have spent two weeks in South Georgia providing health care for migrant farmworkers and families in collaboration with the Georgia Ellenton Farmworker Health Clinic and health professions students from other Georgia colleges and universities.

Nursing students are drawn to Emory because of these experiences. Among them are the Fuld Service Learning Fellows, MN+MSN pathway students who plan to work with underserved populations. The Fuld Fellowship was established through a gift to the School of Nursing from the Helene Fuld Health Trust (see page 11).

Community Understanding: Social Determinants of Health

At the School of Nursing, students learn about the social determinants of health in every course they take, based on goals set by the Association of American Colleges of Nursing, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies.

“It’s important that we fully embrace the social determinants of health so that we provide the best care to our patient populations,” says Professor Jill Hamilton 21MRPL, PhD, RN, FAAN, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services. Research projects include preventing heat-related illnesses among farmworkers and reducing children’s environmental health risks.

“Community engagement work takes place in different ways, and scholarship is an important part of that work,” says McCauley. “To do meaningful research on the social determinants of health, you have to partner with communities where people work and live. Federal agencies understand that. Funding this type of research is an investment in health equity. It helps people who need it most.”

Community Focus: Our Global, Local Responsibility

Going forward, the nursing school’s roots in community engagement will continue to spread. The school’s new Emory Nursing Learning Center is helping the school expand its community partnerships, locally and globally.

The center, which houses the school’s clinical skills and simulation labs, opened last August in a city brimming with learning and service opportunities.

FAACE, co- editor of the new textbook, Integrating a Social Determinants of Health Framework into Nursing Education

This focus on social determinants has played a big role in the school's community-engaged initiatives, the funding of which has grown substantially in recent years. In addition to HRSA funding, the school received a record $23 million in federal funding from

“When you walk out the doors of the Emory Nursing Learning Center, you’re in the heart of the community,” says Benson. “The learning center allows us to partner and engage in Fulton and DeKalb counties in deep and meaningful ways.”

Whether the work is in Decatur — or other parts of the city, state, nation, or world — the nursing school is embracing the reality that health care and community care go hand in hand.