growing health in india

Chances are you know someone who has diabetes. With dietary and physical activity pattern changes, obesity and diabetes have rapidly increased in much of the world. Diabetes is a global epidemic that requires a global response, beginning right here at the rsph and led by K.M. Venkat Narayan, one of the world’s leading experts on diabetes epidemiology.

Last year, Narayan launched the Global Diabetes Research Center, a partnership with the Madras Diabetes Research Center in India. By combining their respective strengths, researchers will find new ways to combat diabetes in South Asia, the United States, and elsewhere.

The Public Health Foundation of India (phfi) was formed to create excellent schools of public health in India and provide public health training for thousands throughout the country. I have the privilege of serving on the phfi board, and four of their faculty researchers are receiving postgraduate training at the rsph currently. Upon returning to India, they will grow the nation’s public health workforce by teaching others.

In this issue, we recognize several people for their accomplishments, including former Humphrey Fellow Pankaj Shah. His organization received a 2007 MacArthur Foundation award for reducing maternal mortality rates in more than 160 villages in India. Just recently, the rsph honored former cdc director David Sencer with a scholarship named in his honor and appointed Paige Tolbert as chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. In their inimitable ways, they serve as role models for us all in making lasting contributions to public health.

Sincerely,