Partnership between U-M Med School, Business School, and the Kellogg Eye Center Drives Latest Kenya

Kellogg has a longstanding partnership with the Kisii Eye Hospital (KEH), located in southwest Kenya. Since 2017, the collaboration has provided opportunities for mutually enriching training and high-impact clinical and epidemiological research.

KEH is one of the only tertiary eye hospitals serving a population of more than 10 million people. Under the leadership of CEO and Medical Director Daniel Kiage, M.D., a glaucoma specialist, KEH has grown rapidly since its founding in 2013, in diagnostic and surgical volumes as well as in the number of ophthalmologists and allied ophthalmic personnel receiving training.

Recently, the hospital opened its first satellite vision clinic, the Keroka Vision Centre. As they contemplated opening another, they looked to their colleagues in the University of Michigan community for guidance.

“Kellogg is one part of a strong, interconnected cohort of U-M faculty and students from a number of departments, schools and institutes, all engaged in international health issues,” says Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., Co-director of the Jerome Jacobson International Program at Kellogg. “Together, we offer a variety of opportunities to get involved in effecting positive change around the world.”

The seeds of the current KEH project were planted when a medical student learned about those opportunities at one of Kellogg’s International Night events. But it really took root when she ventured across campus to take a class at the business school.

Bela Parekh first became interested in issues of global health equity while working for a top management consulting firm after college. She brought that same passion for and commitment to reducing health disparities to her training at the U-M Medical School (UMMS).

After the completion of her core clinical year, she enrolled in a course through the William Davidson Institute (WDI) at the U-M Ross School of Business. The WDI leverages business expertise to build lasting economic and social prosperity in lowand middle-income countries. The class, Healthcare Delivery in Emerging Markets, assigned each student a business case. Fate stepped in when Parekh, who was leaning toward specializing in ophthalmology, was given the KEH Vision Centre expansion case. She simultaneously traveled to Ghana on a research scholarship through Global REACH, a UMMS program that engages faculty and students in international health collaborations.

Dr. Kiage’s team opened a second clinic in March 2023 while Parekh and the rest of the student team were on the ground in Kenya conducting interviews.

Parekh presented the initial plan for the Vision Centres in May 2023 to Dr. Kiage and WDI President Paul Clyde, Ph.D.

“When the project wrapped up, I felt like there was more to do,” says Parekh, now an M4. “The real challenge for Kisii is making these and future vision centers financially independent, sustainable and positioned to deliver the right care for the communities they serve.” Parekh pitched the idea of developing a comprehensive vision center expansion strategy for Kisii to Drs. Ehrlich and Clyde, who embraced the concept right away.

With input from her Kellogg and WDI mentors, Parekh and others will work with Kisii staff to understand the financials and logistics of the enterprise, including revenues, resource allocation, and referral patterns between clinics and the main hospital. Just as important are clinical considerations like staffing, training and equipment.

“Dr. Kiage has assembled a talented, highly motivated team at KEH,” says Dr. Ehrlich. “Like every initiative we undertake with them, this project will be informed by the epidemiology and culture of the region. Together, we’ll identify the vision health issues of greatest local concern, and determine how best to address their eyecare needs at a Kisii Vision Centre.”

Pictured above: BA685 Kisii Student Team onsite in Kenya: Supriya Ellina, M.H.A., Bela Parekh, B.S., Geetika Rao, M.B.A., Dan Kiage, M.D., Christian Colon, M.B.A., Sarah Jahnke, M.B.A.