Students are invited to apply to the 2021 Field Experience in One Health and Outbreak Investigation – a collaborative program presented by faculty at Texas A&M, UT Medical Branch and UT Rio Grande Valley. The program is open to DVM, MS, MD, PhD and MPH students. Program dates are April 26 – May 21 for the full 4-week cohort and May 10 – May 21 for the shorter 2-week option.
For more information, contact Caroline Weldon at caweldon@utmb.edu.
I had the great pleasure a couple of weeks ago to attend the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) 2021 Virtual Conference. It was refreshing to listen to experts in the global health field. As a future health professional, I appreciated the opportunity to see experts in the field engaged in addressing modern global health challenges.
The past year and a half have been a real challenge for everyone. The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken our everyday routine and the way we interact with each other. At the same time, the pandemic has exposed vulnerabilities in our preparedness and response strategies. However, the CUGH conference has reinforced that we need to continue working on making our planet safer for humans, animals, and the environment.
Prior to the pandemic, Latin American countries struggled to address health problems due to power dynamics, lack of proper funding, and inequalities in health within their nations. After listening to the session on “Addressing the Social Determinants of Health during the Pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean,” it became clear that nations in the Latin America region experience similar challenges in reaching health equity and equality. Dr. Paulo Buss, director of the Center for Global Health in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, outlined the structural dimensions that plague Brazil’s inequalities. Additionally, Dr. Buss spoke of the political tensions in Brazil. This tension has hindered the ability of the Brazilian government to effectively address the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, Brazil is considered the epicenter of the pandemic due to high daily death rates and the potential emergence of variants.
However, Brazil is not the only country experiencing challenges due to the pandemic. In the same session, Dr. Rocio Sáenz, former Minister of Health of Costa Rica, discussed the existing gaps in the health systems of Costa Rica. For instance, Dr. Sáenz shared that Costa Rica is experiencing gaps in education, proper funding in the health system, and trained health professionals. These gaps have further strained an already fragile health system. Also, Dr. Sáenz mentioned something that had a profound effect on me. She mentioned that the suffering that citizens experience goes beyond the number of deaths and illnesses. The pandemic has directly affected the overall well-being and mental health of individuals.
The overall lesson to be learned from these health experts is to address the existing barriers and gaps in the Latin American health systems. Structural change is needed to ensure individuals have access to adequate health services. Additionally, Latin American countries deserve better response and support in vaccinations and medical supplies, not only in times of health crises. Moreover, organizations like the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Organization of American States (OAS) should have a greater role in supporting the health equality and equity objectives of Latin American countries.
In the end, for any effective change to happen there needs to be proper funding in the health systems of these nations and a collaborative effort from leaders and government officials to address the causes of inequalities.
Yarielka Arrieta Batista serves as 2020/2021 Graduate Intern for the Office of Global One Health. She is pursuing a joint Master of Public Health and Master of International Affairs at Texas A&M University.
The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense released a new report in January 2021 recommending a comprehensive investment in the fight to end pandemic threats. The Apollo Program for Biodefense, so-named for the ambitious and successful Apollo 11 mission to put a human on the moon, seeks to end the threat of pandemics by 2030.
The Apollo Program for Biodefense is an ambitious goal-directed program to develop and deploy the technologies needed to defend against all biological threats, empower public health, and prevent pandemics, no matter what the source.
Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense
Texas A&M Global One Health Associate Dean, Dr. Gerald W. Parker, Jr., serves as an Ex Officio member of the Commission.
Before the pandemic, CUGH 2021 was on its way to Houston for the first time in conference history. Texas A&M University signed on as a Host Institution and has continued to support conference planning as it has been adapted to a virtual format.
The internal planning team invites Texas A&M students, faculty and staff to register to attend at www.CUGH2021.org. As a member institution, all A&M affiliates can register at member rates.
Join us for the A&M organized plenary panel Training the Next Generation of Global Health Professionals at 10:00am Central Time (US) on March 12, 2021 featuring the following experts:
Dr. Shawn Gibbs, Dean, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University
Dr. Aini Ideris, former Vice Chancellor, Universiti Putra Malaysia
Dr. Wondwossen Gebreyes, Executive Director, Global One Health initiative, The Ohio State University
Dr. Jonna Mazet, Founding Executive Director, One Health Institute, The University of California, Davis
Dr. Gerald Parker, Associate Dean of Global One Health, Texas A&M University (Moderator)
The VMBS PEER (Partnerships for Environmental Education and Rural Health) program at Texas A&M University promotes STEM and provides veterinary students and undergraduate students with the opportunity to share their knowledge about One Health and veterinary medicine with K-12 students and teachers throughout Texas. The overall goal is to use students’ natural interest in animals and the environment to help motivate them to learn, excel, and someday pursue a career in science (STEM).
A free, new, middle school standards-based, and remote-learning curriculum has been designed to be self-directed and interactive. Academic content of this curriculum is centered on the concept of One Health, which recognizes the interconnectedness among people, animals, and their shared environment. One health topics covered include: cell biology, infectious diseases, genetics, stress, ecology, and the clinical trials.
For more information, visit https://vetmed.tamu.edu/peer/one-health.
The College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science hosted the US Department of Agriculture Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service Veterinary Service 
(USDA APHIS-VS) Live Bird Market System Continuing Education Training Course October 25-27, 2016. The course was supported by colleagues from the Department of Poultry Science, Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the Texas Animal Health Commission. The purpose of the Live Bird Market System Program is to improve biosecurity practices and provide actively surveillance for avian influenza in live bird markets. The Live Bird Marketing System Continuing Education Training Course is designed to provide veterinary medical officers (VMOs), animal health technicians (AHTs), and other regulatory personnel involved with the live bird marketing system with the basic information and skills they will need to successfully carry out their job responsibilities. Participants learned about how to collect samples from chickens, turkeys, ducks and quail and how to detect avian influenza using rapid diagnostic tests and how to collect samples and pack and ship them to the appropriate diagnostic laboratories. Approximately 50 participants from 17 states and 6 countries attended the course. APHIS VS is responsible for safeguarding animal health and welfare in the United States.
Originally posted in the December 2016 Dean’s Corner. View original article here.
Texas A&M University team has been awarded $500,000 by the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service to promote biosecurity with 
beef, swine, and poultry small-scale livestock farmers in South Africa. The project is titled “Less Risk, More Value: Enhancing Biosecurity Best Practices of Livestock Diseases in South Africa,” and its goal is to improve international trade market access. This agreement builds on recent funding that this team received for global training capacity in biorisk management.
This interdisciplinary international team includes faculty from the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), Texas A&M One Health Initiative, Institute of Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD) and the Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa. Members of the lead team are:
Originally posted in the December 2016 Dean’s Corner. View original article here.
