In order to train the next generation of global health leaders, the Global Health Initiative at Yale is putting their money where their mouth is. On Wednesday evening, Kaveh Khoshnood, Director of Global Health Fellowships, led an informational session on the three major funding opportunities for global health internships and research under the Initiative. The Yale College Health Studies Award targets students interested in field research while the Global Health Initiative Field Experience Award and Yale - Collaborative Action Project (Y-CAP) Award are more flexible in nature, supporting research, practice, advocacy, or policy and management. You’ll find a full listing of fellowships here.
The most unique of the three fellowships is the Y-CAP Award, which supports a team of three to four undergraduate and graduate students from multiple disciplines with up to $15,000. The grant actually originates from past demonstrated student interest in collaborative projects. Given that "no one works alone in the field," Professor Khoshnood lauded the prize as "finally a mechanism to fund what we preach." As a donor driven fellowship, the fund will most likely support one team, with a preference for projects in Africa. It is surprising to think that there is not more support for synergistic studies not only in health, but other fields as well.
One of the key features of the GHI seems to be its ability to bring together a multidisciplinary force, evident in the thirty plus undergraduate and graduate students circulating at last night’s funding session, pitching proposals and creating Y-CAP teams. Hopefully, the Y-CAP is only the beginning of encouraging collaborative scholarship in global health at Yale.
Connie Cho, GHLI Intern