By Justin Doubleday
Promoting interdisciplinary research, fostering partnerships with foreign institutions and advocating for evidence-based policies are ways universities can advance global health initiatives, George Washington University President Steven Knapp said at a panel discussion Saturday focused on higher education’s role in achieving global health goals.
The panel, which featured university leaders from around the world, was a part of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health’s fifth annual global health conference. The weekend-long event, co-sponsored by the George Washington University, brought together more than 1,400 attendees, including educators, administrators, students and health professionals. James Tielsch, chair of the Department of Global Health, served as chair of the conference program committee.
The panel discussed higher education’s role in the post-Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era. The eight MDGs—wide-reaching initiatives like eradicating global hunger and combatting the spread of AIDS—were set forth by the United Nations to combat the challenges faced by the world’s poorest people. The target date for achieving the goals is 2015.
As the MDG era comes to an end, panelists looked ahead to 2015 and how universities could help define and advance sustainable development goals. The consensus was that higher education and its ability to find fact-based solutions must play a larger role in tackling global health challenges.
“It’s an issue of not only educating future leaders but it’s an issue of educating the public more broadly,” said Charles L. Rice, president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. “In this, I think [universities] have a critical role to play.”
Dr. Knapp said GW’s proximity to decision-makers in Washington, D.C., positions the university to affect important policy discussions related to global health initiatives.
“We see ourselves as having the unique opportunity to convene expertise from around the nation and around the world to address the most challenging global health issues,” he said. “We are in the center of an extraordinary concentration of institutions and agencies.”
Fabiola Leon-Velarde, rector of the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru, agreed that universities have to be a part of global health policy discussions.
“We have to [be involved], with our role as a university,” she said. “We talk based in facts, not in opinions.”
Dr. Knapp also said universities need to incentivize interdisciplinary research among faculty members. Professors, he said, shouldn’t feel that their careers are in jeopardy if they try to work across departments. Dr. Knapp said administrators could use the help of academics and professionals to create an environment where that type of research is encouraged.
“We can use everyone's creativity and thoughts and innovations to find better pathways for faculty so that we can make universities even more powerful in addressing these challenges,” he said.
GW recently received a university record $80 million in donations toward its public health programs from the Milken Institute, the Milken Family Foundation and the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation to support research, scholarships and establish a global center for prevention and wellness. Dr. Knapp said goal-specific philanthropy like that helps universities improve global health outcomes.
“They’re helping universities focus resources in a more strategically effective way,” he said.
Panelists also touted the growing student exchanges between universities in different countries. The ability to share knowledge and create international partnerships, they said, is key to solving health issues on a global scale.
The high costs of most American universities, however, may discourage international students from studying in the United States, Dr. Knapp said. And the high costs foreign universities face in absorbing American students could also hold back the growth of these exchanges.
“It’s a question of how you address that imbalance,” Dr. Knapp said. “We can have a more equal exchange between our universities.”