Ten Years in Review: The Office of Global Health at UT Southwestern

By Nico Campalans and Steven Duncan

This year, 2020, marks the ten-year anniversary of the Office of Global Health. To learn more about global health at UT Southwestern, we spoke with Dr. Ohwofiemu Nwariaku, a distinguished surgeon who completed his residency and fellowship training here in 1998. Dr. Nwariaku has helped direct the office since its inception in 2010.

What did global health at UT Southwestern look like prior to the Office of Global Health?

Global health at Southwestern was fragmented and poorly organized. There were faculty involved in a variety of one-off projects. Students primarily spent time arranging their own spring break trips with very little oversight and no academic component to the global health activities.

When did it become apparent that these efforts needed to be organized?

When Dr. Podolsky was appointed president of UT Southwestern, he sent out a survey and there was a relatively strong signal for organization of global health activities at UT Southwestern. Students at the time were strong advocates for some kind of support for those activities at the institutional level.

How has working with the Office of Global Health impacted or influenced your overall experience at UT Southwestern? Is there a particular accomplishment you’re particularly proud of?

I would say the number one thing I’ve done is mentor several students who have gone on to careers in global health. They've done residencies and master’s in public health and moved on to faculty positions where they continue that work. And some of the programs we've created I’m very proud of, particularly the MD with distinction program.

What countries have hosted students working through the Office of Global Health?

I’ve had people in India, Dominican Republic/Haiti, South Africa, and Liberia. People have worked in Australia, New Zealand, China, and Ethiopa. These are just a few of the countries. We’ve had some continue working in Central and South America.

How do you see the Office of Global Health evolving?

When we started, we tried to do a lot of things and didn’t really have the bandwidth. Now we're trying to streamline activities and engage strong regional partners who share the same vision: innovative education and research. What you’ll see moving forward is a smaller number of relationships, but deeper relationships with institutions. In some locations, we're going to create opportunities locally as opposed to having people come here to grow as global health researchers.

Are there any specific projects that you’re particularly excited about?

There’s a new relationship with a hospital in Ethiopia. A member of the neurology faculty is working on a telestroke program, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that will change the outcomes for stroke in that region. I also have an NIH grant to look at using mobile technology to better pinpoint the location of road traffic injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa. I’m excited about that because we're collaborating with the engineers at UT Dallas, and we’re using technology that hasn't been used before.

This interview was edited and condensed by Nico Campalans and Steven Duncan. Many thanks to Dr. Nwariaku and the Office of Global Health.