A Note from the Executive Director | | |
Dear Colleague,
In the last two weeks, elections took place in a number of countries and big changes unfolded. Citizens, frustrated by increasing unaffordability, growing inequity, wars, and corruption, voted for change. They elected administrations they hope will address these issues and reduce the turmoil that has reverberated around the world. Global health is an important vehicle to impact these challenges and CUGH is there to partner with you to tackle them.
Last month we held our very successful annual Virtual Global Health Week. It was inspiring to see over 1,500 colleagues from 92 countries come together to collaborate, share knowledge, learn, and identify new partnerships. We are deeply grateful to the panelists, organizers, and attendees who made this week a huge success. Thanks to our Senior Program Officer, Elizabeth Hourani, who led this effort. Please share the recordings available here on our YouTube channel.
Below you will find exciting, upcoming webinars from CUGH's committees and working groups, as well as the toolkit we built based on our recent Pulitzer-funded science communication workshop. Please note that the early bird rate for CUGH2027 in Lima ends November 30th. There will be over 41 panels, 10 plenaries, 600+ posters, and more. Also, see the link below to nominate someone for a Dr. Anvar & Pari Velji Award for Global Health Excellence or CUGH Global Health Leadership Award.
On November 10th we are collaborating with the WHO to hold two online regional webinars, one in Asia and the other in Africa and the Middle East, for the WHO's Together for Science and Health movement. See how you can register below. Humanitarian disasters continue to unfold in Gaza, Sudan, and the Eastern Congo. We created a new webpage for such crises on our website where we will post actions you can take to help relieve the suffering of the affected people.
In October, I represented CUGH at the World Health Summit, where I met with CUGH members and leaders from organizations from around the world to forge collaborations that will support our mission. This occurred just after the in-person Nature Medicine Quality Health Information for all Commission meeting. The genesis for this meeting started at our CUGH meeting in 2024 and will report out in 2027.
If your institution is not a CUGH member, please join our network. We welcome organizations that share our mission. Also, if you are applying for a grant and think CUGH could be a useful collaborator, please contact executivedirector@cugh.org
Our end of year funding drive is underway. Our goal is to raise $200,000 by Dec. 31. Your contributions enable us to make our work accessible to all, which we believe is foundational to our mission and quite simply, the right thing to do. If you like our work, please consider supporting CUGH by making a donation via the link here. All donations in the US are tax deductible.
We are delighted to introduce a new member of our team, Mr. Chris Markomanolakis, as our new Director of Operations. Chris comes with a wealth of operational experience overseas and in the US. We look forward to Chris's contributions to CUGH's work.
As always, please share this newsletter widely.
Keith
Keith Martin MD, PC
Executive Director
CUGH
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Virtual Global Health Week 2026:
Recap & Recordings
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We held our annual, free, open to all Virtual Global Health Week, Oct. 27–29th. Thank you to the session organizers, panelists, student presenters, and participants for three insightful and inspiring days.
Watch all session recordings on our YouTube channel. The recordings will also be added to the event page in the coming days.
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Together for Science and Health
Regional Launch Events: Nov. 10
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CUGH is hosting two regional launch webinars on November 10 in support of WHO’s Together for Science and Health movement. The events will bring together voices from Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
Register for the regional launch events using the links below.
| | CUGH Science Communication Toolkit | |
To mark the launch, CUGH is releasing a new toolkit with practical tips from the 2026 Evidence to Impact workshops. It helps global health professionals:
- Share their work with journalists.
- Counter misinformation.
- Build trust in science through storytelling.
Explore the toolkit and additional resources on our new Science Communication webpage.
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CUGH2027: Registration & Awards
Award Nominations Are Now Open!
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Early bird rates end Nov. 30th!
New LMIC Membership Offer
| New institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can receive 50% off the regular CUGH institutional membership rate for 2027. LMIC institutions are invited to join CUGH and access discounted registration fees for CUGH2027. Learn more about institutional membership. | |
Welcome Chris Markomanolakis to CUGH
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We are delighted to announce that Chris Markomanolakis recently
joined the CUGH Team as the new Director of Operations!
| | Chris is a global health leader with over 12 years of experience designing and implementing global health security programs in partnership with local stakeholders worldwide. With a background in international humanitarian assistance and community-led development, he leverages his expertise in project management, capacity development, and financial stewardship to turn ideas into measurable impact. Before joining CUGH, Chris worked at Catholic Relief Services, the Advocacy Project, Population Services International (PSI), and FHI 360. He earned his Master of Public Management from the University of Maryland and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania from 2014 to 2016. | | CUGH: A Network Built for This Moment | | | | At a time when global health financing has declined, hard won gains in development are threatened, science-based voices are harder to hear, research programs are threatened, international collaborations are compromised, and talented students are increasingly anxious about career opportunities, equitable, durable partnerships that deploy the power of science to improve the health of people and the sustainability of our planet are more important than ever. In response, CUGH's Board, committees, and Secretariat have set the organization's Strategic Plan for 2025-2028. | |
Support CUGH's work by donating here. Thank you for your support which is vital to our ability to serve our members, achieve our mission and address the pressing challenges before us. | CUGH at the World Health Summit & Lancet Global Health Commission on Quality Health Information for All | CUGH's Executive Director, Dr. Keith Martin, with the WHO's Chief Scientist, Dr. Sylvie Briand, and the CEO of the Global Sepsis Alliance, Dr. Mariam Jashi. | CUGH's Executive Director, Dr. Keith Martin, with the Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Dr. Chris Murray. | The CUGH Global Health Leaders Podcast: Free - Subscribe, Listen & Share | We have converted our popular YouTube interview series, into free podcasts on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, where you can hear from leaders who are addressing contemporary global challenges | |
Subscribe now to be notified when new episodes are released:
Spotify | Apple | Amazon | YouTube
| | Advocacy Committee Publishes New Article | | The Journal of Health Communication recently published the article, "The Imperative for Political Advocacy Education in the Global Health Curriculum." Drawing from the consideration of global health education reforms in the Advocacy, Policy & Communications Committee, this commentary seeks to support the training of future global health professionals to communicate public health evidence into global health policy. | | | | |
NOVEMBER 18 | 11:00AM EDT
The CUGH Academic Partnerships Program Initiative (APPI) Subcommittee presents the South-South Global Health Partnerships Showcase. A discussion about successful South-South partnerships, featuring AFREhealth (African Forum for Research and Education in Health) and the Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University in Uganda, will engage in an interactive discussion on what key features, successes, and challenges of South-South global health partnerships. Register here.
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DECEMBER 1 | 10:00AM EDT
The CUGH Operations Committee presents the Transforming Global Health Challenges into Solutions Webinar Series. The first session will explore AI solutions available in global health and contrast diverse perspectives of various stakeholders and institutions from high and low-income settings, and the ethical considerations and challenges involved in AI access and use. Register here.
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Common Ground Webinar Series:
Recordings Now Available
| | The CUGH Global Health Humanities, Planetary Health/One Health/Environmental Health Working Group, and the Global Health Educator Community (GHECo) hosted a three-day virtual webinar series on October 7-9, exploring the intersections of global health, planetary health, and the arts. | | |
Recordings of each session are now available on our YouTube channel:
| | Welcome New & Returning CUGH Members! | | NCI: Deputy Director, Center for Global Health | NCI is seeking a Deputy Director for the Center for Global Health. The Deputy Director will provide executive and senior scientific leadership for NCI's global cancer research and research capacity-building portfolio. The position will help establish strategic priorities, lead multidisciplinary scientific programs and research initiatives, and strengthen collaboration across NIH and with domestic and international partners. Applicants must have an MD, PhD, or equivalent advanced scientific or clinical degree. Deadline: November 18 at 11:59pm ET. | ETSU Fellowship Opportunities | | ETSU Quillen College of Medicine is recruiting a Global Surgery Fellow for a 12-month position based at Koidu Government Hospital (KGH) in Kono District, Sierra Leone, in partnership with PIH/Sierra Leone (Partners In Health). The fellow serves as a staff surgeon at KGH while engaging in clinical care, teaching, capacity building, research, and quality improvement initiatives in a resource-limited setting. | ETSU Quillen College of Medicine is recruiting a Global Primary Care Fellow for a 12-month position based at Hillside Health Care in Toledo District, Belize. The fellow provides comprehensive primary care in a resource-limited setting through outpatient care, mobile clinics, community outreach, teaching, and quality improvement initiatives. | | Pulitzer Center Webinar on Medicaid Work Requirements: Nov. 18 at 6:30pm EDT | Join the Pulitzer Center for a webinar on November 18 at 6:30 pm ET to learn about the Jan. 1, 2027, Medicaid work requirements and what they mean for addiction treatment nationwide. The session explores how work requirements, eligibility verifications, and harm reduction restrictions may affect people seeking help, and how storytelling can support advocacy and change. | UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences Global Partner Spotlight: Nov. 19 at 8am PDT / 11am EDT | Join UCSF's November global partner spotlight event focused on climate and health featuring Radisti A. Praptiwi, PhD, a researcher in marine resources management at the Research Center for Ecology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in Indonesia. | NCEAS 2027 Annual Conference: Feb. 22-23 | The National Collaborative for Education to Address the Social Determinants of Health (NCEAS) 2027 annual conference will be held virtually on February 22 and 23. The theme for this year’s conference is: Beyond Screening: Preparing the Workforce for Action. View conference details here. | | Friends of PAHO: Sign the Open Letter | Friends of PAHO is a bipartisan network of American leaders working to build and sustain U.S. support for the Pan American Health Organization. Founded in Washington in 1902, PAHO is the world’s oldest international health organization and today plays a critical role in protecting health across the Americas. Please consider signing this open letter in support of its work. | UC Berkeley Law’s Edley Center: Tools to Protect Human Rights & Democracy | |
Protecting civil rights is fundamental to a functioning democracy. Public confidence in a healthy democracy derives from, and relies on, participants’ experience of fair and equal treatment at the hands of government and under law. Without robust protection for fairness and equality before the law, democratic institutions that rely on public participation, freedom of assembly, and free expression cannot thrive. And all other rights are placed at risk.
The Edley Center on Law and Democracy at UC Berkeley engages policymakers and communities in the US to strengthen systems that protect democracy and people’s rights. They have compiled tools, guides, and other resources you can use to advance these goals. Building capacity to strengthen effective governance in the US is essential. Please see and share the tools here.
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International Research Collaborations
Supported by the NIH
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Annals of Global Health recently published a paper analyzing international collaboration in NIH-funded publications from 2014 to 2023.
A few key findings:
- Nearly one-third (31.9%) of NIH-funded publications in 2023 included international coauthors.
- More than 368,000 publications involved international collaboration over the decade.
- Internationally collaborative publications had higher citation impact than U.S.-only publications.
The findings reinforce the importance of international partnerships to American scientific excellence. As research security concerns reshape U.S. international engagement, these data can help inform a more evidence-based discussion.
| Humanitarian Crises & Community Health | | CUGH Humanitarian Crises Webpage | | | | |
CUGH is committed to tackling ongoing humanitarian crises across the globe. A new page has been created on our website to highlight some of the issues we are addressing and what you can do to assist in these efforts.
Currently, there are resources available related to the crises in Gaza (including a 3-part webinar series), Lebanon, and Sudan, as well as global food insecurity. Check back frequently as more materials are added!
| | Ebola Care Group Resources: Updated for 2026 | | A nine-lesson community health promotion curriculum and a plain-language summary of Ebola barrier analysis findings, revised for the East and Central African context. Learn more and download the resources here. | | |
US Advocacy: Engage Your
Congressional Representatives
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Engaging politicians is vital to affecting change. Contact your congressional representatives in their state and district offices. Call, write, or email your concerns and offer solutions. Personal calls matter.
- Communicate the economic and human impact of these policies on individuals, communities, and institutions—both in the U.S. and globally.
- Try to get your asks on TV and radio, and share informed commentaries on social media.
If you are in the United States, you can find and contact your representatives here:
See this link to access useful resources that will help you to enhance your advocacy efforts.
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Our listservs are open access and provide members of our network with the opportunity to share messages directly—without needing to route them through the CUGH Secretariat. We encourage thoughtful use of these listservs to maintain their value and effectiveness as a communication tool.
Becoming a listserv member is a great way to stay informed and connected with the global health community.
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