Armenia-U.S. Collaboration to Address Non-Communicable Diseases
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YEREVAN, Armenia — On October 14-16, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Turpanjian College of Health Sciences (CHS) hosted the second annual meeting of the “Armenia-U.S. Collaboration to Address Chronic Disease via Education in Social Determinants Science” (ACCESS) project, in partnership with the George Washington University (GWU) Milken Institute School of Public Health. This is a five-year project supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center that builds on the long-standing relationship between CHS and GWU, encompassing extensive collaboration and joint publications. The principal investigators are Dr. Carla Berg, Dr. Nino Paichadze, and Dr. Varduhi Petrosyan. The co-investigators are Dr. Tsovinar Harutyunyan, Dr. Anya Agopian, and Dr. Paul Ndebele.
With ACCESS forming an integral part of AUA’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program, AUA and GWU faculty are developing a series of seminars and single-credit courses that are required for Fogarty fellows and electives for other MPH students. This program builds upon CHS’s ongoing collaborations with the RA Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Health after Academician S. Avdalbekyan, the National Center of Oncology after Fanarjyan, the Hematology Center after Prof. R. Yeolyan, the Nork-Marash Medical Center, and the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC). Dr. Stepan Atoyan (MPH ‘2015), the newly appointed general director of NCDC, presented the current status of the Human Papillomavirus vaccination in Armenia and proposed several collaboration opportunities between NCDC and ACCESS.
As part of the three-day event, GWU faculty conducted a series of seminars open to the AUA community and public health professionals. Dr. Carla J. Berg, professor of Prevention and Community Health at the GWU Milken Institute School of Public Health and Associate Center director for Population Sciences and Policy at the GWU Cancer Center, provided an overview of the social determinants of cannabis use in the U.S., including cannabis-related policies and regulations, industry retail and marketing practices and their impact on young adults. Her review examined key concerns regarding unintended consequences of legalization of cannabis sale, implications for cannabis-related health inequities, and underscored the need for regulations regarding promotions, health claims, warnings, and minimum-age, as well as enforcement of regulations. In turn, Dr. Paul Ndebele, professorial lecturer in the Department of Global Health and a senior research regulatory specialist in the Office of Research Excellence a the GWU Milken Institute School of Public Health, held two separate seminars on “Responsible Authorship Practices in Academic Institutions” and “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity in Research.” Both topics are in line with AUA’s priorities for strategic development and were well received not only by the public health community but also representatives of other units at AUA.
The MPH Fogarty fellowship supported by ACCESS is open to any Armenian citizen holding a medical degree (M.D.), dentistry degree (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), or doctorate in related sciences, who has been admitted to the CHS MPH program. The target demographic is mid-career professionals working in health organizations or clinics with a desire to strengthen their research skills and devote their careers to making an impact in the area of social determinants of non-communicable diseases. Each selected fellow receives 100% tuition coverage, as well as funds to conduct research on NCD, participate in international scientific conferences, and publish their capstone projects in international peer-reviewed journals. AUA welcomed the first two cohorts of eleven fellows by the fall 2024, with the objective of hosting about 25 fellows within five years of the project.
The AUA Turpanjian College of Health Sciences works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of health professionals to be leaders in public health, nursing, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
