Alaska
Austria
DMD students Jackie Chou and Morgane Amat (Class of 2019) were in Austria for the Special Olympics Winter World Games in March 2017. Both students went on behalf of the I. Leon Dogon Travel Award, which provides support for pre-doctoral students interested in global health research. They are working with Dr. Steve Perlman and the Special Smiles program to provide oral health care information, and free dental screenings to participating Special Olympics athletes.
Haiti
During the summer and fall of 2017, The Office of Global and Community and Dr. Brian Swann (Oral Health Policy & Epidemiology) co-sponsored a State Department Fellow from Haiti, Dr. Elie Joseph, DDS, MPH. Dr. Joseph shadowed several mobile dentistry programs around the Boston area as well as in Detroit Michigan, New York City, and different parts of Georgia in the hopes to apply his research and expand mobile programs in Haiti.
Dr. Brian Swann, instructor in Oral Health Policy & Epidemiology, travelled to Haiti in 2017 with the National Dental Association as part of ongoing faculty capacity building in collaboration with the Haiti Dental School.
India
Hannah Yoo (Class of 2018) is currently conducting her research project on oral and nutritional health of women and children in Mumbai, India.
Ireland
During the summer of 2016, Dr. John Ahern joined HSDM as a Fulbright Scholar from Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Ahern received both his dental (2010) and medical (2015) degrees from Trinity College Dublin, and his masters in public health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (2013). As a dual-qualified clinician in both medicine and dentistry, Dr. Ahern’s focus is on the integration of oral health with general health. Dr. Ahern returned to Ireland in 2017 but is still collaborating with the Office of Global and Community Health at HSDM on various international projects related to integration with a particular focus on the diabetic population. He recently returned to HSDM in June 2017 to present as part of a monthly oral health Seminar Series.
Jamaica
Dr. Hend Alqaderi, lecturer in Oral Health Policy & Epidemiology was invited in August 2016 to teach an intensive Evidence Based Dentistry course in Jamaica at the University of West Indies Dental School. This course aimed to provide basic knowledge and skills required for practicing evidence-based dentistry including the concepts, processes, and methodology, from asking the right clinically relevant questions to searching and critical appraisal of existing evidence and applying that information in clinical decision making.
Dr. Alqaderi gave workshops for the dental students there to master the competencies of how to critique articles and metaanalysis, synthesize and apply information from scientific and lay sources to improve the public’s oral health. In addition, the course included workshops, short presentations, and teamwork assignments in areas like basic epidemiology, Biostatistics, and proposing research projects.
Mexico
DMD student Ana Fernanda Calles (Class of 2017) was in Mexico in April 2017 on behalf of the I. Leon Dogon Travel Award, which provides support for pre-doctoral students interested in global health research. Ana's research focused on assessing oral health literacy among type 2, low SES diabetics living in Mexico.
United Arab Emirates
Drs. Christine Riedy and Hawazin Elani (HSDM) and Dr. Munzer Ramahi (Mediclinic, UAE) are serving as co-PIs on, “Oral Health and Diabetes in Emirati Adults: A Mixed Methods Study,” funded by the HMS Center for Global Health Delivery-Dubai. The HMS Center for Global Health Delivery-Dubai promotes research optimizing the ‘last mile’ of health care delivery. The Mediclinic/HSDM collaboration will employ a mixed methods design to examine Type 2 diabetes among Emirati adults residing in Dubai, UAE. A quantitative approach will be used to assess the prevalence of periodontitis in diabetic Emirati adults, examine the association between prevalence of periodontitis and uncontrolled diabetes and assess patient’s treatment compliance/adherence. A qualitative approach will be used to examine the lived experiences of controlled and uncontrolled diabetics. This knowledge will be used to inform and tailor future targeted behavioral interventions in this population.
In February 2017, Assistant Dean Jane Barrow and Associate Professor Dr. Christine Riedy travelled to Dubai on behalf of HSDM to attend and participate in a 1.5 day workshop to identify and map causal factors and proximal determinants for obesity in the Middle East. Dean Barrow and Dr. Riedy presented at the conference to medical and oral health professionals on oral health’s role in systems based approaches to healthcare.
Other Countries
HSDM also participates in various levels of collaborations (clinical, social or basic science research or teaching initiative) in the following countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Israel, Japan, Korea, Malawi, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam.