Awards Announced for Young Global Investigators

Eight young foreign investigators trained by the US National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) have received grants to support their re-entry to their home countries.

The scientists will be provided with partial salaries as well as support for research projects. They are expected to continue to pursue independent and productive careers in their home countries. Following are the names and fields of concentration of the eight new award recipients.

Dr. Anna Bebenk, Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland), will study replicative polymerases in an attempt to better understand the accuracy of DNA replication, a key element in growth and development.
Dr. Ximena L. Burbano, Fundacion Santa Fe de Bogota (Colombia), will work on a project involving the impact of delivery models in HIV healthcare in Bogota.
Dr. Saurabh Ghosh, Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata (Calcutta, India), will study statistical methods for mapping multivariate phenotypes in order to learn more about the complex gene-gene and gene-environment interactions.
Dr. James N. Kiarie, University of Nariobi (Kenya), will work on interventions to reduce HIV-1 incidence in the first year after childbirth using counseling and female-controlled prevention methods.
Dr. Edith Nakku-Joloba, Mulago Hospital, Makerere University (Uganda), will study the seroprevalence and incidence of genital herpes in Uganda, including its relationship to other sexually transmitted diseases.
Dr. Sergio Rosenzweig, Fundacion Hospital of Pediatria, Buenos Aires (Argentina), will investigate recycling of the interferon gamma receptor-modulated IFNg responsiveness.
Dr. Jose Terron, Cinvestav-IPN, Mexico City (Mexico), will study brain serotonin and the angiotensis II system in patients suffering from migraine headaches.
Dr. Rosa M. Wong-Chew, Fundacion Mexicana Para la Salud, Mexico City (Mexico), will evaluate the immune response to the aerosol measles vaccine in children and study the antibodies subsequently developed.

"This grant allows young investigators to have a level of control over their early careers in ways previously unavailable to them,” said Sharon Hrynkow, Ph.D., deputy director of the Global Health Research Initiative Program for New Foreign Investigators (GRIP), which provides the support. "The experience of competing successfully in the NIH system will stand them in good stead as they launch independent careers, and puts them on a path for future competitive support,” she added.