April 3, 2001
Fogarty International Center, the international component of the NIH, has named Rachel Nugent as the first recipient of the Sheldon M. Wolff Fellowship on International Health. The fellowship provides opportunities for American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows in the Science, Engineering, and Diplomacy Program to work at FIC on program, policy, and planning initiatives.
At FIC, Nugent is working on
economic issues related to health and environmental policy. She also serves as
the Program Director for FIC’s new grant program, International Studies on
Health and Economic Development (ISHED).
ISHED launched its first RFP
along with four NIH institutes, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social
Sciences Research and the World Bank in the summer of 2000. The goal is to
examine the connection between health and economic status among inhabitants of
low- and middle-income nations. Lack of understanding of the causal
relationships between wealth and health is impeding interventions in poor
countries, and ISHED is hoping to generate some research that will help in
developing public health policies.
FIC initiated the fellowship
in honor of the late Sheldon Wolff, a leader in infectious disease research. In
addition to his contributions toward the understanding of fever, its causes,
effects on the host, and role in infectious, inflammatory, and immunologic
disorders, Wolff was also an advocate of international collaborations as a
means to advance key research areas and improve human health.