Home > Summer Institute

Vision :: Venue :: Courses :: Faculty :: Registration :: Transportation :: Accommodations :: Sightseeing :: Contact

2010 Asia-Pacific Global Health Summer Institute

New Perspectives in Global Health: Integrating Ecological, Social, and Biological Sciences

Honolulu, Hawai‘i
June 20 - July 2, 2010

Sponsored By: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Office of Public Health Studies and University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health

Vision
Public health science and practice face unprecedented new challenges in the 21st Century. The demographic, cultural, ecological, and technological changes currently taking place are of a scale and nature that is historically unique. While economic growth, technological development, and globalization have brought unparalleled health and prosperity, these benefits have not been evenly distributed, and have come with significant social and ecological costs. More people than ever are living under conditions of extreme poverty, hardship, and disease. Indeed, all of humanity faces an uncertain future due to climate change, emerging infectious diseases, and other public health threats associated with over-population, pollution, ecosystem degradation, war, conflict and other transnational issues.

A new global health science is needed to address these challenges by combining expertise, knowledge, and resources beyond that of any single institution or country. Traditional disciplinary barriers must be broken down, and integrative approaches to research and practice must also be developed that combine the best methods available.

The Asia-Pacific Global Health Summer Institute is designed to provide an exciting new forum for instruction focused on critical global health issues of the Asia-Pacific Region. Co-sponsored by the University of Hawai‘i Office of Public Health Studies and the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, this year’s inaugural 2010 Summer Institute will focus on four pressing global health challenges: indigenous health disparities, linkages between healthy ecosystems and public health, the socio-ecology of emerging infectious diseases, and public health leadership.

Venue: Hawai‘i - Window to Asia and the Pacific
The 2010 Asia-Pacific Global Health Summer Institute will be held at the University of Hawai‘i Manoa campus, on the Island of O‘ahu in Manoa Valley, just minutes from central Honolulu and Waikiki beaches, hotels, and many other famous tourist spots. An isolated archipelago situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, halfway between North America and Asia, Hawai‘i is renowned for its rich cultural and natural history (including many unique terrestrial and marine species unknown elsewhere). In addition, Hawai‘i represents a microcosm of the Asia-Pacific Region, with its mix of Polynesian, Asian, and Western cultures, and its fragile ecosystems that are increasingly threatened by global change. A short 5-hour flight from the west coast, Hawai‘i has much to offer our Summer Institute participants.

The 2010 Summer Institute will encourage participants to learn more about the people and ecosystems of the Pacific Islands. In addition, instruction will focus on how new and integrative
approaches, which combine ecological, biological, and sociological sciences, can be used to address the Asia-Pacific Region’s global health challenges.

Courses
The 2-week Asia-Pacific Global Health Summer Institute features four one-week one-credit classes, which will have a UH course fee enrollment/registration fee of $372 per class (a non-credit option will also be available). Two classes will be taught each week.

Start of the Summer Institute - Plenary Session
(Sunday, June 20, 5pm-8pm)
“What is Global Health” panel discussion and reception for all Summer Institute attendees.

Indigenous Health and Disparities in Public Health
(Monday June 21 – Friday June 25, 9am-12pm)
The importance of identifying and understanding the socioeconomic determinants of health among indigenous populations is an emerging area of focus. This course will explore the factors that influence the health status of indigenous populations, including colonization, disconnection from the land, and loss of language and culture. In particular, we will consider these issues for Native Hawaiians and the current movement for self-determination and a strong cultural identity. Participants will be encouraged and expected to consider the relevance of these issues to other indigenous populations within Asia, the Pacific Islands, and beyond.

Ecology and Health
(Monday June 21 – Friday June 25, 1pm-4pm)
Traditional ecological sciences, combined with resilience theory and the relatively new science of social-ecological systems, have important and practical implications for human health and well-being. Ecological models of health, the concept of healthy ecosystems, and the role of ecosystem functioning in human health have expanded the meaning and practice of environmental health. This course on transdisciplinary “eco-health” will cover both theory and practical applications, including the “ecosystem approach to health.” Case examples will include the links between coral reef ecosystems and human health, and between human health and land use and climate change in Asia and the Pacific.

Public Health Grant Writing
(Monday June 28 – Friday July 2, 9am-12pm)
Developing health leadership is critical to solving interdisciplinary health issues. One important skill is grant writing, which provides essential funding with which to study and intervene. Asian and Pacific concerns have specific challenges in grant making as well as dedicated opportunities. This grant writing class will provide basic skills in the elements of grant writing, where to look for grants, how to compile a strong and competitive proposal, and how to identify potential funding resources at the local and national level for Asia-Pacific populations.

Emerging Infectious Diseases: Transitions in the Asia-Pacific Region
(Monday June 28 – Friday July 2, 1pm-4pm)
Few public health issues exemplify the challenges of global health as well as emerging infectious diseases (EID). The shift in recent decades to an upward trend in the appearance of new diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDS, SARS, Avian Influenza), the resurgence old diseases (e.g., Dengue Fever and Malaria), and antimicrobial resistance (e.g., TB and Malaria) has paralleled globalization. This course will provide an overview of EID as a transdisciplinary problem, highlighting specific zoonotic and vector-borne diseases in the Asia-Pacific Region (considered a global EID hotspot). Students will gain knowledge of the new integrative research and intervention approaches that combine theory and methods from evolutionary ecology, molecular evolution, molecular epidemiology, and social ecology.

Faculty
Bruce A. Wilcox, PhD
Professor and Head, Division of Ecology and Health; Co-Director, Global Health Program, Office of Public Health Studies*

Healani Chang, DrPH., Associate Research Professor,
Pacific Biosciences Research Center, Affiliate Faculty,
Office of Public Health Studies*

Judith F. Clark, MPH, Executive Director, Hawai‘i Youth Services Network, Honolulu, HI

Nancy Partika, MPH, Faculty, MCH and Health Policy and
Management, Office of Public Health Studies*

Shannon N Bennett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Asia-Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology*

Tetine Sentell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Management, Office of Public Health Studies*

*John A. Burns School of Medicine
University of Hawai‘i at Manoa

Registration
If you’re interested in attending the 2010 Asia-Pacific Global Health Summer Institute, please let us know by sending email to: SIophs@hawaii.edu. We will send you detailed registration instructions in early Spring 2010.

Transportation
Honolulu, Hawai‘i International Airport (airport code HNL) can be reached via airline service from most major cities worldwide. Major air carriers include American, United, Hawaiian, Delta, Continental, and Northwest Airlines. And, there are convenient direct flight options from many mainland U.S. cities (e.g. Seattle, WA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Oakland, CA).

For getting around O‘ahu, public transportation is available via The Bus.

Car rentals are plentiful from the Honolulu airport and/or various locations around town:
Travelocity Car Rental Search Engine
Discount Hawaii Car Rental

Accommodations
Summer Institute participants will need to make arrangements to stay at one of the many nearby hotels. Especially affordable options with convenient public transportation include:
Aqua Hotel and Resorts
Pagoda Hotel
Kaimana Hotel
Condo Rentals
Hostels

Sightseeing
The Indigenous Health, Ecology and Health, and Emerging Infectious Diseases courses will each have at least one half-day field trip.

If you wish to combine your coursework with additional sightseeing either before or after the Summer Institute session, Hawai‘i has numerous sightseeing and recreational opportunities. Should you wish to explore neighboring islands, inter-island flight service (via Hawaiian, go!, or Mokulele Airlines) is readily available. The following websites can provide you with ideas and information. Or, please feel free to contact us for individualized recommendations – aloha!
Hawai‘i:The Islands Of Aloha
Hawai‘i Travel Tips
Wiki Hawai‘i Travel

Contact Us
2010 Asia-Pacific Summer Institute
Office of Public Health Studies - University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
1960 East West Road
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822
Phone: (808) 956-5756
Fax: (808) 956-5770
E-mail: SIophs@hawaii.edu