The Hubert Department of Global Health in Emory's Rollins School of Public Health received a five-year $500,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a center for complex humanitarian emergencies studies, according to a Sept. 10 University press release.
The center – which will be called the Emory Center for Public Health Training in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies – was part of an initiative led by Carlos Del Rio, Rollins professor and chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health in the Rollins School.
Del Rio said a complex humanitarian crisis refers to a natural or man-made disaster, whether it be the Haitian earthquake, the South Pacific tsunami and sometimes war.
This program, he said, will be an asset to those suffering through these crises.
"Students from places like Somalia, Sudan and even Syria now can come to Rollins in greater numbers and educate themselves on how to handle these emergencies back in their home countries," Del Rio said.
Del Rio is describing the center's international fellowship program for students from countries affected by humanitarian emergencies, which he said will be one of the most important programs in the center.
Along with that program, the center will focus on graduate certificates in humanitarian emergencies and an international practicum for U.S. graduate students, according to the press release.
"The development of the Center coupled with our partnership with the CDC and our existing work in this area, will help further enhance the opportunities for our trainees", said Del Rio in the press release.
In 2009, Rollins established a graduate certificate program in Global Complex Humanitarian Emergencies and since then has conferred 75 certificates in the program, according to the press release.
Del Rio added that this center can benefit Emory's ties with the CDC.
"The CDC could have gone anywhere else," he said.
Rollins students have expressed similar sentiment with the decision.
"I think the program is great and definitely deserving of the grant," Public Health Masters candidate Alyx Groth said. "Too often we see developing countries struggle with the aftermath of natural disasters. This program will provide students with a foundation in emergency response and reconstruction, while concurrently fostering a stronger relationship between the CDC and the Rollins School."
College junior and Global Health minor Brett Lake shared similar sentiments.
"That's great," Lake said. "Disasters can be unavoidable, and people can never plan and prepare enough, so this grant will serve to be very beneficial in the near future. Many times countries affected by disasters lack the infrastructure to handle the aftermath."
– By Kyle Arbuckle
Photo by Elsayed Hagar
