The Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research (IPR) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC has been awarded $380,000 over three years by the National Institutes of Health to develop and implement global health research initiatives aimed at Pacific Rim populations.

Led by principal investigator C. Anderson Johnson, the Sidney Garfield Professor of Preventive Medicine and director of the IPR, and co-principal investigator Lawrence Palinkas, professor in the USC School of Social Work, the Pacific Rim Global Health Framework will incorporate members from a wide range of disciplines to examine the effects of global health on developing nations of the Pacific Rim.

Faculty members from the schools of medicine, social work, gerontology, pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, policy, planning and development, law, communications, cinematic arts and USC College will work together to create an administrative framework intended to train a new generation of global health specialists.

The overarching goal is to explore the relationship between lifestyle and health outcomes amid growing economic and social changes largely due to global influences.

The project will expand upon prior and current research by the IPR on tobacco and alcohol use in China to inform health promotion initiatives targeting obesity, HIV prevention and environmental health. Initial research will focus on populations in China, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, but is expected to incorporate other developing nations of Asia in the near future.

The funding comes in part from the Fogarty International Center, the international health research and training component of the NIH, in partnership with the National Cancer Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities as part of the greater “Framework Programs in Global Health” project.

Nine additional institutions received similar awards to develop multidisciplinary global health programs at universities in the United States and low- and middle-income nations.