Global Matters The newsletter of the Office of International Affairs Volume 22, January — February 2013 Spring 2013 Global Health World AIDS Awareness Week Lecture Series The On Tuesday December Project CHAMPS spoke about TTUHSC World 4, the student organizations and HIV/AIDS education and commu- AIDS Day Aware- OIA screened “A Closer Walk,” nity support for patients and their ness Week was a the first feature-length film to ad- loved ones. “Project CHAMPS fantastic success. dress the global AIDS works to improve The American crisis. “A Closer Walk” the quality, availa- explores the intricate bility, and organi- 12:00 Noon CT Medical Student Association relationship between zation of ACB 110 health, dignity, and healthcare and (AMSA), Interna- Tuesday tional Medicine human rights, and support services January 22 Club (IMC), Stu- demonstrates the for individuals with Ambassador Tibor Nagy dent National Medical Association harsh realities of HIV infections and State of the World (SNMA), and Office of Internation- AIDS in the world. The film in- their families. The program is Wednesday cludes incisive interviews with used to develop or enhance ac- February 6 al Affairs (OIA) teamed up to host Dr. Yan Zhang; a variety of events the first week individuals from all walks of life, cess to a comprehensive continu- Traditional Chinese of December. Donations were including the Dalai Lama, Kofi um of high quality, community- Medicine accepted throughout Annan, and Bono, based care for low-income individ- Tuesday the week and pro- combined with stories, uals and families with the HIV February 26 portraits and vignettes disease.” During the CHAMPS Dr. Lakshmi Karan with ceeds went to a Riders for Health local organization of children, women, presentation, the attendees made and men living with bracelets to send to individuals Wednesday involved in HIV/AIDS March 6 work. AIDS on four continents. All these affected by AIDS in Africa. TBA elements woven together create a For more information about Pro- On Monday December beautifully crafted film about a Wednesday ject CHAMPS, please visit their March 20 3, the student organizations held deadly infectious disease and the website. Cynthia Hester, RN a meeting featuring Dr. Richard human condition. This film is International Experiences Winn, Chief of Infectious Disease available for check-out through Thursday at UMC Lubbock. Dr. Winn provid- the OIA library. March 28 ed interesting David Sacks, PhD On Wednes- NIAID insight into his day December 5, the Tuesday career choice student organizations April 9 and work with Dr. Mohamed Bailor HIV/AIDS. He and OIA teamed up with Barrie spoke about the TTU Dr. Bernard Well Body Alliance the initial Harris Pre-Medical Soci- Wednesday detection of ety to host The Flower April 17 Wall. Red carnations Marie Leiner, PhD HIV in the U.S. and how at that Mental Health & Children time it was considered a death were available to place on the wall on theUS/Mexico Border sentence. Now thanks to ad- in honor or remembrance of indi- Wednesday vancements in technology and viduals with HIV/AIDS or in a May 1 general act of support for HIV/ Michael D. Parsa, MD education, a person with HIV can Challenges of Short-Term live a full life when provided con- AIDS awareness. The wall was Medical Missions tinuous treatment. He also dis- later moved to the HSC campus cussed stereotypes surrounding and was on display the remainder Presentations with hyperlinks of the week. were recorded and can be HIV/AIDS now and in the past and viewed on the OIA website or myths concerning how HIV is The World AIDS Day checked out from the OIA transmitted and spread. Dr. Win- library. events concluded on Thursday n’s presentation was exceptional. December 6. Representatives of TTUHSC Global Matters | 2 1. InternationalSierra Leone Medicine4. Nigeria Club Column 2. Ghana 5. Cameroon Available 3. Liberia 6. Côte d'Ivoire Shooting for the Stars bling the space station and cooperation between current from the By Kristin Harrington, taxiing equipment, supplies, leaders in space exploration can OIA Library School of Medicine, experiments, and astronauts be said to exist largely due to good relations in the political Class of 2015 to the ISS. The American space shuttles and the Rus- arena. Political disagreements or The following re- sian Soyuz were the two differing opinions have been THE BEGINNING sources are available vessels taking astronauts to known to stop collaboration on In October 1957, the USSR sent for check-out: the ISS. However, the entire international space projects in waves throughout the world world has had to rely more their tracks. when it launched the first satel- heavily on the Russian Fed- Book lite into space. The success of eral Space Agency due to In the 1990s, China started its The Immortal Life of the satellite, Sputnik, launched the retirement of the Ameri- own space program, the China Henrietta Lacks the space race between the US can space shuttle program. National Space Administration By Rebecca Skloot and USSR, as well as the space Now, every astronaut going (CNSA). Since the CNSA's birth, age. to the space station launch- the Chinese have sent astro- Her name was Henrietta es in the Russian Soyuz out nauts into space, joining the Lacks, but scientists know The competition between the US of Kazakhstan. United States and Russia as the her as HeLa. She was a and the USSR spurred innova- only nations to accomplish this poor black tobacco farmer tion and led to a successful Despite the reliance of the task independently. With the whose cells —taken with- American satellite launch in Jan- out her knowledge in 1951 world on the Russian Feder- United States’ retirement of the uary 1958. A year later, the Na- — became one of the most al Space Agency to provide space shuttle program, China is tional Aeronautics and Space important tools in medicine, the vehicle and launch site one of two nations that has the Administration, better known as vital for developing the to access the ISS, the crew capability of sending astronauts NASA, was formed. polio vaccine, cloning, gene is still diverse. Currently, a into orbit. In 2011, the Chinese mapping, and more. Henri- Canadian, two Americans launched their own space mod- etta’s cells have been The space race established the and three Russians are on ule, Tiangong-1. One short year bought and sold by the United States and the USSR, board. Each crewmember later, the nation docked a billions, yet she remains now Russia, as the leaders in virtually unknown, and her serves six months at the manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-9, space exploration. As compelling family can’t afford health end of which new astro- with the space module. as competition is, collaboration insurance. This phenome- nauts, representing new can lead to even greater heights. nal New York Times best- nations, are rotated in. When the ISS was established, seller tells a riveting story Ground communications CNSA did not have the technolo- of the collision between THE ISS between the ISS and the gy to contribute to the creation of ethics, race, and medicine; In 2000, work started on the space agencies are split the space station and was not of scientific discovery and International Space Station equally between the United included in the ISS. As the Chi- faith healing; and of a (ISS). This, twelve-year-old daughter consumed with States and Russia. The nese space program grew, it did spacecraft is a collaboration of questions about the mother physicians of current ISS not want to collaborate with other some of the nations largest she never knew. astronauts also come and nations, keeping CNSA a military space programs. stay at the Johnson Space endeavor. Yet, the Chinese gov- Movie Center in Houston, Texas. ernment is now willing to pool Starting in 1981 and running for Doctor’s Diaries resources with international part- twenty years, NASA’s space THE POLITICAL GAME ners to help achieve its lofty shuttles explored low earth orbit Over the past 21 years, The tide of international goals of building a space station NOVA has followed a and were instrumental in assem- group of seven doctors Continued on the bottom of page 3. from their first day at Har- vard Medical School in Space Agency Location of Main Complex 1987. All young, bright and accomplished, none of them could have predicted National Aeronautics and Space Administration Houston, Texas what it would take, person- (NASA) ally and professionally, to become a member of the medical tribe. In this spe- Russian Federal Space Agency Moscow, Russia cial two-part program, NO- VA returns one last time to Canadian Space Agency (CSA) Longueuil, Canada get an update on the kind of doctors, and people, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tokyo, Japan they have become. For more information about European Space Agency (ESA) Noordwijk, the Netherlands the resources available from the OIA library, visit our website. Table 1 – Space agencies collaborating on the International Space Station. GLOBAL MATTERS TTUHSC Global Matters | 3 Riders for Health Mark Your coming to OIA’s Global Health Lecture Series February 26 Calendar for the Riders for Health was tics.” They achieve this by employment, and sustainabil- established by Barry, a corre- “managing vehicles on a relia- ity for future generations. OIA Film Series spondent and feature writer, ble, predictable and cost- Riders for Health and Andrea Cole- effective basis, to currently has programs locat- man, a former support the work of ed in seven sub-Saharan Afri- motorcycle-racer. our partners whose can countries: Kenya, Leso- They traveled to remit is to reach rural tho, Malawi, Nigeria, The Africa and were communities with Gambia, Zambia, and Zimba- shocked by the health care and other bwe.