Students tackle threats to health security on Oman trip

In an increasingly interconnected world, achieving global health security has become a particularly salient challenge. In March, students participating in the Cornell in Washington (CIW) program teamed up with international students in Muscat, Oman, to find solutions.

The weeklong trip marked the beginning of a new international exchange component for the CIW course Global Health Security and Diplomacy. Participants attended the 7th International Conference on Health Issues in Arab Communities to learn from researchers, doctors, nurses and other health experts about the threats to health security in the Middle East and worldwide.

Jason Rao, director of international affairs at the American Society for Microbiology, teaches the course. “This is a profoundly important time to be learning about global health security and diplomacy,” said Rao. “While there are truly daunting global challenges in health security that we all share, we have so much to gain from working together.”

To foster intercultural collaboration, each CIW student was partnered with a student from Iraqi Kurdistan or Pakistan and charged with developing innovative solutions to health security in one of four key areas: chronic disease, infectious disease, dual-use technology and bio-terrorism. At the end of the week, the teams presented their solutions.

CIW student Dallas O’Dell '16 partnered with Vajeen, a Kurdish environmental studies major to explore and address bio-terrorism. Working through language barriers and cultural differences was a challenge, said O’Dell. “We had to find unconventional ways to communicate if we were going to tackle a highly complex issue like bio-terrorism. … The class has definitely broadened my awareness and concern for the global community.”

O’Dell also noted the challenge of addressing chronic disease in Arab communities. In recent years, chronic diseases have become the leading causes of premature death and disability in the Middle East and worldwide. “For much of the world, and particularly in Arab communities, lifestyle choices are deep-rooted in tradition,” said O’Dell. “Reversing the trends of chronic disease would require an overhaul of social norms, which opens up a controversial debate of its own.”

CIW alumna Sanjana Patel ’13 works for Health Security Partners, a D.C.-based nonprofit that provides educational exchange programs for students interested in global health security. Patel played an integral role in coordinating the trip and accompanied the CIW students to Oman. “It was great to see students working together and building relationships with students across the world with whom they likely otherwise wouldn’t have an opportunity to interact. This sort of interaction was a first-time experience for many,” said Patel.

Rao reaffirmed the importance of intercultural collaboration in addressing global health security. “It was clear that everyone gained an entirely new perspective from the experience, and my hope is that new relationships forged in Oman will last a lifetime, between countries that are increasingly isolated.”

Rao plans to continue the course’s international exchange component in the future by branching out to new venues around the world and expanding CIW’s international network.

Josephine Engreitz ’15 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.

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