Reimagining Global Health Research Partnerships in A Time of Crisis

The Trump administration's "America First" policies have significantly impacted global health research, not only through funding cuts to researchers and development partners, but through myriad restrictions to international collaboration, as well as significantly diminished support for global health organizations. The sudden and growing loss of funding and critical infrastructure has left researchers, program implementers and policymakers scrambling to protect scientific advances and ensure continuity of care, and unsure how best to address the health needs of communities in this increasingly challenging environment.

This expert panel will ask how best to minimize the harms caused by these shifting dynamics for global health, ensuring this moment does not reinforce existing power asymmetries but instead accelerates research partnerships along more equal lines, in ways that can help us all to better do our work, support our partners and our students,  and prioritize the health needs of vulnerable communities.

Throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health will explore the implications of the current moment for multi-country research partnerships, with a focus on ensuring the primacy of low- and middle-income country researchers, through a series of webinars and in-person events.

This virtual event, “Reimagining Global Health Research Partnerships in A Time of Crisis,” the first in the series, will take place on Wednesday, September 10, at 9:00 am PDT/12:00 pm EDT/6:00 pm CEST.

The dialogue will be moderated by IIGH Director Sofia Gruskin.

The webinar is hosted by the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 10, at 9:00 am PDT/12:00 pm EDT/6:00 pm CEST.

This program is open to all eligible individuals. IIGH operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.

Speakers:

Allan Maleche is the Executive Director of Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN). KELIN is a Kenya-based NGO that works to ensure the full enjoyment of health-related human rights for all, by providing legal services and support, training professionals and communities, and engaging in research for evidence-based policy change. Allan is a legal expert with a robust background, holding an LLM in National and Global Health Law from Georgetown University, complemented by a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. With a distinguished career spanning over 15 years, Allan is a seasoned advocate. He envisions a future where health-related rights are not only promoted but also protected, respected, and fulfilled. Allan’s academic achievements and extensive experience underscore his commitment to advancing the cause of human rights in the realm of health law.

Natalia Linou is a social epidemiologist and the Deputy Director of UNDP’s HIV and Health Team. UNDP’s work in HIV and health in over 100 countries, is based on the principles that health is both a driver and outcome of sustainable development, and is focused on addressing social, structural, economic, commercial and environmental determinants of health, which are primarily responsible for health inequalities. Natalia has worked in global development and health equity for almost two decades, and oversees the work of UNDP on addressing non-communicable diseases, environmental determinants of health, including climate change, and health in crisis and conflict settings. Prior to her current role, she served as Executive Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and continues to teach graduate level courses on climate change and health justice at Harvard. Natalia began her career with the United Nations in Beirut, Lebanon and served in various global capacities. At the local level, she was Science Advisor to the New York City Health Commissioner and later Chair of the Board of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. Natalia received her doctoral degree in epidemiology and undergraduate degree in anthropology from Harvard College.

Keith Martin is a physician who, since September 2012, has served as the founding Executive Director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH). CUGH is a Washington, D.C.-based organization of over 190 academic institutions and other organizations from around the world engaged in addressing global health challenges. Between 1993-2011, he served as a Member of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons. He held portfolios in foreign affairs, health, the environment, defense and international development. He has been on many diplomatic missions in areas in crisis around the world, particularly across Africa, and worked as a physician on the Mozambique border during their civil war. He has spent many years volunteering on conservation efforts in South Africa and is a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

Sabina F. Rashid is a Professor, the Mushtaque Chowdhury Chair in Health and Poverty, the Director and founder of the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, co-founder of the Centre of Excellence for Urban Equity and Health, and former Dean of the BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health. A medical anthropologist, she is an Honorary Professor at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Senior Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies. Her book 'Poverty, Gender and Health in the Slums of Bangladesh: Children of Crows,' was featured in Springer Nature's News and Opinion. She serves on many global boards, contributing Southern led expertise to shaping thought leadership and strategic thinking in research, policy and practice.

Moderator:

Sofia Gruskin directs the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH). She is USC Distinguished Professor of Population, Public Health Sciences & Law, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Chief of the Disease Prevention, Policy and Global Health Division at the Keck School of Medicine, and Professor of Law and Preventive Medicine at the Gould School of Law. She has published extensively, including several books, training manuals and edited journal volumes, and more than 200 articles and chapters.