By Alec Rosenberg

UCSF student Teri Ann Reynolds speaks on a panel at a conference that marked the launch of the UC Global Health Institute. (Photo by Susan Merrell, UCSF)

After earning a doctoral degree in literature from Columbia University and a medical degree from UC San Francisco, Teri Ann Reynolds joined UCSF as a clinical fellow in the emergency department. But now she is going back to school to follow her passion: global health.

Reynolds is pursuing a master's degree in global health at UCSF so she can help spread the use of ultrasound as a portable tool for diagnosis and triage around the world. She was one of three student panelists who participated in a conference Monday (Nov. 9) at UCSF that marked the launch of the University of California Global Health Institute.

"We need the institute," Reynolds said, to prepare students for a career in global health. "That's the job I'm training to do."

Reynolds is not alone. Global health is an increasingly popular field for students interested in changing the world. It's also an important sector financially — global health represents more than a $75 billion impact on the California economy, according to a UC study released Monday at the conference, "Why Global Health Matters to California." 

The institute, expected to begin enrolling students in fall 2011, will start with three multicampus, multidisciplinary centers of expertise. It will begin with one-year master's degree programs and eventually add two-year master's and doctoral degree programs, with degrees granted by the UC campus on which the students conduct their work.

"We're interested in students from any background," said Tom Coates, institute co-leader and director of the UCLA Program in Global Health. That means not only medical students but also "law students, business students, engineering students and art students who have a passion for global health."

Students "see the world as providing opportunities for global workers," said Haile Debas, M.D., institute co-leader and executive director of UCSF Global Health Sciences. The institute will be geared to train such students.

UCSF itself is involved in global health research in more than 100 countries, said Chancellor Sue Desmond-Hellmann, M.D., who once spent two years as a visiting faculty member at the Uganda Cancer Institute, studying AIDS and cancer.  "We're going to make a difference in the world," she said.

While global health and life sciences are important economic engines for California, the state needs to continue to invest in K-12 and higher education to sustain those sectors, said panelist David Gollaher, co-founder of the California Healthcare Institute.  

Student interest in global health "is there," said panelist Dr. Christopher Elias, president of the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health. "The question is: How do we respond to that interest?"

Elias serves on the Commission on Smart Global Health Policy, which is considering how the United States should pursue a long-term, strategic approach to global health. The commission was formed by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, which co-sponsored Monday's conference with UCSF Global Health Sciences.

Note: To view a UCTV video of the conference, visit: www.uctv.tv/ucsfglobalhealth.

Alec Rosenberg is health and agriculture communications coordinator in the UC Office of the President's Integrated Communications group.