Global Health Educators Community (GHECo)

The CUGH Global Health Educators Community (GHECo = “gecko”) provides professional development and networking opportunities for professors who teach global health courses, design curricula and experiential learning activities for nonclinical undergraduate and graduate programs, and oversee baccalaureate majors and minors, academic master’s degrees, and research-based doctoral degrees.

    GHECo is an international, multidisciplinary community of practice for global health educators that began hosting monthly Virtual Teachers’ Lounges (VTLs) and other events in September 2023. GHECo membership is free to everyone; CUGH membership is not required. To receive invitations to the monthly online GHECo meetings and special events, please sign up for the mailing list using the form at https://cugh.groups.io/g/gheco. Questions about GHECo may be directed to the founding co-chairs, Kathryn H. Jacobsen (University of Richmond) and Caryl E. Waggett (Allegheny College)

    Join the list

    To receive invitations to the monthly GHECo meetings and special events, please create an account at https://cugh.groups.io/g/gheco. All global health educators are welcome to join the listserv and attend GHECo events. CUGH membership is not a requirement for participation in the community.

    DomainGlobal Health Learning Objective
    ValuesDescribe the history, values, and functions of global health.
    GlobalizationExplain how travel, trade, and other aspects of globalization contribute to health, disease, and health disparities.
    SocioeconomicsSummarize the economic, social, cultural, and political contributors to individual and population health.
    EnvironmentExamine the connections between human health and environmental health, including considerations of water, sanitation, air quality, urbanization, ecosystem health, and climate change
    EthicsDiscuss the relationship between human rights and global health.
    Healthcare SystemsCompare the financing and delivery of medical care in countries with different types of health systems and different income levels.
    GovernanceExamine the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of the agencies and organizations involved in prioritizing, financing, and implementing public health interventions locally and internationally.
    EpidemiologyCompare the burden of disease, disability, and death from infectious diseases, reproductive health issues, malnutrition, noncommunicable diseases, mental health disorders, and injuries in countries with different income levels
    InterventionsIdentify evidence-based, cost-effective, sustainable interventions for promoting health and preventing illness across the lifespan from the prenatal period through older adulthood.
    EvaluationEvaluate policies that seek to solve major population health concerns and achieve health equity.
    Reference:  Jacobsen KH, Waggett CE, Bayles BR, Berenbaum P, Carlson GL, English R, Faerron Guzmán CA, Gartin ML, Grant L, Henshaw T, Iannotti LL, Landrigan PL, Lansbury N, Li H, Lichtveld MY, McWhorter KL, Rettig JE, Sorensen CJ, Wetzel EJ, Whitehead DM, Winch PJ, Martin KW.  Planetary Health Learning Objectives: foundational knowledge for global health education in an era of climate change.  The Lancet Planetary Health.  2024 Sept; 8(9): e706–713.  doi:10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00167-0

    DomainPlanetary Health Learning Objective
    Earth System ChangesIdentify the natural and human-generated causes of altered biogeochemical flows, climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental pollutants, land-system change, freshwater change, ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol loading, stratospheric ozone depletion, and other global environmental changes.
    Ecological SystemsDescribe how the ecosystems formed by human, domestic animal, wildlife, plant, and other biotic populations are affected by human actions across trophic levels, geographies, and time.
    Human Health OutcomesExplain how extreme temperature and precipitation events, reduced air and water quality, population displacement, and other global changes increase incidence, prevalence, and mortality from infectious diseases; malnutrition; respiratory, cardiovascular, and other noncommunicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health issues; psychosocial health disorders; and injuries.
    Risk AssessmentAnalyze how economic, social, cultural, political, environmental, technological, and health systems affect ecosystem and human vulnerability and resilience to environmental change.
    GovernanceEvaluate how local, national, and international laws and policies have contributed to environmental problems and solutions.
    ActionsCompare the roles and responsibilities of governments, the commercial sector, civil society organizations, communities, and individuals in promoting conservation, restoration, mitigation, and adaptation related to environmental change
    EthicsArticulate the principles of intragenerational, interspecies, and intergenerational environmental justice.
    CommunicationDemonstrate environmental and health literacy by accessing, evaluating, and communicating reliable scientific information about global environmental change.
    Reference:  Jacobsen KH, Waggett CE, Bayles BR, Berenbaum P, Carlson GL, English R, Faerron Guzmán CA, Gartin ML, Grant L, Henshaw T, Iannotti LL, Landrigan PL, Lansbury N, Li H, Lichtveld MY, McWhorter KL, Rettig JE, Sorensen CJ, Wetzel EJ, Whitehead DM, Winch PJ, Martin KW.  Planetary Health Learning Objectives: foundational knowledge for global health education in an era of climate change.  The Lancet Planetary Health.  2024 Sept; 8(9): e706–713.  doi:10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00167-0

    Most Recent GHECo Newsletter

    20 March 2026

    GHECo Conversation | March 24

    The next GHECo virtual teachers’ lounge (VTL) will be held on March 24 (Tuesday) from 10am to 11am New York time. All are welcome. Please contact kjacobse@richmond.edu and/or cwaggett@allegheny.edu to receive the link to participate.

    GHECo @ CUGH in DC | April 9-12

    There will be many in-person events of interest to educators at the annual conference of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (https://www.cugh2026.org/) in Washington DC next month. Email kjacobse@richmond.edu if you would like to be invited to SOCIAL EVENTS for GHECo members (like a walking tour of some local highlights)!

    Examples of education-related workshops (conference registration is not required)

    • GHECo/TGH Data Visualization Workshop | April 8 (all day):  GHECo and Teach Global Health in collaboration with ASPPH will be hosting a one-day, in-person workshop with data viz expert Stephanie Evergreen.  The workshop fee is $150; scholarships are available for those with demonstrated need.  Just a couple of seats remain.  Apply now at https://forms.gle/s6Un47poHkvHKZZm8. 
    • Fair Trade Learning workshop | April 8 (1pm to 5pm):  The Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative in partnership with Child Family Health International (CFHI) will be hosting a workshop on “Reanimating Fair Trade Learning for the Current Moment: Theory and Practice.”  Learn more and register at https://events.humanitix.com/ftl-current-moment.
    • GHECo WORKSHOP | April 9 (9am to noon): Register for this free in-person workshop at https://forms.gle/NojxUdUnT9U9o1JZA. 
    • CUGH Education Committee satellite | April 9 (1pm to 4pm): Register for this free in-person workshop at https://forms.gle/8nM3wDHg1QvR1p3RA. 

    Examples of education-related panels

    • Educational products panel | April 9 (4:30pm to 6pm)
    • Decolonizing global health education panel | April 10 (8:15am to 9:45am)
    • Teaching in turbulent times panel | April 10 (8:15am to 9:45am)
    • Educating the global health workforce panel | April 11 (9am to 10:30am)
    • Global health education panel | April 11 (5pm to 6:30pm)
    GHECo Webinar with Dr. Tom Frieden | April 23

    Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the U.S. CDC and current CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, has just released free instructor materials for teaching with his book The Formula for Better Health. 

    Please complete this short research survey…

    Roseanne Schuster (Arizona State University) and colleagues are conducting an IRB-approved research study of the impact of culminating experience components of master’s degrees in global health (such as internships, capstones, research projects, theses, and practicums) from the perspectives of both students and faculty.  Please take a few minutes to learn more about the study and complete the anonymous survey using the links below. 

    New Publications in Global Health Education
    • Congratulations to Shubha Kumar (University of Southern California) and the other GHECo members who authored “A collaborative multi-university virtual model for global health leadership education integrating educational technology: a mixed methods evaluation” in Frontiers in Public Health.  Access the full article at https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1706228. 
    • Congratulations to the Patricia M. Davidson (University of New South Wales) and the other GHECo members who authored “The power and promise of international collaboration in a complex and contested world” in Healthcare and Rehabilitation.  Access the full article at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hcr.2026.100063.
    Upcoming Online Events (all are free!)
    Call for Abstracts/Applications
    • Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) coaches early career researchers and professionals (<40 years old) on how to participate in global health platforms, raise their voices in scientific and policy debates, and contribute to solving global health problems and improving health conditions.  EV4GH is accepting applications for its next cohort through April 10.  Details at https://www.ev4gh.net/call-for-applications-2026.
    • Social Science and Medicine is seeking papers on the theme “Polarization and Health Policy in a Global Context.”  Abstracts are due by April 30.  Details at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/330676/polarization-and-health-policy-in-a-global-context.
    • The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) will host the APRU Global Health Conference 2026 December 7–9 in Hong Kong.  Visit https://cuhk.aprughc2026.hk/index.html for the call for abstracts and other conference information.
    Job Oppportunities
    • U.S.-based internal medicine residents are invited to apply a 1-year Global Health Hospital Medicine Fellowship.  Fellows will spend 50% of their time serving as clinical attendings on the inpatient wards with the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine and the remaining time conducting academic global health work through the Havey Institute for Global Health.  This is a one-year, non-ACGME accredited fellowship.  Applicants must have completed an internal medicine residency, be board-certified/eligible physicians, and apply and be accepted to work in the Division of Hospital Medicine in the Academic Hospitalist role.  Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, ideal start in summer 2026 but will be determined with fellow.  Learn more and apply here. 
    • The University of Georgia is seeking a non-tenure track lecturer to teach biostatistics and global health.  Details at: https://www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/466939. 
    Help us grow GHECo

    If you have colleagues and friends who are involved in global health education but are not yet on the GHECo mailing list, please invite them to sign up at https://cugh.groups.io/g/gheco.

    Do you have items for the GHECo Newsletter?

    Is your institution hosting an upcoming webinar or seeking job applicants? Is your professional society seeking submissions for an upcoming conference? Have you recently published a journal article about global health education? Would you like to host a special-topics VTL for a geographic region, an area of professional practice, or another theme? Please email information about upcoming events and new resources related to global health education to kjacobse@richmond.edu and/or cwaggett@allegheny.edu so that we can share them in the next GHECo newsletter!