Background

The CUGH Trainee Advisory Committee (TAC) is a student/trainee run committee within CUGH that consists of ~25 students, trainees, and young professionals from around the world that come together to serve as the student/trainee voice to CUGH and contribute to addressing global health challenges through CUGH activities. Issues include:  COVID-19, racial disparities and diversity, climate change, gun violence, student debt, and other global concerns. TAC members also work together alongside members of various CUGH committees in order to help meet committee objectives, find ways to create student collaborative projects with CUGH, and to provide the student perspective.

Interested in joining TAC? See below our section on TAC Applications.

Chairs: Jibril Handuleh & José Chen Xu

General Membership list
Khadijat Aregbe Adegbemisola, University of Tennessee Health Science Center 
Lilian Wampande Nantume, Hanyang University
Ziyue Wang, McGill University
Samuel Omidoyin, American University of St. Vincent School of Medicine
John Etietop Ebong, University of Uyo
Vivian Nabisere, Makerere University 
Omolola Alade, McMaster University
Kristen Bastug, University of Minnesota
Pratyush Kumar, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital
Idris Ola, The German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
Ashley Swing, San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego
Muhammad Athallah Arsyaf, Newcastle University
Poorvaprabha Patil, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal
Jessica Siqin Li, Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Nicholas Miller, West Virginia University School of Medicine
Seemab Mehmood, Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Lahore
José Chen Xu, National School of Public Health, NOVA University of Lisbon
Jibril I.M Handuleh, Amoud University
Meladul Haq, Ahmadzai, University of Manchester
Ricki Sheldon, Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Franck Johan Calderón Chilet, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Didier Isingizwe, University of Global Health Equity
Matthew Kemmerle, Ross University School of Medicine
Patrick Victor Schwartzhoff, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Anthony Slaton, Hofstra University 

Trainee Advisory Committee Application

The Trainee Advisory Committee (TAC) accepts new applications annually. Applications generally open in the Fall. There will be an informational webinar beforehand for those interested in applying. Follow us on Twitter (@CUGH_TAC) and Facebook (@CUGHTAC) for the webinar date, registration details, and for more information on when the application season opens this year.

Campus Representative Program

Team lead: Sarah Matthews

The Campus Representative program allows trainees outside of TAC to become liaisons between their institutions and CUGH through bidirectional information sharing of institution needs and interests as well as CUGH resources. Campus Representatives become the voice of active global health efforts at their institutions, work with TAC members, network with one another, and provide key perspectives to the greater CUGH community. Campus representatives also receive free individual CUGH membership while they serve in this role. Currently, Campus Reps are able to partner with TAC through its advocacy project. See the section on “Student and Trainee Advocacy Interest Assessment Project” for more information.

How to become a Campus Representative

Webinars and Presentations

CUGH Young Global Health Professional Network (CYGHPN)

To allow an opportunity for early-career global health practitioners and students to network worldwide, CUGH has created the Young Global Health Professional Network. Its purpose is to provide such a global network where students and young global health professionals can connect, share interests, advice, and opportunities. Membership is free and open to anyone under the age of 40 by December 31st of the current year.

Student and Trainee Advocacy Interest Assessment Project

Project lead: Sarah Matthews

We believe that supporting and developing advocacy efforts is a key part of making change in our local community, state, country, and globally. Whether this is through petitions, educational gatherings, or reaching out to officials, part of making effective change is contributing to change on the policy level. However, as we are only 25 individuals, we do not believe it is possible for us to conceptualize the advocacy issues that mean the most to students from around the world. The aim of this project therefore, is to collect information from global health students and trainees (internationally and domestically) on their priority issues in order to inform advocacy efforts. The goal is to produce data-driven results of the top global health issues to present to the A&C committee/CUGH in order to inform efforts and communicate trainee priorities. Volunteers from TAC and Campus Reps will be invited to participate.

Student Ethnic, Academic, and Gender Diversity in Global Health Project

Project Lead: Priscilla Auguste

The CUGH TAC aims to promote ethnic, academic, and gender diversity among students/trainees in global health. Currently, our membership is 64% female, comes from 22 different institutions, 9 different countries, across 3 continents and study nursing, medicine, public health, and other diverse academic backgrounds. However, we still believe that we can do more to engage students across the globe as we strongly believe that there is a place for everyone and every academic field within global health. We therefore are making it our goal to expand our outreach to students/trainees from all over the world to contribute to global health work through one of the following ways: 1) becoming active at their own institution and/or local community 2) joining the Trainee Advisory Committee to aid us in providing a diverse student/trainee voice to CUGH 3) joining the Campus Representative Program (CRP) so that we can keep student global health programs in institutions all over the world connected in a vast network that aims to make each individual student program stronger. To meet these goals TAC has begun measuring diversity within its organization and the CRP in order to monitor growth. We also endeavor to modify our marketing programs in order to welcome and target a broader audience to join global health organizations through one of the three above mechanisms.

Whoever you are, if you are a student/trainee interested in global health, we want to hear your voice, we want you to join us at the global health table! Let’s talk!

Student and Trainee Contribution to the COVID-19 Response and Recovery

Project Leads: Tommaso Ivan Pomerani and Ryan Hodgeman

When COVID19 began to emerge as a worldwide pandemic, students across the world found themselves benched in various ways as it became necessary to transition to online learning experiences. Rather than sit back on the side lines, we watched as students all over found various ways to contribute to the efforts of the growing pandemic. We strongly felt therefore that it was necessary for us to give honor and celebrate what these students were doing, specifically highlighting the positive impact their work has had on their community. We are doing this through social media marketing and through a written and possibly video recorded collection of submitted stories.

Follow us on Twitter (@CUGH_TAC) and Facebook (@CUGHTAC) for more information as this project develops!

Underrepresented Minorities Student Advocacy Group

Project Oversight: Priscilla Auguste

Team Lead: Emma Herbach

The Underrepresented Minorities Student Advocacy Group is a 1-year conjoint effort of seven students (Both TAC and Non-TAC members) who came together to discuss issues of diversity in secondary and post-secondary institutions. Work involved laying out the issues and researching and discussing solutions. The resultant paper entitled “Promoting Health Equity by Increasing the Representation of Minorities in Secondary and Post-Secondary Education in the United States” is slated to be delivered in the following ways:

  • CUGH website (see below)
  • Abbreviated Commentary (In progress)
  • CUGH Webinar (Coming soon)
  • CUGH 2021 Satellite session (In progress)

Follow us on Twitter (@CUGH_TAC) and Facebook (@CUGHTAC) for more updates as this project continues to roll out.

Student Debt Advocacy Group

Project Oversight: Priscilla Auguste

Team Lead: Shangir Siddique

The Student Debt Advocacy Group is a 1-year conjoint effort of eight students (Both TAC and Non-TAC members) who came together to discuss issues of student debt in post-secondary and graduate institutions. Work involved laying out the issues and researching and discussing solutions. The resultant paper entitled “Implications of Student Debt in the US and Multidimensional Solutions to Address It” is slated to be delivered in the following ways:

  • CUGH website (see below)
  • Abbreviated Commentary (In progress)
  • CUGH Webinar (Coming soon)
  • CUGH 2021 Satellite session (In progress)

Follow us on Twitter (@CUGH_TAC) and Facebook (@CUGHTAC) for more updates as this project continues to roll out.

For more information about applications and/or our initiatives, contact us at: cughtac2020@gmail.com

Follow us on the below platforms to keep up with all of our updates:

Facebook: CUGH Trainees and Young Professionals, @CUGHTAC

Twitter: CUGH Trainee Advisory Committee (CUGH TAC), @CUGH_TAC

Instagram: @cugh_tac