The Woodrow Wilson School’s Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW) has selected the first four Adel Mahmoud Global Health Scholars. Each scholar will receive funding support for travel and research to pursue global health-related internships and senior thesis research.

Funded by a grant from the Merck Company Foundation, the scholars program is based at CHW. The program is designed to create new opportunities to engage Princeton undergraduates in global health policy, and was created in honor of Adel Mahmoud M.D., Ph.D. for his pioneering work in global health. Dr. Mahmoud has appointments in the Wilson School and Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology.

The first four Adel Mahmoud Global Health Scholars are:

• Taher Modarressi '09, a molecular biology major who worked this past summer in Tehran, Iran on his own research, which focused on aspects of illicit drug use, in conjunction with Masih Daneshvari Hospital. Modarressi intends to use the scholarship to continue this study or explore related drug treatment and policy issues.
  
• Karen Lillie '09 is an anthropology major and a pre-medical student. Lillie's areas of interest and research include medical anthropology,infectious diseases, and health disparities. As an Adel Mahmoud Global Health Scholar, she plans to study the politics of AIDS treatment and prevention in the Caribbean and Mexico.
  
• Rachel Rizal '09 majors in the Woodrow Wilson School focusing on international health policy. Recently, she helped organize the Healthy Families Project, which educates parents and students around the Princeton area about pertinent health topics. Her interests lie in health education as well as access to treatment and prevention methods for epidemics and infectious diseases. Rizal is planning to research health policies in a developing country for her senior thesis.
  
• Alice Easton '09 is an Evolutionary Biology and Ecology major and Woodrow Wilson School certificate student, with interests both in biological processes and ecological patterns, as well as how innovations and discoveries can be optimally used to solve policy problems. Easton intends to use her scholarship to investigate methods to control the spread of infectious diseases in India or examine a similar international health topic.

"The first four Mahmoud Global Health Scholars are superb students with strong interests in tackling global health issues," said Christina Paxson, Director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing and a Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at the Wilson School. "Their research and internships will significantly enhance these talented students' skills in and knowledge of global public health and policy making."

"I am delighted that the broad approaches of these students to global health illustrate the excellence and multidisciplinary expertise of Princeton University," said Adel Mahmoud. "Their dedication to exploring the international context of health is exciting and inspirational."

As part of the program, four juniors are selected each fall by a faculty selection committee for the scholars program from 2007 until 2011. The rigorous application and selection process focuses on both academic performance and interest in global health issues.

The Mahmoud Global Health Scholars program also features a lecture series, which brings two leading researchers and practitioners in global health policy to Princeton annually. The first lecture will take place in 2008.

The Center for Health and Wellbeing is an interdisciplinary center within the Woodrow Wilson School, which seeks to foster research and teaching on the multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in both developed and developing countries.

The Merck Company Foundation was established in 1957 by the global research-driven pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., Inc. The mission of the Foundation is to support organizations and innovative programs that expand access to medicines, vaccines and quality health care; build capacity in the biomedical and health sciences; promote environments that encourage innovation; and support communities where Merck has a major presence.