Two Kellogg Institute faculty fellows are among four University of Notre Dame faculty members who received awards from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute’s (CTSI) Reciprocal Innovation Grants Program. This Indiana CTSI grant program supports the researchers and their international partners to tackle global health concerns that are also issues for Hoosiers.

The Reciprocal Innovation Grants Program offers two types of grants. The demonstration grant supports high impact solutions that provide reciprocal benefit to Indiana and low- to middle-income country partners and the planning grant supports planning and training activities that will lead to applications for various projects. 

Faculty Fellow Laura Miller-Graff, associate professor of psychology and peace studies at Notre Dame, and external partners Kathryn Howell and Cecilia Martínez-Torteya received a planning grant for “Addressing the global health burden of intimate partner violence: Establishing partnerships for the Pregnant Moms’ Empowerment Program in Mexico.”

Faculty Fellow Vania Smith-Oka, associate professor of anthropology at Notre Dame, was awarded a planning grant for her research, “Investigating indications for cesareans: Employing the Robson Classification to address maternal health in Indiana and Mexico.”

Other Notre Dame recipients are Yenupini Joyce Adams, visiting assistant professor of global health, and Neil Lobo, research professor of biological sciences.

Each awardee is affiliated with the Eck Institute for Global Health (EIGH) at Notre Dame, which builds on the University’s historical strength in infectious disease research while broadening the scope into areas of expertise like epidemiology, maternal and community health, biochemistry, and more.

“The Indiana CTSI grant program provides important funding for research to bridge the perceived gaps between local and global health issues. This support for research into maternal health and vector-borne diseases is further recognition of how our human interconnectedness provides an opportunity to better address health issues to benefit us all, wherever we might live,” Dr. Bernard Nahlen, director of the EIGH and professor of biological sciences at Notre Dame.

The EIGH is providing supporting funds for each Indiana CTSI Reciprocal Innovation Grant awardee. To learn more about the EIGH, please visit globalhealth.nd.edu.

The Indiana CTSI is a statewide collaboration of Indiana University, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame, as well as public and private partnerships. Established in 2008, the Indiana CTSI is supported by a $25 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutions of Health, supplemented by nearly $60 million from the state, the three member universities, and public and private partnerships. The Indiana CTSI is a member of a national network of CTSA-funded organizations across the US.

This article originally appeared at globalhealth.nd.edu.