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Media Contact: 
Elise Durham
Edurham@morehouse.edu
404-507-8648 

ATLANTA, June 9, 2003– -- Undergraduate students will team up with professionals in the public health arena to present groundbreaking research on some of the world’s most troubling public health issues.

Morehouse will host the first-ever Undergraduate Research Conference on Global Public Health June 12-14. The conference, sponsored in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will feature panel discussions and presentations by students who have conducted international research. Some of the topics to be discussed will be global HIV/AIDS, SARS, chronic and infectious diseases, and reproductive, maternal and infant health among others.

The conference is made possible through collaboration between the School for International Training, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Morehouse College and the CDC.

The purpose of the conference is to provide students from historically black colleges and universities the opportunity to present research in the public health field.

The School for International Training has collaborated with Morehouse, Clark-Atlanta University, Xavier, LeMoyne Owen College and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, for the past five years to encourage students from these institutions to study abroad and perform field-based research in developing countries. This Conference provides an opportunity for these and other students who have done research in public health abroad to present the results of their work.

“ Morehouse College is excited to serve as co-sponsor of this important conference for three reasons: one, because public health is inherently interdisciplinary, and the college is putting increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary research and education; two, because it is consistent with the College’s efforts to encourage undergraduates to do research as a means of enhancing their education; and finally, the global aspect of this research is very much related to the vision of the college which aims to create a “Worldhouse at Morehouse,” said Dr. J.K. Haynes, Dean of the division of science and mathematics at Morehouse.

"The rise in the global incidence of HIV/AIDS, diseases such as SARS, and threats of bio-terrorism has heightened the need for well-prepared professionals in the field of public health who are equipped to work across cultural and national boundaries,” said Dr. James A. Cramer, President of the School for International Training. “This conference is a collaboration of two institutions with complementary strengths, which when combined provide students with a unique opportunity to have an impact on the future of international public health.”

Some of the conference participants include:
· Dr. Dan Bausch, medical epidemiologist, CDC
· Dr. Eugene McCray, director, Global AIDS Program, CDC
· Dr. Cheryl Scott, CDC HIV/AIDS program, Tanzania, Africa
· Dr. Jose Marcos Lopez Tzoc, professor, Central University of the West, Guatemala
· Carlos Colombi, Peace Corps, Guatemala

For more information, visit www.sit.edu/publichealth

Ranked twice as the number one college in the nation for educating African American students by Black Enterprise magazine, Morehouse College is the nation’s largest, private liberal arts college for African-American men. Founded in 1867, the College enrolls approximately 3,000 students and confers bachelor’s degrees on more black men than any other institution in the world.

Morehouse offers a number of programs and activities to enhance its challenging liberal arts curriculum through the Leadership Center at Morehouse College, Morehouse Research Institute, and Andrew Young Center for International Affairs. Morehouse is one of only two Historically Black Colleges or Universities to produce two Rhodes Scholars.

Prominent alumni include Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civil rights leader; Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine; Sheldon “Spike” Lee, filmmaker and president of 40 Acres & A Mule Productions; Maynard H. Jackson, president of Jackson Securities and the first African-American mayor of Atlanta; and Nima A. Warfield, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar from an Historically Black College or University.

World Learning/School for International Training
Founded in 1932 as The U.S. Experiment in International Living, World Learning is the only international organization with both academic and project capabilities dedicated to promoting international education, social justice, and world peace. Through distinctive educational methods based on experiential learning and the integration of theory and practice, the programs of World Learning build knowledge, develop leaders in education and management, contribute to global development, and effect change.

As the accredited academic arm of World Learning, the mission of the School for International Training is to prepare students to be interculturally effective leaders, professionals, and citizens. In so doing, SIT fosters a worldwide network of individuals and organizations committed to responsible global citizenship. Through experiential, field-based learning, SIT participants prepare to advance international understanding, work effectively in multicultural environments, and achieve sustainable development at the community level and on a national or global scale.