On May 21, we held the first Fellows Symposium here at Norfolk Academy.

It was an incredible evening that brought together our community and our partners to engage with our Fellows and hear about their independent or group projects. Howard Hoege, Assistant Dean of Strategic Initiatives at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, kicked off the evening with an inspiring and impassioned keynote address, “Developing Civic and Global Leaders,” that challenged Fellows, in Dr. Rezelman’s words, to “not allow an academic overemphasis on ‘nuance’ and ‘complexity’ to become an excuse for hesitation or inaction.”

Mr. Wetmore, Mr. Hoege, Mrs. Hoege

After program updates from each of the directors, we headed into the refectory for an interactive poster session with the twenty-two current fellows of the Global Health Fellows program, International Relations Fellows program, and the Chesapeake Bay Fellows program. The room was abuzz as fellows shared their work with a series of small audiences and engaged their questions and feedback.

Wyatt Miller and Dr. Lisbet Hanson

Elizabeth Lilly, GHF ’16, presenting about providing quality cancer care in the developing world.

Click on the links below to view the visuals each Global Health Fellow crafted to present his/her work:

Aneesh Dhawan 

Brian Peccie

Bridget Dickinson 

Elizabeth Lilly

Stuart Luter

Wyatt Miller

In two weeks, these six fellows will be back in Haiti to conduct needs assessments and research in the field, to pilot their curricula, to distribute bed nets, and to take the next steps necessary to transform their projects from a plan on paper into a reality. Thank you to all who attended the symposium – your interactions and conversations with our fellows undoubtedly provided them with new perspectives and questions that will inform and improve their projects before implemention.

We invite you to attend our first annual Center for Civic and Global Leadership Fellows’ Symposium on May 21 at 5 pm in Johnson Theater at Norfolk Academy. The six Global Health Fellows from the Class of 2016 will present their work during a poster presentation at the conclusion of the evening. Their topics are:

• Aneesh Dhawan: “A solution for access to clean water: Desalination in Haiti”
• Bridget Dickinson: “Preventing Malaria in Pregnant Mothers in Rural Haiti”
• Elizabeth Lilly: “Quality Cancer Care in the Developing World”
• Stuart Luter: “Health Education for Young Adolescent Girls – A Curriculum for Implementation in Rural Haiti”
• Wyatt Miller: “Preventing and Treating Hypertension in Haiti”
• Brian Peccie: “Ending Hunger and Improving Food Security – A Look at Malawi”

The Chesapeake Bay Fellows and International Relations Fellows will also be presenting!

Today, the Global Health Fellows were fortunate enough to hear a presentation from EVMS Family Medicine Professor Ana Vazquez-Morina (also mother of Luke Morina NA ’16) and Derwin Gray, Norfolk Academy Class of 2007 and Eastern Virginia Medical School MD Candidate for Class of 2016. The two shared about their recent trip to Pucallpa, Peru in March with a group of medical students, residents, and MPH from EVMS/ODU. Their trip involved a few objectives: to survey the squatter camp community members to assess risk factors of pterygium (which is found in 70% of the community – the highest recorded anywhere in the world!!); to distribute eye glasses (donated by the Lyons Club) to those in need; to run a clinic for the community in desperate need of healthcare. It was a fascinating portrayal of the great benefits and challenges of assessing and then providing healthcare in a very resource-limited place. They encouraged our fellows to spend time making sure to understand the culture and their belief systems before initiating a care plan. Most of all, I think the Global Health Fellows enjoyed meeting a recent NA grad who is already making big waves in the field of medicine and public health.

Derwin Gray and Dr. Ana Vazquez-Morina with the Global Health Fellows