The first International Summer School on Advanced Methods in Global Health, organised by the Severo Ochoa programme, attracted 300 participants from 50 countries
“To sum up, the whole experience was extraordinary.” – Melina Aveiro (participant from Argentina)
“To sum up, the whole experience was extraordinary.” – Melina Aveiro (participant from Argentina)
A total of 300 students from more than 50 countries, sharing ideas and learning together during five days. The first edition of the International Summer School on Advanced Methods in Global Health, developed within the framework of ISGlobal’s Severo Ochoa accreditation, was an outright success. “The online training course let us open our doors wide and welcome many researchers and professionals from all over the world,” says Núria Casamitjana, director of Training and Education at ISGlobal. In effect, 75% of attendees were from low- and middle-income countries and almost all students were able to attend the course free of charge thanks to support from the Severo Ochoa programme.
Cross-cutting methods and global health challenges
The Summer School, which took place from 6 to 10 September 2021, consisted of six modules in different time slots, addressing cross-cutting methods in global health such as health impact assessment, data science and eHealth tools, as well as key challenges in global health such as climate change and the societal impact of infectious diseases. Each student was able to follow three modules.
“It has been an extremely gratifying experience,” says Giulia Pollarolo, Severo Ochoa programme manager. “The trainees remained highly engaged throughout the whole week and participated actively in the virtual scientific discussions.”
According to the final evaluation, the participants were also satisfied. For Isabelle Munyangaju, from Mozambique, the experience was like “a leap into the near future for countries like mine, as it introduced me to topics we should start looking into, especially health impact assessments and how the findings really affect future policies.”
For Manolis Kogevinas, scientific director of ISGlobal’s Severo Ochoa programme, international courses like the summer school will help to build a pool of well-trained professionals capable of addressing the many big issues affecting our societies, such as COVID-19, climate change, biodiversity loss and global inequalities. Thanks to the input received, the Severo Ochoa team has many new ideas for ensuring that the next 2022 edition remains a summer hit!
