WashU Medicine faculty lead active research at field sites in 16 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Fellows match to a site based on research interests and mentor alignment. Four examples are highlighted below. Field time runs ~10 months across two years.
The GIM Research Fellowship gave me the time and tools I needed to build an independent research career, both through coursework and by taking ownership of active research projects.
Kevin B. Stephenson, MD, fellowship director and past fellowship graduate
Active sites in 16 countries
Example projects
Sierra Leone
Nutrition, Mental Health, Clinical Trials
Lead: Stephenson
Partners: Project Peanut Butter (PPB); Sierra Leone Ministry of Health; Mental Health Coalition – Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has high rates of child malnutrition and maternal mortality. Through PPB, WashU Medicine employs 100+ local research staff across 60 clinics in Pujehun District, supporting concurrent randomized trials in maternal-child nutrition, perinatal mental health, and severe acute malnutrition treatment.
Active trials
COGENT
Factorial RCT of 1,660 undernourished pregnant women testing omega-3 fatty acids and choline to prolong gestation and improve infant outcomes.
NCT05949190
MEND-SAM
RCT of 1,600 children with severe acute malnutrition testing milk-fat globule membrane in ready-to-use therapeutic food.
NCT06869850
BLOOM
Expanding a novel cognitive behavioral therapy program for perinatal depression across multiple districts. Over 2,000 women enrolled to date.
$5M AWH
Haiti
HIV/AIDS, CVD, Primary Care
Lead: McNairy
Partners: GHESKIO (Groupe Haïtien d’Étude du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infections Opportunistes)
GHESKIO is the Caribbean’s largest HIV/AIDS treatment center, serving 100,000+ patient visits annually in Port-au-Prince with uninterrupted clinical operations across decades of political instability.
Active studies
Haiti CVD Cohort
Population-based longitudinal study of 3,000+ adults characterizing the cardiovascular epidemic in Haiti.
NCT03892265
Early HTN Treatment in PLWH
Completed RCT of 250 people living with HIV evaluating early hypertension treatment.
NCT04692467
Environmental Pollution & Heart Disease
Epidemiologic study of toxic metals and nutritional elements.
NHLBI 163393
Pregnancy & Heart Disease
Implementation science study to scale HTN and mental health screening.
Gates
Nigeria
Cardiovascular Implementation Science
Leads: Huffman, Mahmoud
Partners: Federal Ministry of Health · 60+ primary healthcare facilities · CeRTIN training network
WashU faculty lead cardiovascular implementation science programs embedded in one of Africa’s largest and most complex health systems, supporting maternal-child cardiovascular health, hypertension management, and investigator training.
Active studies
ENHANCE-CVH
Maternal-child cardiovascular health trial testing a home-visiting intervention for pregnant women across 40 primary healthcare facilities.
RCT
HTN Programme
Large-scale implementation of WHO HEARTS hypertension management across 60+ facilities.
NCT04158154
CeRTIN
Cardiovascular Research Training in Nigeria, providing short-, medium-, and long-term training for Nigerian investigators.
D43
QuEST Network
Health Systems Quality, Multi-Country Research Network, 25+ Countries
Lead: Kruk
Quality Evidence for Health System Transformation (QuEST) is a multi-country research network headquartered at WashU producing a global evidence base on health system performance. Kruk chaired the Lancet Global Health Commission on High Quality Health Systems, which found 5.0 million deaths annually attributable to poor-quality care in LMICs.
Recent fellow projects
Higher-omega-3 RUTF
and cognitive recovery in SAM
Maternal-Child Nutrition, Malawi
Three-arm randomized trial in 2,565 Malawian children with severe acute malnutrition tested whether reformulating ready-to-use therapeutic food with a higher omega-3 / lower omega-6 fatty acid profile (with or without supplemental fish oil) improves post-treatment cognitive development. The fish-oil arm raised MDAT scores by ~0.2 SD; results revised the UN Codex Alimentarius RUTF composition standard governing supply for ~11 million children annually.
Mentor: Manary
Affiliated faculty
Meet the multidisciplinary team of affiliated faculty conducting global health research.
Ready to apply?
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Reach out to fellowship director Kevin Stephenson, MD (k.stephenson@wustl.edu) before you apply. Most successful applicants have a mentor identified in advance.