Most deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) occur at home and without medical attention. As a result, causes of death are often unknown, which limits evidence-based resource allocation, misses identifying new diseases or outbreaks (such as Ebola), reduces accountability over health expenditures, and can impede progress towards the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To address this imbalance, the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Centre for Global Health Research (CGHR) have launched the Statistical Alliance for Vital Events (SAVE), which aims to accelerate the introduction of novel, low cost mortality monitoring systems and expand the use of existing mortality data systems. The initial focus is on India, Ethiopia, Mexico, Mozambique and Sierra Leone. Future expansion will cover about 25 countries. A key goal of SAVE is to expand the global understanding of mortality statistics and their uses.

GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCHERS RECEIVE $500K GRANT TO BUILD CAPACITY AND EXCHANGE GLOBAL TALENT

Meet the QES Scholars

2019

ASHLEY AIMONE

Dalla Lana School of Public Health; and Visiting Lecturer, Department of Human Nutrition, School of Public Health, College of Medicine, MOI University

Topic – Child mortality in Sierra Leone and verbal autopsy implementation

FERNANDA EWERLING 

Postdoctoral researcher at the International Center for Equity in Health, Pelotas, Brazil

Topic – Incorporating equity analysis of Brazilian mortality data

SAYANTEE JANA 

Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management, India

Topic – Malaria in India

NANDITA SAIKIA

Assistant Professor in Population Studies, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi

Topic – Sex-selective abortion in India

SUSAN THOMAS

Scientist D, Biomedical Informatics Center ICMR – National Institute for Research on Reproductive Health

Topic – Validating verbal autopsy diagnosis using physician keywords

2018

MICHELLE AMRI

PhD student, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences, DLSPH, Collaborative Specialization in Global Health

Studying the extent and determinants of social and economic inequalities in cities globally in low- and middle-income countries and their influence  on inequalities in health.

BRICE LIONEL BATOMEN KUIMI

PhD student, Epidemiology, McGill University

Aims to develop quality indicators to assess the performance of health systems in reducing and preventing mortality due to motor vehicle collisions.

GEETHA R. MENON

Scientist, National Institute of Medical Statistics, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi

Plans to determine the Indian Disease Burden and implement WHO tools and techniques on Indian morbidity and mortality data for periodic estimation of disease and risk factor burden.

GIRMATSION FISSEHA ABREHA

Assistant Professor, Mekelle University School of Public Health, Ethiopia

Seeking skill development in maternal and child health interventional research using longitudinal health data and demographic surveillance for policy action on the Ethiopia Health Sector Transformation Plan.

SONNIA-MAGBA BY-BUAKEI JABBI

Principal Statistician & Senior Researcher at Statistics Sierra Leone

Program will enhance his leadership of Sierra Leone’s Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action project, which will establish a mortality data system to support health programs, policy decision-making, and resource allocation.

MELKAMU DEDEFO GISHU

PhD fellow in Applied Statistics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Program will facilitate his work as a CHAMPS-Ethiopia Investigator tracking the cause of under-five mortality and still births in sub-Saharan African and south Asia through a new surveillance system.

Summer Institute 2018

The first Global Health and Mortality Summer Institute took place on June 25-29, 2018. Doctoral, postdoctoral, and early career scholars from around the world joined at the University of Toronto for a week of advanced training. Participants engaged in the work of strengthening health and mortality information systems in low- and middle-income countries to support innovative multi-disciplinary research on maternal and child health in order to improve access to health services. This year, we had participants from Ethiopia, India, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Canada. Participants are SAVE-QES Fellows, affiliates of the SAVE program, and attendees with a strong interest in statistical methods and mortality data.

Summer Institute 2018 Program

The SAVE-QES Summer Institute is designed to prepare advanced scholars at the doctoral, postdoctoral, and early career levels to:

  • Conduct quantitative research, using mortality data from publicly available datasets;
  • Develop competencies and skills through quantitative data analyses that incorporate gender, research intensive seminars, grant and manuscript writing, knowledge translation, leadership, networking and community engagement opportunities; and
  • Disseminate research results at different stakeholder forums and via high-impact journals.

Summer Institute 2019

The second Global Health and Mortality Summer Institute took place on May 27-29, 2019. Doctoral, postdoctoral, and early career scholars from around the world joined at the University of Toronto for a week of advanced training. Participants engaged in the work of strengthening health and mortality information systems in low- and middle-income countries to support innovative multi-disciplinary research on maternal and child health in order to improve access to health services. This year, we have participants from India, Brazil, Mozambique, and Canada. Participants are SAVE-QES Fellows, affiliates of the SAVE program, and attendees with a strong interest in statistical methods and mortality data.

Summer Institute 2019 Program

The SAVE-QES Summer Institute is designed to prepare advanced scholars at the doctoral, postdoctoral, and early career levels to:

  • Strengthen participants’ quantitative research and analysis skills, using mortality data from available datasets, health and mortality information systems in LMICs;
  • Develop participants’ skills in effectively communicating data analyses to diverse stakeholders (e.g. governments, donors, researchers, non-governmental organizations); and
  • Develop participants’ competencies in leadership, knowledge translation and community engagement to support them in influencing decision-making in different settings.

Apply to be a QES Scholar

Stay tuned for more information regarding Summer Institute 2020 and the applications for QES Scholars

Media

https://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca/2018/08/summer-institute-trains-global-scholars-in-mortality-measurement/

Partners

The SAVE-QES Summer Institute is a partnership between the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Centre for Global Health Research. It is funded by the Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Advanced Scholars Program, supported through a unique partnership between Universities Canada, the Rideau Hall Foundation, Community Foundations of Canada and Canadian universities. It is made possible with financial support from the International Development Research Centre and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.