I hope you find this issue to be informative and helpful in your work. Please send me any information you’d like posted in upcoming issues. The embedded links may not work in SlideShare, so please feel free to email me for a copy at DrChrisStout@gmail.com to be added to our email list. You can join our Facebook Group and interact with over 1200 likeminded individuals at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CenterForGlobalInitiatives/ Any recommendations to improve this communique would be most appreciated! And if you’d like to support the Center’s work with a tax deductible donation, that would be fantastic(!) and do a great deal: http://centerforglobalinitiatives.org/donateNow.cfm Cheers, and thank you for your work, Chris

1. 1
Greetings and welcome to the latest edition of our growing newsletter!
Volume 2, Number 3
_____News, Tools, Reports and Shout-Outs______
As you may know, I’m a long time
Bucky fan—he and I corresponded in
1979 (and yes, I still have the letter) and
I even wrote the encyclopedia entry for
him:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G
2-3045300873.html
Here is the 2015 Call for Proposals:
Fuller Challenge, “Socially-Responsible
Design’s Highest Award"
https://t.co/BvCnXkszIO

2. 2
_____Grant and Funding Opportunities_____
Ashoka is the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, with nearly 3,000 Ashoka
Fellows in 70 countries putting their system changing ideas into practice on a global scale. Ashoka
Changemakers accelerates social change by finding and connecting high-potential changemakers,
using the power of global competitions and peer networks. Since their inception they have run 80+
competitions, sourced more than 21,000 innovations, and channeled more than $600 million in
direct investment to innovators. Today, they view competitions as critical pieces of larger efforts to
convene powerful global networks of innovators, funders, and thought leaders around the big ideas
that they champion.
http://www.changemakers.com/opportunities/Changemakers%20Taxonomy/189/193?page=1&vie
w-mode=grid
The Franklin Project has launched the Franklin Project Ambassadors Program, a year-long
leadership development program and local engagement strategy that will catalyze support for the big
idea in communities across the country. The Franklin Project will recruit up to 50 emerging leaders
from 20-35 communities across the country in February and March 2015 take part in this new
initiative.
In 2016, the Franklin Project and its partners will be collaborating on a Service Year Campaign
to inspire Americans from across the country to get behind the big idea of a service year as a rite of

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passage. In support of the campaign, the new Franklin Project Ambassadors will come together as a
class for a seminar and training in June 2015, after which the Ambassadors will return to their home
communities empowered to expand service year opportunities and inspire others around the big idea.
In addition to being a part of a great class of young leaders, Ambassadors will host an event in their
community in the first half of 2016 as part of the broader Service Year Campaign.
http://www.franklinproject.org/ambassadors
PHILANTHROPY / VOLUNTARISM
Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation Accepting Applications for Impact Software Grants
DEADLINE: MARCH 20, 2015
Grant recipients receive a two-year donation of Cornerstone OnDemand software and services,
including unlimited use of its Learning Management System and access to a range of pro bono
business consulting services....
HEALTH
ACS Seeks Proposals on Role of Health Care and Insurance in Improving Outcomes in Cancer
Prevention
DEADLINE: APRIL 1, 2015
Grants of up to $200,000 over four years will be awarded for studies that investigate how factors
affecting healthcare access and outcomes interact....
MEDICAL RESEARCH
Michael J. Fox Foundation Invites Proposals for PD Target Pipeline Program
DEADLINE: MAY 27, 2015 (PRE-PROPOSALS)
Grants of up to $400,000 will be awarded to projects aimed at rationalizing biological pathways and
targets for further translation into new treatments for Parkinson's disease....

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PRF Seeks Proposals for Research on Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome
DEADLINE: APRIL 20, 2015
Grants of up to $100,000 a year for three years will be awarded in support of research with the
potential to advance in the field....
Children’s Heart Foundation Seeks Applications for Congenital Heart Disease Research
DEADLINE: JUNE 5, 2015
Grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded in support of clinical research projects related to the
diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects....
_____Upcoming Conferences and Events_____
2015 will be a critical year for the global
community and the United Nations. It is
the year we face several decisions – on
disaster risk reduction, financing for
development, sustainable development
and climate – that will shape our collective
futures for generations to come.
Cristina Gallach, Under-Secretary-General
for Communications and Public
Information, noted that earlier this year
the Department of Public Information
launched “2015: Time for Global Action”,
the UN system-wide campaign that aims to build public support for the sustainable development
agenda and show how the issues behind some of this year’s most important events are interconnected.
As part of the campaign, a new website – www.un.org/action2015 – is now live and will shortly be
available in all six official UN languages. This website will serve as a source of news, as a portal to UN
system websites, and as the anchor for a robust social media campaign. It will also link to the extensive
civil society mobilization under way through the concurrent Action 2015 campaign.
The website has been designed with the general public in mind and to complement the existing and
very informative UN websites that focus on the substance of the processes. They hope to continue to
build the new website, with your help, adding more news, features, graphics, videos and photos that
will help people understand the issues and find ways to join in and take action.
They look forward to working with others to implement the wider “2015: Time for Global Action”
campaign and to helping achieve the kinds of outcomes this year that will lead to better lives for
everyone.

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The staff at the Center for Global Health at the
College of Medicine, at the University of Illinois
at Chicago, would like to invite you to their
annual World Health Day Symposium,
Wednesday, April 22nd at the University of
Illinois College of Medicine West Tower, 2nd
Floor Auditorium, 1853 W. Polk St. Chicago, IL
University of Illinois President Robert A. Easter,
PhD will be presenting "Global Food Safety: The
Roles of Agricultural, Health and Biological Sciences
in the 21st Century", beginning at 12noon.
I’ll be there and I hope you can come, too!
10th year anniversary!
Global Mental Health:
Trauma and Recovery
Certificate Program
On-sitetrainingin
Orvieto/Porano,Italy:
Nov.8-20,2015
On-linetraining:
Nov.2015- May2016
TheHarvardPrograminRefugeeTraumaandHarvardMedicalSchoolDepartmentofContinuingEducationofferan
exciting6monthcertificateprograminGlobalMentalHealth:TraumaandRecovery-2weeksinItalyand5monthsonline.This
coursewillprovideyouwithskills,knowledge,andacommunityofexperiencedcolleaguestobecomealeaderinproviding
worldclasscaretotraumatizedpatientsandcommunitiesworldwide.Theprogramwillbeinits10thyearthisNovember.For
moreinformation:http://hprt-cambridge.org/education/gmh/ApplicationDeadline: July1,2015

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_____Ebola, Infectious Disease, and More…_____
Aggregated News Reports from:
Global Health NOW is an initiative of the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health, www.jhsph.edu. Views and
opinions expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect those of
the Bloomberg School. Created by Brian W. Simpson, MPH,
Dayna Kerecman Myers, Maryalice Yakutchik, Jackie Frank and
Salma Warshanna-Sparklin. You can connect with them at: bsimpso1@jhu.edu
EBOLA
Keep Eyes on the Ball
Ebola endemic in West Africa remains a risk, especially if resolve slackens and the virus mutates to
become more easily transmissible, scientists warn.
This outbreak has infected more than 23,000 in West Africa whereas previous outbreaks infected just
hundreds and burned out within months, disappearing from humans. Greater viral exposure to
humans in this outbreak has created more opportunities for the virus to adapt into a virus that could
remain in humans if vigilance wanes.
While the possibility of endemic Ebola exists, this virus doesn’t spread as easily as others—and if the
international community keeps its eye on the ball, chances of endemic establishment are low, said Dr.
Peter Walsh, of the University of Cambridge. “Some major evolutionary changes would be required to
make it more transmissible; not just tweaking around the edges but big changes in the way it behaves,”
he said.
The Guardian
Could a Cure be in the Blood?
35 Ebola patients received blood from survivors in the past month as part of a clinical trial in
Sierra Leone, and the early results indicate that 80% lived—an improvement over the recent
survival rate of 50%.
Antibody proteins produced by the immune system to block the Ebola virus in the weeks
following an infection are the likely reason. This week, a bigger, better-funded convalescent-
plasma trial is set start in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Blood plasma is especially promising,
because it also contains antibodies, but can also be donated more frequently and stored longer
than whole blood.
While the US has committed more than $240 million to vaccines and drugs, West African
countries have pushed for the blood treatment. As David Wood, a WHO virologist,
said, “The countries really liked the blood option more than the drugs because there is no

7. 7
manufacturer behind it and no international regulatory approvals required.”
Al Jazeera
Related: UN health agency approves rapid test for Ebola, as decline in cases appears to level off
– UN News Service
Related: Ebola Doctor Fears Deadly Scenes May Yet be Repeated – Voice of America
Related: Having and Fighting Ebola — Public Health Lessons from a Clinician Turned Patient
– (Craig Spencer, MD, The New England Journal of Medicine)
Related: WHO reports overall decrease in Ebola infections – Deutsche Welle
Related: Ex-Ebola Czar Ron Klain: 5 management lessons from the Ebola outbreak – Fortune
HEPATITIS C
Going Viral
A landmark project in Britain representing the frontline in the fight against viral disease seeks
to find undiagnosed people while also providing a crucial snapshot of how many, and who,
might be living with HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
The fact that new drugs can cure hep C—a slow, silent killer that progresses unnoticed for
decades—is great news for the 150 million people affected worldwide. However, finding them
in order to implement the cure has proven an exercise in desperation and frustration.
A radical new screening scheme aims to identify all carriers of the pernicious virus: Patients
already having blood tests in 10 accident and emergency departments across England and
Scotland were offered a triple test as part of a weeklong pilot project called Going Viral.
The Guardian
INFLUENZA
700 Deaths in India
A variant of the H1N1 influenza has killed 700 in India in the last 10 weeks. Over 11,000
cases have been reported since mid-December, most in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Telangana and Madhya Pradesh states.
Casualties may have been high because patients delayed going to hospitals; health officials have
launched a broadcast campaign to urge people to seek treatment if they have symptoms. Some
states, such as Uttar Pradesh, said patients could receive free treatment in the state-run
hospital, while the Delhi government capped the cost of diagnostic tests at private labs at 4,500
rupees ($72). Associated Press
Related: H1N1: Lack of policy on vaccination raises concern – Times of India
Related: Shortage of swine flu vaccine in Goa – Times of India

8. 8
Related: Swine flu vaccine 'dries up' in Kashmir, doctors at risk – Times of India
CHIKUNGUNYA
Caribbean Blues
Higher than normal temperatures as well as heavy rains and flooding have contributed to the
spread of chikungunya in the Caribbean over the past year. The wet and warm weather create
ideal conditions for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to reproduce rapidly and transmit the
chikungunya virus. The illness, which causes fever and severe joint pain, has long been present
in Africa and Asia, but only recently became a serious health threat in the Caribbean,
according to an IPS report. As the rainy season approaches, Caribbean vector-borne disease
experts say that eliminating mosquito breeding sites is an important control strategy to mitigate
the spread of the virus. IPS
GATES WATCH
Focus on Some Worst Diseases
Optimism about eradicating polio, guinea worm, river blindness, and elephantiasis abounds in
the 2015 Gates Annual Letter, which also predicts that by 2030, science will have found a way to
eradicate malaria.
Bill Gates guest edits for the Verge this month, narrating episodes of the Big Future—an animated
explainer series, and this piece by Arielle Duhaime-Ross examines why Gates thinks eradicating some
of the world’s worst diseases by 2030 is possible.
Progress in 3 developing countries—Uganda, Nepal, and Rwanda—is key. This trio made significant
strides toward reducing tropical disease transmission, maternal and infant mortality, and HIV
infection rates. The article details Uganda’s efforts against river blindness, Nepal’s lowering of the
maternal mortality rate by 40% in the past decade, and Rwanda’s progress in addressing HIV infection
rates by overhauling health systems and engaging citizens. The Verge
MALARIA
On India’s Doorstep
Artemisinin-resistant malaria extends across much in Burma and South East Asia, and is now on the
verge of entering India—an alarming development that threatens to undo decades of progress fighting
the disease, according to a study by Charles Woodrow, and colleagues at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical
Medicine Research Unit in Bangkok and published in the Lancet yesterday.
The team conducted a cross-sectional survey at malaria treatment centers at 55 sites across Burma and
relevant border regions. If artemisinin strains take hold in India, the concern is that could jump to
other parts of the world. Southeast Asia has historically been a graveyard for malaria drugs, such as
chloroquine. NPR Goats and Soda
Related: Malaria on Myanmar-India border is 'huge threat' – BBC

9. 9
__________________________________________________________
Thanks!
I hope you have found this issue to be informative and helpful in your
work. Please send me any information you’d like posted in upcoming
issues.
This Newsletter and mailing are a manual process, so if you would no
longer like to receive this Newsletter, just send me an email.
Any recommendations to improve this communique would be most appreciated!
You can join our Facebook Group and interact with over 1200 likeminded
individuals at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CenterForGlobalInitiatives/
And if you’d like to support the Center’s work with a tax deductible donation, that would be
fantastic(!) and do a great deal: http://centerforglobalinitiatives.org/donateNow.cfm
All past issues are available via a Pinterest Portal:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/257831147393441584/ If any of the URLs do not work in that
format, just email me for the desired back-issue, or visit our website:
http://centerforglobalinitiatives.org/newsletters.cfm
Cheers, and thank you for your work,
Chris
http://DrChrisStout.com
Founding Director, http://CenterForGlobalInitiatives.org
LinkedIn Influencer: http://www.linkedin.com/influencer/3055695
American Psychological Association International Humanitarian Award Winner,
http://www.apa.org/monitor/dec07/rockstar.html