IMMpress Volume 11 Issue 3, 2024 – Cover

In the intricate tapestry of our world, every individual, community, and nation is interwoven into a web of cause and effect where actions and events in one corner of the globe resonate across borders. This interconnectedness is critically highlighted in the global spread of infectious diseases. An outbreak in one part of the world can...

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The numbers behind the science: how biomedical research varies across the globe (Infographic)

The importance of global collaboration is the highlight of this issue, and for good reason. Research is driven by collaboration. Some of the world’s most pressing health issues are not limited to one geographical location, and so a global understanding of these issues is essential. One of the greatest public health successes ever achieved was...

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Smallpox Eradication: a Show of Worldwide Collaborative Brilliance

International scientific collaboration makes use of the collective experiences, knowledge, and intellect of diverse nations. Through shared knowledge and combined efforts, it pioneers breakthroughs unattainable within the confines of solitary endeavors, propelling innovation to unprecedented heights. One clear instance exemplifying the power of international collaboration is demonstrated in the concerted effort of smallpox eradication. Smallpox...

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Who’s WHO? World Health Organization – its inception, successes, and pitfalls

Facing the destructive aftermath of World War II, nations around the globe convened to form the United Nation in 1945. At one of its first conferences, representatives from Brazil and China proposed the concept of a global health organization, which would facilitate collaboration between countries to fight the spread of diseases. Three years of additional...

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Collaborative Crossroads – Examining the successes and setbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many profound, long-lasting effects on our personal and professional lives. It has influenced our views on how we live, where we work, and importantly, the ways which we interact with people and the world around us. Although efforts to curb the spread of the virus limited our physical associations, the...

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Crossing Continents: Unveiling Insights from Uganda in Collaborative Research with North American Institutes

James Nnamutete, Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT) and Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences (BMLS)Laboratory Coordinator for Rakai Health Sciences Program James Nnamutete is a study coordinator at the Rakai Health Sciences program (RHSP) situated in Kalisizo, Uganda. His 17 years of expertise consists of his work with various clinical studies, including those related...

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Global Health: On a Mission to Health for All

The COVID-19 pandemic is not our first brush with health crisis that has sounded a call for global action. In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was established in response to the ravages of polio outbreaks. Since its launch, there has been more than a 99% decrease in the incidence for this potentially debilitating disease....

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Book Review – “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants”, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, author Robin Wall Kimmerer, a decorated environmental biology professor and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation – a federally recognized tribe of the Potawatomi people in Oklahoma – weaves together her Indigenous roots and Western scientific expertise. Describing the relationship between people and the land as “the ultimate reciprocity,...

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Alumni Interview with Dr Nathália Batista

“Immunology has always fascinated me. Its complexity presents a challenging yet stimulating area of study. Additionally, the direct impact on healthcare and the potential to improve motivates me greatly,” says Dr. Nathália Batista, a scientist at Treadwell Therapeutics. Her passion for science has led her on a journey all around the world, with the goal...

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Helicopter Research: A Driving Force of Health Disparities Between Global North and South and How It Can Be Curbed

While international scientific research is seemingly beneficial to society as it generates new knowledge through collaboration, such collaboration is not always equitable, leading to exploitative, egregious outcomes for disadvantaged populations. This is explicated by a phenomenon called “helicopter research”, otherwise known as “neo-colonial” or “parachute science”, whereby scientists from developed countries travel to under-resourced nations...

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