With a mission of advancing human understanding across the globe, the Fulbright Scholar Program has sent abroad academic faculty and postdoctoral scholars to share research techniques, develop medical programs and exchange cultural perspectives for more than 60 years.
This year, more than 800 US faculty and researchers were awarded Fulbright grants. These scholars include two UCSF faculty members: Geraldine Padilla, PhD, who will be working in the Philippines, and Erika Froelicher, RN, PhD, who is teaching and researching in Amman, Jordan.
In addition, UCSF is hosting Frederic Marteau, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar from Belgium who is researching genes linked to cardiovascular disease, as part of the Fulbright program.
Geraldine Padilla
Having grown up in the Philippines, Padilla, associate dean for research and
professor of physiological nursing in the UCSF School of Nursing, has a vested interest in stopping the spread of the hepatitis B virus, which can lead to liver disease, causing nearly 300,000 annual deaths in the western Pacific region.
Although a hepatitis B vaccine was developed more than 20 years ago, poverty and lack of resources throughout the country inhibit the administration of the vaccine. Padilla is working with both the American and Philippine cancer societies to develop a plan whereby all Filipino newborns have access to the three-part vaccine.
During her four-month fellowship, Padilla will be interviewing a variety of health professionals, from members of the Department of Health to physicians and nurses on the front lines, to identify barriers to implementing a hepatitis B vaccination policy for newborns. Padilla's two greatest concerns are cost and access to health clinics, especially for people living in rural areas, where health resources are slim.
"It's a multidimensional problem of resources, access, availability of the vaccine and syringes, and storage facilities," says Padilla. "Since the [country of the] Philippines is broken down into barangays, which are small villages or districts, the key questions are: What are the resources available and what is the accessibility to clinics at the barangay level?"
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Erika Froelicher
Froelicher, also a professor of physiological nursing in the UCSF School of Nursing, is spending the 2006-2007 school year teaching and researching at the University of Jordan in Amman. She is instructing doctoral students in advanced quantitative research methods, and writing for scientific publication and research presentations.
This is the first year that the University of Jordan is offering a doctoral program in nursing, so Froelicher is training faculty and building the university's capacity for advanced research.
As a clinical nurse specialist in cardiovascular nursing and an epidemiologist in cardiovascular research, Froelicher also is researching depression in cardiac patients and smoking patterns in Jordan, where currently 70 percent of men and 20 percent to 30 percent of women smoke.
Originally from Austria, Froelicher has a multicultural background and has an inherent interest in cross-cultural aspects of teaching, patient care and research.
"I am learning as much from the students about Arab culture, faith and nursing as they are learning from me about research methods," says Froelicher. "I envision this work in Jordan to be a beginning to lifelong collaborations with faculty in Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East."
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Frederic Marteau
UCSF is also hosting a Fulbright scholar, Frederic Marteau, from Free University of Brussels, Belgium. Marteau is a biomedical science postdoctoral fellow, researching potential links between genes and cardiovascular disease in the UCSF laboratory headed by Didier Stainier, PhD. In Belgium, Marteau worked with mice and pigs to study genes related to hypertension and diseases affecting the vasculature, but the Stainier lab offers a new model for this research: the zebrafish.
Compared with mice, vascular structures are more easily observed in zebrafish embryos due to their transparent veneer. And, since zebrafish take in oxygen via passive diffusion through their tissues, they are able to survive with compromised vascular structures during the stages of early development.
In his six-month fellowship, expiring in March 2007, Marteau is learning how to raise and genetically manipulate zebrafish, so that he can share his acquired skills with researchers in Belgium.
"The Stainier lab is one of the most prestigious zebrafish laboratories worldwide," says Marteau. "I am grateful to have this chance to learn how to work with this model system and bring this knowledge back to my home country."
Related Links:
Fulbright Scholar Program
Faculty Profile: Erika S. Froelicher, RN, PhD
UCSF School of Nursing
Faculty Profile: Geraldine V. Padilla, PhD
UCSF School of Nursing
Spotlighting Science: Little Fish Offers Big Clues to Human Development
UCSF Mission Bay, January 27, 2006
