Six UBC Vancouver researchers have received up to $10,000 each in awards from the 2024-25 Call for Proposals: Seed Funding for Cooperation with the Global South competition, the UBC Office of Global Engagement announced March 24. Funded by the UBC Academic Excellence Fund and totaling $60,000, the program supports researchers either initiating new collaborations with partners in the Global South or strengthening existing ones.
“Among the university’s 300-plus formal partnerships worldwide, universities and research institutions in the Global South are underrepresented,” said Cheryl Dumaresq, Office of Global Engagement Executive Director. “These initiatives will help lay the groundwork for long-term, sustainable cooperation addressing shared challenges and advancing knowledge across diverse fields.”
Eligible projects include the development of joint academic collaborations, capacity development initiatives, impactful research and knowledge exchange activities that address global challenges and promote sustainable development. Project activities include knowledge exchange workshops, roundtables, exploratory visits and relationship-building activities and events, which began in January 2025 and will be completed by the end of this year.
A large number of qualified applicants—nearly 40—submitted proposals in November 2024 which, according to Dumaresq, “reflects the UBC community’s deep commitment to fostering equitable and impactful global partnerships.” She added that “this level of interest underscores both the demand for funding to support emerging collaborations and the dedication of UBC faculty to engaging in meaningful, reciprocal initiatives with partners in the Global South. We congratulate the successful applicants and look forward to seeing the positive outcomes of their collaborations.”
The successful applicants described their projects:
Strengthening the Refugee Law Project’s Digital Archive
UBC Lead Applicant: Dr. Elizabeth Shaffer, Assistant Professor, UBC School of Information, Faculty of Arts
Partner: Dr. Boniface Ojok, Research Fellow, Refugee Law Project (RLP), Uganda
This project builds on a longstanding collaborative relationship with RLP. The aim is to support the long-term development and sustainability of the RLP’s collection work, and to generate knowledge on the modalities, practices and impact of community-centered archives in post-conflict contexts. Successfully launched in 2021, RLP’s digital archive “creates a platform for sharing experiences and testimonies regarding the past legacies of conflicts in Uganda.” The archive ensures that vital information, knowledge, evidence and memory are protected and accessible to governments, civil society and communities, thereby promoting justice, recognition and healing.
Activities supported by the grant include exploratory research, a knowledge exchange workshop, working sessions toward grant proposals and targeted meetings with partners. Integral to post-conflict settings, archives support a multiplicity of voices in service to information access, knowledge and evidence and memory in support of the work of government, civil society and communities, thereby promoting justice, recognition and healing.
Developing Health Informatics Competency Frameworks for Nurses in Ghana
UBC Lead Applicant: Dr. Fatawu Abdulai, Assistant Professor, UBC School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
Partners: Dr. Gladys Dzansi, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana School of Nursing and Midwifery; Dr. David Tenkorang-Twum, General Secretary, Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association
Ghana’s Ministry of Health developed the National e-Health Strategy in 2010 to implement Electronic Health Records by 2030. By 2022, the implementation of electronic health records was completed in 22 major hospitals across Ghana.
However, a majority of Ghanaian nurses at the frontlines and in leadership roles do not have the requisite informatics competencies to implement, sustain and use information and communications technology (ICT) interventions such as electronic health records. This can result in fatal and costly mistakes that negatively impact patients and nurses. In this context, this project will develop a collaboration between UBC, the University of Ghana and the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association to formulate and execute a contextually-appropriate foundational health informatics competency framework for nurses in Ghana.
Through stakeholder meetings, collaborative workshops the creation of a Competency Development Working Group, this collaboration is expected to catalyze research and capacity building initiatives that will lead to substantial external funding to develop and implement the competency frameworks for use in nursing practice and nursing education in Ghana. This project will address a critical gap in nursing practice in Ghana, and will contribute to increasing efficiency and equity in healthcare delivery. Although this project is primarily focused on nurses, it will ultimately enable the creation of a framework that can be extended to other healthcare professionals within Ghana’s Ministry of Health.
Co-Designing a Participatory Soil Health Toolkit and Research Plan
UBC Lead Applicant: Dr. Hannah Wittman, Professor, UBC Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm (Faculty of Land and Food Systems) and UBC Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (Faculty of Science)
Partners: Dr. Erika Sagae, Project Coordinator, Centre for Research and Promotion of Group Agriculture (CEPAGRO), Brazil; Samuel Secaria, Director, Asociación VIVAMOS MEJOR, Guatemala; Ricardo Eslava, Project Coordinator, Corambiente (Corporación Buen Ambiente), Colombia
CEPAGRO is part of a Latin American network of organizations promoting sustainable agriculture and participatory education for sustainable development. It has had an active and ongoing collaboration with UBC in support of a grassroots citizen science network for assessing and communicating agroecological transitions. VIVAMOS MEJOR and Corambiente—organizations that have partnered with CEPAGRO—have developed Farmer Field Schools as a form of participatory research, collective experimentation and knowledge mobilization for agroecology and sustainable agriculture. These schools are seeking new tools, technologies, methods and curricula to support soil health for climate resilience, especially in the face of rapidly shifting weather patterns and the growing desire to reduce the use of external and synthetic inputs in favour of agroecological practices.
This project will support the co-development of such toolkits and curricula by conducting in-person workshops with the Latin American partners at UBC, leveraging the expertise of the UBC Farm. This will enable researchers to co-develop educational materials and technical toolkits for participatory assessment of soil health, as well as a soil health action research plan. Further, the workshops will identify how biological, physical and chemical elements of soil health are assessed by the Latin American partners; share tools and methods developed by UBC and the University of California, Davis; and collect feedback on how these could be improved or implemented in diverse research contexts.
The intersectional, participatory research framework employed by this project enables capacity building for community partners to utilize a diverse set of tools—both digital and traditional—to tell their own stories relating to agroecology.
Community organizations and farmers will use the work done in engagement with the Latin American partners to assess soil health, make evidence-informed decisions about which agroecological practices will improve soil health in different ecological and agricultural contexts, and document climate resilience outcomes. The free or low-cost, open-source and multilingual tools created through this project will be integrated within the LiteFarm farm management tool coordinated by UBC to ensure their access to farmers across the world. By improving farmer capacity to assess and improve soil health, this project will support global food security, climate change mitigation and biodiversity enhancement through decolonial approaches to open-science research and community engagement.
Global Health Collaboration between UBC and AMIU
UBC Lead Applicant: Dr. Khumbo Kalua, Associate Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine
Partner: Dr. Joachim Osur, Professor and Vice-Chancellor, Amref International University (AMIU), Kenya
This project seeks to establish a long-term collaboration between UBC and AMIU in global health education to advance teaching and learning environments at both institutions. The project offers a unique opportunity for partnership and knowledge exchange in public health education, with a focus on global health. The expertise and resources each institution brings will enrich academic offerings, build capacity and ultimately enhance the impact of graduates of each institution in addressing pressing health challenges across the globe.
Both universities have established a mutual interest in student and faculty exchanges, student practicums, elective courses and joint research funding applications through virtual interactions which have occurred to date. The project will enable a visit to UBC by an AMIU delegation, allowing for face-to-face discussion toward establishing the foundation of the partnership. This will allow researchers from both universities to outline shared objectives and develop an operational plan for the long-term collaboration.
This project will also facilitate guest lectures from AMIU faculty in select courses offered by UBC’s School of Population and Public Health (SPPH). These activities will contribute to the SPPH’s implementation of new courses in global health pertaining to global health ethics, global environmental health and global governance, which are intended to equip graduates with knowledge and skills to advance global health.
Further, this project will enable an interactive, discussion-based global health research seminar featuring multidisciplinary speakers who are dedicated to global health innovation, and form the groundwork to plan a global partners’ workshop focused on identifying and applying for sources of funding to sustain equitable partnerships with the Global South.
The collaboration between UBC and AMIU—based on a shared philosophy of an equitable partnership, decolonization and bilateral exchange of knowledge—will serve as the foundation for bilateral knowledge exchange to support the development of practical solutions at the local, national and international levels.
Women’s Heart Health in Nepal: Missed Opportunities and Paths Forward
UBC Lead Applicant: Dr. Rubee Dev, Assistant Professor, UBC School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
Partner: Dr. Abhinav Vaidya, Professor, Community Medicine; Dr. Natalia Oli, Associate Professor, Community Medicine; and Dr. Nikita Bhattarai, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Kathmandu Medical College (KMC), Nepal
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women globally, accounting for one-third of premature deaths. Four out of five CVD-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. CVD has also become the leading cause of maternal death after the early postpartum period, surpassing traditional causes, such as postpartum hemorrhage and sepsis. Given that CVD among women remains under-studied, under-screened, under-diagnosed and under-managed, there is an urgent need to address the increasing burden of CVDs in women.
This project brings women’s Cardiovascular Health (CVH) researchers, healthcare providers and policy-makers in Nepal together to initiate discussion on ongoing challenges and future directions for promoting women’s CVH. Through roundtable discussions and workshops, this project aims to explore priority areas regarding women’s heart health research and set research agendas in this field.
The expected outcomes from these discussions include an improved understanding of the trends of CVDs and existing and emerging risk factors associated with CVD in Nepal; a conceptualization of research questions through the exchange of ideas; and the development of a strategic partnership that serves as a catalyst for action and change.
This will enable the identification of insights for future research, and lead to the development of collaborative research projects and sustainable partnerships. The discussions and workshops facilitated by the project will enable researchers from UBC and KMC to identify gaps in women’s CVH research in Nepal, which will contribute to advancing women’s CVH research in under-researched areas. Such research will have the potential to impact the health outcomes of women in Nepal. In addition, the takeaways from this project can have wider implications for women’s CVH globally, particularly among countries in the Global South.
Advancing Research on Sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Solutions
UBC Lead Applicant: Dr. Sara Beck, Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Partner: Dr. Eric Omori Omwenga, Chairman of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Kisii University, Kenya
This project seeks to address critical water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges in marginalized rural communities in Kisii, Kenya through joint efforts to design and evaluate innovative WASH technologies. It combines the UBC team’s expertise in novel water treatment processes and water quality analysis with the Kisii University team’s specialization in antimicrobial resistance and genetic profiling. In doing so, it will help address water quality challenges and antimicrobial resistance associated with local water sources in Kenya.
The researchers aim to evaluate pathogen dynamics and antimicrobial resistance through targeted inventions, which would mitigate the health risks associated with antimicrobial-resistant waterborne pathogens and improve water safety. Further, they plan to advance community health and climate-resilient WASH inventions and develop capacity-building programs to foster local expertise in advanced water quality analysis and molecular biology techniques. Their work aims to contribute to policies on sustainable water management in the region.
The project will support essential travel for in-person discussions and capacity building in Kisii, Kenya and at UBC related to understanding waterborne disease risk and transmission, water quality and microbial analysis, along with the impact of climate-induced weather events on water system resilience and water treatment system efficacy. These discussions will enable researchers at UBC and Kisii University to identify potential correlations between improved water quality and health incomes.
Future analysis will explore the impacts of seasonal precipitation and climate events on water availability, water quality and public health. The research outcomes and strengthened engagement will serve as a foundation to attract third-party funding by demonstrating the potential for broad community impacts. Ultimately, this project will contribute to improved public health, water access and climate adaptation, while also fostering resilient and sustainable livelihoods.
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Read about UBC global partnership opportunities.