Six teams competed in the University of Notre Dame’s 2020 Global Health Case Competition. Hosted by the Eck Institute for Global Health (EIGH), the competition challenged Notre Dame graduate and undergraduate students to develop a plan for delivering vaccinations for measles and Ebola via drones in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Each team presented to a panel of global health experts from Notre Dame and beyond and then they were evaluated based on their plan.

Notre Dame’s winning Global Health Case Competition team of Belen Carriedo, Juliana Couri, Margaret Elliott, and Hugo Flores will participate in Emory University’s international Global Health Case Competition on March 14, 2020 against approximately 30 teams from other universities.

"Each of the six student teams showed a remarkable level of talent, strategic thinking, and enthusiasm as they tackled the sort of global health challenge which professionals deal with every day,” said Bernard Nahlen, director of the EIGH and professor of biological sciences. “Their ability to quickly come together to propose a path forward to address a range of technical, political, and financial issues in a complex operating environment was truly impressive."

For Notre Dame’s Global Health Case Competition, teams were given a week to review the case study on the DRC and prepare a presentation for the panel of judges. Each team also had a faculty advisor to help guide their analysis and presentations.

“I really enjoyed being able to work with faculty experts on campus who had experience on the topic we were studying for the competition,” said Carriedo, graduate student in the Masters of Global Affairs program. “That interaction allowed us to see if the ideas and solutions our team was coming up with were useful and applicable to a professional in the field.”

The teams of students who participated in the 2020 Global Health Case Competition included:

• Joseph Afuso, Abigayle Batkoff, Amy Bernard, Karlyn Harrod, Margaret Kurop, and Dianna Perez
• Christian Arega, Christina Dulal, Fei Fu, Quinton Hayre, and Haley Kempf
• Louise Medina Bengtsson, Meghan Figueras, Anne Foley, Maddeline Johns, and Md. Sultan Uz Zaman
• Rebecca Chase, Ainur Kagarmanova, Axell-Giovanni Komlan, Anabel Konesco, and Samuel Rudloff
• Belen Carriedo, Juliana Couri, Margaret Elliott, and Hugo Flores
• Michael Barrett, Christopher Canizares, Dana Hergenrother, Lauren Hollmer, Caroline Mohammed, and Farai Musariri

The team of Rebecca Chase, Ainur Kagarmanova, Axell-Giovanni Komlan, Anabel Konesco, and Samuel Rudloff was voted Students’ Choice for Best Presentation for the competition. The EIGH begins recruiting students interested in participating in the Global Health Case Competition at the beginning of each academic year, with Notre Dame’s competition falling early in the following Spring semester. 

“Working on an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate and graduate students proved to be incredibly advantageous for me as an undergrad. I learned so much from my teammates during our brainstorming sessions and from their constructive dialogue,” said Couri, an undergraduate student in anthropology and preprofessional studies and an international scholar at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. “This experience will help me not only when our team competes at Emory, but also with my future education, and hopefully in my career. It was a great opportunity, and I definitely encourage other students all across campus to consider joining next year.”

The EIGH Case Competition is organized by Marian Botchway, program director at the EIGH, with support for the 2020 competition from Notre Dame students Juliette Burcham, Lauren English, and Madeleine Heyn. Students interested in learning more about the next competition should visit https://globalhealth.nd.edu/education-training/undergraduate/global-health-case-competition/. 

The Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame endeavors to promote research, training, and service for the advancement of health standards for all people. The institute recognizes health as a fundamental human right and aims to support those in developing countries who are disproportionately impacted by preventable diseases. To learn more about the institute, please visit globalhealth.nd.edu.

Contact:

Marian Botchway / Program Director

Eck Institute for Global Health / University of Notre Dame

mbotchwa@nd.edu / 574.631.1876

globalhealth.nd.edu / @ndeckinstitute

About Notre Dame Research:

The University of Notre Dame is a private research and teaching university inspired by its Catholic mission. Located in South Bend, Indiana, its researchers are advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, education, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world. For more information, please see research.nd.edu or @UNDResearch.