Gretchen L. Birbeck, MD, MPH, DTMH, FAAN
Director-International Neurologic & Psychiatric Epidemiology Program
Associate Professor Professor-Departments of Neurology & Epidemiology
Core Faculty-African Studies Center
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Dr. Birbeck’s interest in neuroepidemiology and health services research originated from her work in the early 1990’s sub-Saharan Africa. As a neurologist, she has investigated the neurologic conditions presenting to a large rural Zambian hospital. Epilepsy and other seizure disorders constitute a major health problem in this region and ongoing investigations via population-based surveys and case-control studies are being conducted to determine the prevalence of epilepsy in this region and to explore why epilepsy is so common.   Dr. Birbeck leads an NIH-funded study of Epilepsy-Associated Stigma in Zambia (EASZ). The EASZ Study will utilize surveys of key social groups in Zambia as well as focus groups and structured interviews of people with epilepsy and ethnographic study of traditional healers (ng'anga) to better understand the social and economic impact of epilepsy-associated stigma in Zambia. The EASZ Study team includes several faculty from the University of Zambia (UNZA): Professor Alan Haworth, Professor E.W. Chomba; Dr. Kennedy Lishimpi, Professor Marsharip Atadzanhov, and Dr. ASC Mushingeh. This work is a collaborative effort with the Epilepsy Association of Zambia. In Malawi, Dr. Birbeck is the Principal Investigator for the Blantyre Malaria Project Epilepsy Study (BMPES). This longitudinal exposure-control study of childhood severe malaria survivors hopes to ask the question--"Is cerebral malaria a risk factor for epilepsy?" Dr. Birbeck is also the principal investigator for the Rural ART Adherence in Zambia Study (RAAZ) funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Fund through their program in Operational Research for AIDS Care and Treatment in Africa (ORACTA). More than 20 years into the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) are finally becoming available to the general public. The initial roll out of ARTs occurred primarily at urban healthcare facilities, usually large teaching hospitals. However, a third to a half of the people living with AIDS in SSA reside in rural regions too distant from the cities to access AIDS-related care there. Now, ARTs are slowly becoming available through clinics located in rural regions of Zambia. In the past 12 months, clinics such as Muka Buumi Clinic (translated “Mother of Life”) at Chikankata Hospital in the rural Southern Province of Zambia, have begun to tackle the somewhat awesome task of trying to provide ARTs to HIV-infected individuals within their catchment area. The social, economic, and cultural environment of rural regions of Africa differ greatly from the urban centers and therefore, the determinents of drug adherence may be To begin to explore patient and organizational-level determinants of ART adherence among patients attending rural clinics in Zambia, we propose to study these factors at 3 rural ART Clinics in Mazabuka. These clinics are associated with Chikankata Health Services, Monze Mission Hospital, and Zambia Sugar’s Nakambala Medical Clinic.

James C. (Jim) Anthony, M.Sc., Ph.D
Professor & Chair of Epidemiology
Department of Epidemiology
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Professor Anthony’s current research interests include: epidemiologic field research on psychoactive medicines, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, and associated hazards; clinical and community epidemiologic research on disturbances of intellectual functioning, depressive illnesses, and emotional distress in general; methods research on case ascertainment tools and other measures for use in drug epidemiology and mental disorders epidemiology. He has received numerous awards including in 2001-2005, he was Elected Chairman, World Psychiatric Association Section on Epidemiology and Public Health, and also in 1995-1995, Branch Chief, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research, Etiology. He currently is working on the NIH Fogarty International Center & NIDA:ICHORTA (D43) Award for Research Training & Research Networking on Drug Dependence Epidemiology.

Adrian J. Blow, Ph.D., LMFT
Assistant Professor
Department of Family & Child Ecology
College of Social Science
Michigan State University

Adrian J. Blow, Ph.D., LMFT earned a doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy from Purdue University in 1999. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor. Dr. Blow has just joined the faculty of Michigan State University’s Department of Family and Child Ecology after holding an academic position at Saint Louis University for six years. At Saint Louis, Dr. Blow served as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy. His research interests focus on couple and family therapy interventions to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. He is in the process of establishing research collaborations in South Africa to study this topic. He was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Have traveled to diverse countries and cultures such as Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, United Kingdom, Russia, and the USA.

Michael Boivin, Ph.D., MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Michael J. Boivin received a Masters in Public Health (MPH) (On Job/On Campus program in Public Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1992 – 1994. His academic positions include; Fulbright Scholar, Senior Research Award in Institute Pedagogique Nationale, Kinshasa, Zaire, Africa September 1, 1990 - August 15, 1991, in 1995 he was a Visiting Professor, Laos working at the Maternal and Child Health Institute, University of Health Sciences, Vientiane, Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic ; West African Research Association (WARA) Research Fellow, Senegal, 1997;Fulbright Researcher, Dept. of Paediatrics Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda August, 2003-August-2004 for Fulbright research sabbatical year. In May 2006 he joined the faculty at Michigan State University as an Associate Professor in Neurology and Psychiatry, INPEP. His grants include; John, C. C. (Principal Investigator), Boivin, M.J. (Co-Investigator), Idro, R. (Co-PI), Byarugaba, J. (Co Investigator) (2003, September to 2005, September). Neurological and Neuropsychological Sequelae of Cerebral Malaria. NIH Fogarty R21 award (Grant TW06794-01) for Brain Injury Across the Lifespan in the Developing World. Two year grant at $100,000 a year, bridge funding for year 3. He was the on-site director of the project for year one of the grant as well as co-investigator (20% time) for the neuropsychological assessment portion of the study for both years of the project, Boivin, M.J., Opoka, O., John, C. C., & Byarugaba, J., (2004, April to 2005, April). Neurological and Neuropsychological Sequelae of Cerebral Malaria. Grant awarded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Makerere University Medical School/Mulago Hospital Program for the Development of Medical Research, $4000 for one year. He is the co-investigator on this award supervising the neuropsychological assessment component of the project in evaluating the neuropsychological impact of cerebral malaria on children ages 4 to 12 years at Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda, Byarugaba, J., John, C., & Boivin, M.J., (October, 2004). Multilateral Initiatives on Malaria (MIMCOM) Internet Access Award. Grant for approximately $20,000 for installing computer upgrades, server, and broad-band internet access for Severe Malaria Research Center at Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) NIMH Special Workgroup for the Neurological and Neuropsychological Assessment of Pediatric Adults in response to ARV Treatment in Africa. Blantyre, Malawi, June 11-13, 2004. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) NIMH Special Work Group on the neurodevelopmental protocol for the International Pediatric HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Initiative. Bethesda, Maryland, June 20, 2003. He was a Fulbright Reviewer (three-year term: 2005 - 2007) work includes; Council for the International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) Africa Programs Division through the U.S. State Department. One of five committee members responsible for the peer review of U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program applications for the African Regional Research Program and East Africa, responsible for reviewing the research applications to all Sub-Saharan African countries and the lecturing/research applications to East Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Tanzania and Uganda). April, 2003: Fulbright African Regional Research Award recipient for the study of the neuropsychological effects of early cerebral malaria in children; Makerere University/Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. November, 2001: Fulbright Award nomination, Teaching/Research position in Developmental Neuropsychology, Bar Ilan University, Israel (Fulbright Scholar Program 2002-2003 Award #2383). November, 1999: Fulbright Award nomination, Teaching/Research position in health psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway (Fulbright Scholar Program 2000-2001 Award # #0533). March, 1997: WARA Research Fellowship ($7500), Summer Research Program. Awarded by West African Research Association (WARA) (Office at Howard University, Washington, DC) and funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office for International Studies. Affiliation for research project with West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, Senegal, and Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar. December, 1994: Fulbright Award nomination, Teaching/Research position in psychology at the University of Ghana, Legon (1995-96 Award Code #5253). April, 1990: Selected for a Fulbright Senior Research Award to Zaire, Africa. Council for the International Exchange of Scholars and the United States Information Agency (USIA) Washington, DC. ($35,000 award plus travel and $2500 allowance for dependents).

Hui Cheng, M.D.
Pre-Doctoral Epidemiology Student
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Hui received a Bachelor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in Preventative Medicine from Peking University Health Science Center in Beijing, China. She also holds a Master of Medical Science degree in Social Medicine from the School of Public Health at Peking University in Beijing, China. She is currently a Pre-Doctoral student studying Epidemiology at the Michigan State Department of Epidemiology. Hui wrote her undergraduate thesis on The Case-control Study of Parental Raring Behavior and Personality Dysfunction in High School Students in Beijing. Her Review was the Related Study of the Relationship of Parental Raring Behavior and Personality Dysfunction in Adolescence.

Hui’s current work involves the World Mental Health Survey on Alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. She is particularly interested in international comparisons in gender difference in non-dependence alcohol abuse and clinical presentation in each country with available data. See http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/index.php

Michael J. Potchen, M.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Radiology
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Dr. Potchen’s research interest include utilizing advanced imaging technology, such as MRI to better understand tropical conditions that impact large populations of individuals in regions where such technology has not generally been available. He is presently engaged in a Malawi-based cerebral malaria study. Malaria continues to be a significant disease entity throughout the world with 2.7 million deaths attributed to it each year.  Cerebral malaria accounts for 50% of under-5’s mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.  Approximately 70-90% of childhood cerebral malaria victims survive, and many of these children suffer from neurological sequelae, including cognitive deficits, behavioral problems, and epilepsy.  Despite the huge global burden of malaria, we know little about the process of brain injury that occurs in survivors. Understanding neurologic injury in survivors requires neuroimaging with MRI. Attempts to image cerebral malaria have been extremely limited. The dearth of imaging information in childhood cerebral malaria is largely due to the lack of MRI facilities in malaria endemic regions. In 2007, General Electric Health Systems will complete the installation of a donated MRI unit for use within MSU’s Blantyre-based malaria research program.  The availability of MRI technology in Blantyre will open up new areas of evaluation and understanding of childhood cerebral malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.  Dr. Potchen is utilizing MSU’s 3T research MRI to image autopsy brain sections from children who died of cerebral malaria on the research ward over the past several years. This work will allow malaria researchers to gain insight into how the pathological findings of cerebral malaria can be expected to appear among living children on MRI once the MRI scanner is functioning in Malawi.  Future studies may include MRI evaluations in patients with spinal schistosomiasis, CNS onchocerciasis, and HIV-related disorders within Malawi. In addition to his international research interests, Dr. Potchen is director of MSU’s functional MRI program. He is one of a team of researchers in the Department of Radiology who oversees the utilization of this technology. MSU has a wide range of active functional imaging research projects. Dr. Potchen coordinates MSU's monthly functional imaging conference, which hosts outside speakers throughout the year. He also serves as a collaborator for ongoing NIH-funded studies of depression and altered pain perception.

Mohammad Hossein Rahbar, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Epidemiology
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Dr. Rahbar is the director of MSU Clinical Epidemiology Research & Training Center (CERTC), which is the eighth training and research center in the Canadian - USA Clinical Epidemiology Network (Can-USA-CLEN). He serves as the biostatistician on a phase I clinical trial of Thyroid in premature infants, a multicenter international research project funded by the NIH. He studies international heath focusing on maternal and child health and assessment of environmental exposures on children's health. His memberships include International Clinical Epidemiology Network , Iranian Statistical Society , and Islamic Society of Statistical Sciences . His faculty positions include; 1999-2001, Professor, Aga Khan University, Community Health Sciences, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 2003-pres., Executive Committee Member, Canada-USA Clinical Epidemiology Network (Can USA-CLEN), and International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN). His projects include NIH/Fogarty Reproductive Health grant, jointly between University of Alabama-Birmingham and department of CHS, AKU, Statistician: Capacity building in Reproductive Health Research in Pakistan as the leading public health priority in the country, $1.6 million over 5, from 2001 to 2006 . AKU Research Council, Co-Investigator: Development of improved complementary feeding practices and foods in Pakistan: a baseline survey of care and feeding practices and their determinants, $9,819, from 2000 to 2000 AKU Research Council, Co-Investigator: The effect of counseling on level of Anxiety and Depression in poor urban women, Karachi, Pakistan, $18,642, from 2000 to 2000. AKU Research Council, Co-Investigator: Determinants of periodontal disease among adults population of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan, $2,120, from 2000 to 2000. AKU Research Council, Co-Investigator: Risk factors for non-fatal Myocardial Infarction in young male adults (15-40 years) in Karachi: A Case-Control study, $3,500, from 2000 to 2000. AKU Research Council, Co-Investigator: Risk factors for neonatal tetanus in Karachi: A Case-Control study, $3,404, from 2000 to 2000. Population Council New York, Co-Investigator: Traditional Postpartum Practices, Perceived Postpartum Morbidity and Health Seeking Behavior: A community-based study in Karachi, Pakistan, $11,677, from 2000 to 2000. International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN), Principle Investigator: Capacity building in clinical epidemiology at the Aga Khan University, $9,886, from 2000 to 2000. WHO, Principle Investigator: Lead levels and sources of lead among the children living near Karachi, $15,000, from 1998 to 1998. Aga Khan University , Co-Investigator: Risk factors for intra-familial transmission of hepatitis C virus, $9,000, from 1998 to 1998. Karachi Reproductive Health Project, Co-Investigator: Assessment of the Karachi reproductive Health Project's Program Effectiveness in improving female Sexual Health, $65,000, from 1997 to 1997.

Michelle C. Powell
Medical Student
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Michigan State University

Michelle has worked as a Research Assistant, Michigan State University, International Neurologic & Psychiatric Epidemiology Program from October 2004-ongoing. Assisting with selection and design of data collection instruments and preparation of training facilitators for Dr. Gretchen Birbeck’s grant entitled, “Rural ART Adherence in Zambia Study.” Will collaborate with Zambian researchers on methodological concerns during site visits in Southern Province, Zambia in August 2006. Research Assistant, Michigan State University, International Neurologic & Psychiatric Epidemiology Program, August 2005 in which she facilitated training of interviewers and assisted in enrollment launch for Epilepsy Associated Stigma in Zambia, Socioeconomic Status survey at Chikankata Salvation Army Hospital in Mazabuka, Zambia and Chainama College of Health Sciences, Lusaka, Zambia. In her Masters Research, Michigan State University and University of Zambia, May- Aug 2002 and 2003-2004 Prevalence and Assessment of Cognitive Impairment among Zambian HIV/AIDS patients. Dr. Gretchen Birbeck, Michigan State University, Department of Epidemiology and Dr. Alan Haworth, University of Zambia, Department of Psychiatry. She was a Volunteer, Our Lady’s Hospice, Kalingalinga, Lusaka, Zambia, 2003-2004 and August 2005.Assisted caregivers with patient care including bathing, feeding, medication taking, cleaning wounds, phlebotomy. Assisted with medication distribution. Three days/week traveled with home-based care team into community to identify new patients and follow-up existing patients. Also attended rounds with physicians and clinical officers . She was a student Observer, University Teaching Hospital and Chainama College of Health Sciences, Lusaka, Zambia, 2002. Observed in local health clinics and inpatient wards including general medicine, tuberculosis, psychiatric, neurology and pediatric clinics. Attended grand rounds presentations. She also worked at Chainama College of Health Sciences, Lusaka, Zambia, 2002. She gave presentations on HIV-associated dementia and epidemiological methods including study design, study base, directionality, and community surveys, morbidity and mortality statistics, and measures of association in epidemiological studies

Terrie E. Taylor, D.O.
University Distinguished Professor
Internal Medicine
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Michigan State University

Since 1986, Professor Terrie Taylor (Osteopathic Medicine) has been working to better understand cerebral malaria and its severe effects on children. Every year, she works six months in the U.S. and six months in Africa, based at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. Funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been used to develop a network of clinical trial sites across Sub-Saharan Africa (in Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, Gabon, and the Gambia) to conduct trials of new anti-malarial treatments. With another grant from the NIH Fogarty International Center, Taylor, and colleagues from the University of Michigan have supported recent medical graduates of the University of Malawi College of Medicine to receive specialty training in pathology and doctoral training in epidemiology and public health. These trainees have now returned to their faculty positions in Malawi. Also, each year, twelve to twenty MSU medical students go to Malawi to do a clerkship program there. She has received the Glyn Williams Prize, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, 1986. She is an Honorary Lecturer, Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine 1986-present. In 2000 she received the Bailey K. Ashford Medal, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. From 1994 – 1998 she was the Chairperson, Task Force on the Clinical Development of Arteether, UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Medicine (TDR). She is a Member, on the Editorial Board, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene since 1996. She was a Councilor, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from 1997-2001. She was a member, Scientific Advisory Committee, Malaria Research & Reference Reagent Resource Center, American Type Culture Collection from 1998-2003. She is also a member of the Parasitic and Tropical Disease Expert Committee, U.S. Pharmacopoeia 2000-present. She completed a grant from NIH/NIAID on Clinicopathological Correlates of Cerebral Malaria. She was the Principal Investigator. The major goal of this project was to use the information revealed by autopsies to decrease the mortality rate of pediatric cerebral malaria. Based on results from the first phase of this study, the purpose is to establish the associations between clinical presentation, disease pathogenesis, and pathological findings in children dying of cerebral malaria and controls. Redefining Cerebral Malaria, The primary hypothesis is that the clinical case definition of cerebral malaria would be significantly improved by including the results of a bedside eye examination. This will be tested within the Severe Malaria in African Children (SMAC) Network, which includes five sites in East and West Africa. Clinicopathological Is Cerebral Malaria a Risk Factor for Epilepsy? This grant is examining whether febrile seizures lead to later onset epileptic seizures. Other grants include Severe Malaria in African Children: A Clinical Network, and Correlates of Cerebral Malaria.

Karl Seydel, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Michigan State University

Karl Seydel earned medical and doctorate degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1999, where he participated in their Medical Scientist Training Program. Dr. Seydel recently jointed the faculty of Michigan State University's Department of Internal Medicine after working for six years as a fellow at the National Institute of Health's Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research. Dr. Seydel holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.

Dr. Seydel is interested in the clinical heterogeneity of malarial disease. While some children present with life threatening symptoms with a relatively low parasite burden, others are completely asymptomatic with a large parasite burden. He is investigating whether differences in the levels of cytoadherence of parasitized erythrocytes to endothelial cells of the microvasculature can account for these differences in disease severity. Dr. Seydel splits his time between a laboratory in Blantyre, Malawi and one at Michigan State University.