Conducting research within the Global & Community Health program is exciting and dynamic. The campus as a whole has made this initiative a priority and has invested in a series of new faculty hires which will allow for expansion of expertise clusters. These areas include:
- Health of migrant communities
- Food and social security amid environmental and economic insecurity
- Developing treatments and mitigation strategies for untreated diseases
Our values guide us
Beyond our shared research interests, what brings our faculty and students together is a concern with social justice and health. We investigate how pathologies of power become embodied in illness, and, reciprocally, we are committed to building partnerships to help mitigate health problems and meet urgent needs. This includes addressing neglected diseases in vulnerable communities locally as well as globally. In these ways, we join the inspiration of Paul Farmer’s work on the ‘Mountains Beyond Mountains’ struggles for global health with concern for the ‘Valleys Beyond Valleys’ of health inequalities in California. From the wealth and technological innovations of Silicon Valley to the poverty and social struggles that continue in California’s Pajaro Valley and Central Valley, our research and teaching work will facilitate bridge-building between communities and new generations of researchers and students; thereby linking biomedical and social transformation at the community level, we seek to help make ‘global health’ a reality for all.