Global Advisory Board members convened at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education in India

In conjunction with the Global Learning Symposium, the international Advisory Board of the Global Health program convened at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in Manipal, India from April 14-16, 2023.

Welcomed by the Lieutenant General Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor of MAHE, he addressed the current challenges of our time and expressed that the focus of global health has become ever more important at the national, regional, and local level.

Platforms to share knowledge such as the engagement of the Global Health Advisory Board offer perspective, a transdisciplinary look at key global challenges, and the opportunity for ongoing dialogue to ensure students are provided with an equitable and transformative learning experience.

The Global Health Advisory Board (GAB) is comprised of professionals with diverse backgrounds in the private sector, NGOs, and health-care consultancies, and the board oversees the consortium of seven partnership universities. With Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of The Netherlands as Honorary Chair, the Board includes Dr. Thijs Teeling as Chair of the Advisory Board (Netherlands), Dr. Luis Barreto (Canada), Mary Heersink (USA), Dr. Priscilla Reddy (South Africa), Jeff Mainland (Canada), and Elizabeth Witmer (Canada).

The board members were joined by academic delegates from the partnership universities including McMaster University (Canada), Maastricht University (The Netherlands), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (India), Thammasat University (Thailand), Ahfad University for Women (Sudan), University of South-Eastern Norway (Norway), and the Universidad del Rosario (Colombia).

With the guidance and stewardship of the Board, and the oversight by the Princess Margriet of The Netherlands, the GAB has shepherded the evolution of the model for the internationalization of higher education. There is not only an increased and continued opportunity for international student mobility and online exchange of student research, but the newest configuration of an in-person Global Health symposium in addition an online symposium, addresses concerns of equity and inclusion in ways that accommodate global concerns.

The symposium is driven by educational innovation and uses multiple modalities such as learning pods, cluster interaction, and transcontinental faculty. This year the GAB was able to catch a glimpse of students working together on international teams and engaging with peers and faculty from across partnership universities.