McMaster University Formalizes Partnership with Guyana

The McMaster University Global Health program and the Faculty of Health Sciences recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Doobay Medical Research Centre in Guyana. Dr. Paul O’Byrne and Dr. Budendranath Doobay signed this agreement formalizing existing collaborations on November 20, 2023 and were joined by clinicians and researchers who are already working in Guyana. This MOU describes the educational, research and humanitarian collaborations between the institutions, and builds upon many other existing collaborations between McMaster Faculty and Hamilton Hospitals including the St. Joseph’s Health System International Outreach Program.

Following this, Dr. Sonia Anand, Associate Vice-President of Global Health (Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University) travelled with Dr. Doobay to Georgetownm Guyana to meet with and describe the MOU with Board Members of the Doobay Centre on November 30^th 2023. During this visit, they had additional meetings with future research partners from Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Government officials, and local industries to discuss future projects. Researchers also completed follow-up visits from an ongoing implementation project of cardiovascular risk screening and treatment. “This is an important and timely collaboration,” says Dr. Anand. “The higher rates of high blood pressure—which affects upwards of 40% of the population in Guyana—and type 2 diabetes can be identified and managed with coordinated and widespread screening. Management includes not only medication, but also lifestyle changes. This partnership formalizes work we have already been doing, and we hope it will contribute to more extensive collaborations in the future.”

See more here by watching a short local media piece produced by News Room Guyana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34dgxSeJulU.