Reading: Anti-Colonialism in Global Health Grant Applications: A Single-Site, Participant- Observatio...

Download

A- A+
Alt. Display

Published Abstracts

Anti-Colonialism in Global Health Grant Applications: A Single-Site, Participant- Observation-Based Assessment

Authors:

Terence M. Hughes ,

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US
About Terence M.

BA

X close

Bibhav Acharya,

Possible Health, New York, NY 10005; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, US
About Bibhav

MD

X close

Nandini Choudhury,

Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029; Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Nandini

MPH

X close

Biraj Karmacharya,

Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel 45200, NP
About Biraj

PhD, MPH, MSc

X close

Kim Lipman-White,

Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029; Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Kim

MSc

X close

Pranil Pradhan,

Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, NP
About Pranil

MD, MBBS

X close

Anant Raut,

Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029; Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Anant

MS

X close

Pragya Rimal,

Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Pragya

MA

X close

Sabitri Sapkota,

Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029; Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Sabitri

PhD, MPH

X close

Aradhana Thapa,

Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Aradhana

MPH

X close

Karen Wilson,

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, US
About Karen

MD, MPH

X close

Duncan Maru

Arnhold Institute for Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029; Possible Health, New York, NY 10005, US
About Duncan

MD, PhD

X close

Abstract

Background/Rationale: Anti-colonialism in global health aims to eliminate colonial power imbalances inherent in Western scholar-driven work. Central to anti-colonial global health are more equitable grant application processes, particularly within NIH’s Fogarty International Center (FIC), a global arm of the largest public biomedical research funder.

Hypothesis or Research Question: How do NIH grant application processes drive/impede efforts to conduct anti-colonial global health research? Study Design/Methods: While interning at a nonprofit focused on one South Asian country, I employed participant-observation approach working on two NIH grant applications. Participant-observation included participating in literature reviews, application writing, team meetings, and reflections, and observing team structure and meeting flow. Nonprofit identity, application contents, and country of study are anonymized to protect confidentiality.

Results: All meetings were conducted in English. The team defined application success as being awarded NIH funding. Team leaders demonstrated familiarity with NIH, either through receipt of prior funding, or past selection committee membership. I observed team leaders leverage these experiences to highlight factors believed to increase our likelihood for success. Team leaders focused on curating the application team before finalizing grant content, and sought team members satisfying two forms of expertise: subject-matter and geospatial-context. Observing individual roles and contributions, I determined that subject-matter expertise was typically filled by widely-cited scholars affiliated with US-based institutions with previous NIH funding; geospatial-context expertise was typically filled by scholars from the country of study, familiar with on-the-ground realities.

Conclusions/Future Plans: Based on this single-site participant-observation study, NIH FIC grant processes simultaneously drive and impede anti-colonial efforts in funding applications. Prioritizing geospatial-context expertise serves as an anti-colonial force by strengthening cultural competence and increasing LMIC-based-scholar representation. Observed barriers to even broader LMIC-based-scholar representation include language and use of prior NIH funding receipt and publication count as proxies for subject-matter expertise.

How to Cite: Hughes, T.M., Acharya, B., Choudhury, N., Karmacharya, B., Lipman-White, K., Pradhan, P., Raut, A., Rimal, P., Sapkota, S., Thapa, A., Wilson, K. and Maru, D., 2021. Anti-Colonialism in Global Health Grant Applications: A Single-Site, Participant- Observation-Based Assessment. ISMMS Journal of Science and Medicine, 1(2), p.5. DOI: http://doi.org/10.29024/ijsm.51
105
Views
14
Downloads
  Published on 12 May 2021
 Accepted on 14 Apr 2021            Submitted on 14 Apr 2021

Competing Interests

BA and DM are co-founders and advisors of the anonymized nonprofit organization discussed in this publication. NC and AR serve as advisors to the organization discussed. KLW, PR, SS and AT are employees of the organization discussed. TMH interned at the organization discussed, and received research funding from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Student Research Office.

comments powered by Disqus