During 1998 research activities included design and testing of a mental health assessment instrument in Angola, development of qualitative survey methods for NGOs serving populations in the transition from crisis situations, assessment of famine in North Korea, design of methodology to address needs of refugee-affected host populations, investigating causes of death among relief workers, and a methodology to assess injuries from land mines. The Center offers a Certificate in Humanitarian Assistance to students enrolled in graduate public health studies. The Center coordinates the teaching of courses including those on refugee health, public health issues in disasters, water and sanitation in complex emergencies, international political science, and stress management for relief workers. The Center strives to be an internationally-recognized center of excellence for research, training and clinical practice. The Center involves faculty from six departments in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine, with a research portfolio that is broad and interdisciplinary.
Major strengths are in molecular biology, epidemiology, clinical trials, and drug development.
Additional areas of emphasis are animal models, pathogenesis, vaccine development, behavioral research, immunology and diagnostics. Research is facilitated through collaboration across disciplines, sharing of resources, and information dissemination through seminars. The Center utilizes the laboratory facilities of the School of Hygiene, School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The flagship clinical research site is the Baltimore City Health Department Eastern Chest Clinic, which supports clinical and epidemiological trials as well as clinical and public health training. The major educational program related to the Center is the Fogarty TB International Research and Training Program, which focuses on training and research opportunities in India, South Africa and Peru.