Events Calendar

Current Events:

July 2012
XIX International AIDS Conference, July 22-27, Washington, D.C. United States

Past Events:

February 2012
Hepatitis C: Treatment and Care in Kazakhstan Training, February 7-9, 2012, Almaty, Kazakhstan.  

Medicine, Magic, and the Conservation of Cultures: The Roof of the World Rediscovered. Second Annual Conference, GHRCCA Culture, Religion, and Communication Unit. The Yaghnobi community in Tajikistan and their rituals for healing, protection, and the celebration of life, February 3, 2012, CU School of Social Work. 

December 2011

To Create an Art Market:  State, NGOs, and Artists in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan
Presented by Dr. Zhanara Nauruzbayeva, Post Doctoral Research Scholar, Columbia University Harriman Institute. Event was held at the CU School of Social Work.  

September 2011

Training: Developing and Refining Social Work Values, Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviors
The Institute for Health Care Development funded this five-day training in Astana, Kazakhstan. GHRCCA collaborators and Professors, Ellen Lukens (CUSSW) and Helle Thorning, conducted the workshop for professionals in social work practice. The training was held in Astana from September 26-30, 2011.

Training: Interpersonal Communication Skills for HIV Counseling and Testing  
This training, funded by the Quality Health Care Project Central Asia (QHCP CA)/USAID, included six 2-day trainings with 25-30 medical providers in 6 cities in 3 countries (Tajikistan, Kyrgzystan, and Kazakhstan). The training was conducted by GHRCCA Director of Training and Capacity Building Timothy Hunt.  

2011

Conference: Healing Paradigms and the Politics of Health in Central Asia
On Friday, April 08, 2011, GHRCCA had the pleasure to welcome Salmaan Keshavjee (Harvard University), Devin DeWeese (Indiana University), Danuta Penkala-Gawecka (Adam Mickiewicz University), Jeff Sahadeo (Carleton University), Alisher Latypov (University College London), Erica Johnson (University of North Carolina) and Erin Koch (University of Kentucky). Panelists discussed topics such as illness and marginalization, the division between Western and traditional medicine, and the use health care by different socioeconomic groups. For more details about the conference, click here.

2010

Kazakhstan's Refugee Crisis: Violence, Hunger and the Transformation of Broader Central Asia, 1930-1933 
November 30, 2010
1219 International Affairs Building

Sarah Cameron, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Yale University

Perceptions of Health and Disease in Central Asia 
Brown Bag Seminar Series Friday, November 5, 2010
1219 International Affairs Building, Columbia University                                                    
Paula A. Michaels, PhD, Associate Professor of Russian/Soviet history, University of Iowa

Dr. Michaels' research interests include Russian and Soviet Central Asian history as well as the history of medicine. She has published the book Curative Powers: Medicine and Empire in Stalin's Central Asia.

The Kazakh Quartet "Tlep"
Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 5.30pm
Jed D. Satow Conference Room, Lerner Hall, Columbia University                                
The Consulate General of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Columbia University's Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, and The Birch invited The Kobyz Quartet "Tlep" to play traditional Kazakh music. For more information, click here.

A Lingering Crusade: Developments in Global Policy on Illicit Drugs and Implications for Central Asia
September 30, 2010, Columbia University
Joanne Csete, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health. For more information, click here.

2009 

Intimate Partner Violence, Childhood Sexual Abuse and HIV/STI Risks among Women Engaged in Sex Work in Mongolia
November 5, 2009
Susan Witte, PhD, and Altantsetset Batsukh, MD, MSW, co-Pls on the Women's Wellness Project presented a paper at the American Center for Mongolian Studies. The presentation discussed their baseline findings on experiences of trauma and violence and its association with women’s risk-taking behavior. Specifically, their data from the first survey, which examined the prevalence of intimate partner violence and childhood sexual abuse among sex workers, was shown. The strength of the association between sexual risk behaviors, intimate partner violence and childhood sexual abuse suggested that there was a critical need for trauma-based support services for this population. For more information, click here. 

Presentation & Discussion of Findings from Women's Wellness Project
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Susan Witte, PhD (GHRCCA Staff), Marion Riedel, PhD (Faculty Affiliate), Aira Toivgoo, PhD (Project Director), and Altantsetseg Batsukh, MD, MSW (GHRCCA Staff) presented the findings of the Women's Wellness Project, a two year NIAAA-funded randomized clinical trial testing the efficacy of a gender-specific HIV intervention for women who are engaged in sex work and who have a history of alcohol abuse. The study is being implemented in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  Forty key stakeholders from diverse organizational settings participated in the presentation, including a formal discussion of findings, implications and next critical steps for future collaborative research on HIV/STI and alcohol abuse prevention in Mongolia.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia AIDS Conference 2009, Moscow
October 28-30, 2009
Nabila El-Bassel, PhD (Director), Louisa Gilbert, PhD (Co-Director) and Assel Terlikbayeva, MD, MS (Regional Director) from GHRCCA attended the third Eastern European and Central Asia AIDS Conference (EECAAC) in Moscow, Russia.  The conference provided an avenue to review the progress in achieving Universal Access by 2010 and to set priorities for the region with special emphasis on prevention among target groups, while taking into consideration peculiarities of the epidemic in each country. For more information, visit www.eecaac.org.

New Fogarty AITRP Initiative in Kazakhstan
October 2009, ongoing
International AIDS training expands as the John Hopkins School of Public Health, sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health launched a Fogarty AITRP (AIDS International Training & Research Program) initiative in Kazakhstan. Along with the GHRCCA and other affiliates, this international program provides developing country scientists the essential training and research support to conduct HIV and AIDS research and gives them an opportunity to extend research partnerships globally. Training workshops began in November 2009 in government clinics and research institute laboratories in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Research Science training for twenty health professionals in Kazakhstan
May 25-June 5, 2009
Twenty health professionals from Kazakhstan participated in the GHRCCA Research Science Training on biostatistics and epidemiology at the Almaty Institute of Public Health in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Faculty from Columbia University and other U.S. universities conducted the training, which was funded by the Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Health.