Center for Global Health announces fall 2025 travel grant recipients

Today, the MUSC Center for Global Health announced the fall 2025 recipients of its student and trainee Global Health travel grant awards. 

Ten MUSC students or trainees representing three MUSC Colleges were honored with the $2,000 grants, which will provide support for international travel to low- and middle-income countries. The goal of each award is to assist recipients in furthering their global health service learning and training in communities abroad. Awarded projects can be research, service-learning, or educational in nature.

Annually, the center provides up to 20 grants spanning two separate application cycles during the academic year to support the individuals in their global health training and practice.

This year’s student and trainee global health travel grant awardees include:

Inés Cano González, Ph.D.

• College of Medicine, Psychiatry, Postdoctoral Scholar Fellow
• Project title: Improving Data Capacity and Analysis at Fundación Los Pisingos in Colombia
• Location: Bogotá, Colombia
• Project description: While at Fundación Los Pisingos, an organization that provides a safe space and education for children, adolescents and families affected by violence and/or poverty in Colombia, González will seek to achieve three objectives during the project: build staff skills in properly organizing and managing data; training team members in applying statistical methods to support program evaluation; and strengthening staff capacity in translating analyses into meaningful results that communicate results effectively to amplify the impact of its services.

Michaela Close, M.D.

• College of Medicine, Chief Resident, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery
• Project title: Global Smile Foundation Outreach in El Salvador
• Location: San Salvador, El Salvador
• Project description: Close is traveling to San Salvador in support of the Global Smile Foundation to participate in multidisciplinary cleft lip and palate surgical procedures, while also assisting with pre- and postoperative patient evaluations, follow-up visits and more. Working in concert with on-site clinical supervisors, she will collaboratively evaluate patients, develop comprehensive treatment plans and while providing surgical and non-surgical patient care.

Katie Dace

• College of Health Professions, Occupational Therapy
• Project title: Developing Culturally Tailored Resources on Preeclampsia for Bolivian Expectant Mothers
• Location: La Paz, Bolivia
• Project description: As part of a 10-week immersive capstone project, Dace’s experience will focus on women’s health, specifically preeclampsia and maternal health. She will observe how Bolivian systems function in maternal care, identify gaps in access to such health care at various levels, analyze public policies that address sexual and reproductive health. Additionally, she will design and validate education materials for female health service users focused on occupational therapy and participate in female health promotion activities.

Lolwa Fetyani

• College of Pharmacy
• Project title: A Global Pharmacy Practice Experience: Integrating Learning and Service at Masindi-Kitara Hospital in Uganda
• Location: Masindi, Uganda
• Project description: As part of an advanced pharmacy practice experience at Masindi-Kitara Hospital, Fetyani, an international student from Saudi Arabia, will support inpatient and outpatient clinical services including participating in daily rounds, assisting with medication reconciliation, contributing to patient education, and collaborating in clinics focused on primary care, urgent care, HIV treatment, antenatal services and vaccination programs. The rotation will allow Fetyani to integrate academic learning with meaningful service, deepen clinical competencies and strengthen cultural humility.

Amelia Hilton

• College of Medicine
• Project title: Palliative Care Acceptance and Resistance at Soddo Christian Hospital
• Location: Soddo, Ethiopia
• Project description: During a four-week rotation at Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia, Hilton will contribute to a hospital-wide quality improvement project focused on strengthening palliative care services, including helping design and implement a survey-based study to evaluate staff and patient perceptions of palliative care and identify the cultural, educational, and systemic barriers limiting referrals to the newly established program.

Emma Kunkleman, D.O.

• College of Medicine, Pediatrics Resident
• Project title: Primary Care in Puerto Escondido, Mexico
• Location: Puerto Escondido, Mexico
• Project description: During this four-week clinical and cultural immersion program in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Kunkleman will experience Mexico’s public primary care system through supervised rotations in Centros de Salud, the government-run clinics that anchor community-based healthcare. Working alongside local physicians and health professionals across pediatrics, OB/GYN, emergency medicine, and preventive care, she will gain insight into primary care delivery in low-resource settings and how social, economic, and cultural factors shape access to essential services.

Elizabeth Peacock

• College of Medicine
• Project title: Investigating the Association Between Echinococcal Infections and Infertility in Soddo, Ethiopia
• Location: Soddo, Ethiopia
• Project description: During the rotation at Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia, Peacock will conduct a supervised research project examining the relationship between echinococcal infection and infertility—a previously unstudied association with early data suggesting notably elevated infertility rates among affected women. Additionally, she will participate in project design, data collection, and analysis while also engaging in clinical rotations across OB/GYN, general surgery, orthopedics, and pediatrics.

Claudia Satzke

• College of Medicine
• Project title: Five Year Review of Gynecologic Laparoscopy at Soddo Christian Hospital
• Location: Soddo, Ethiopia
• Project description: While at Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia, Satzke will conduct a five-year review of gynecologic laparoscopy to assess outcomes and the feasibility of advanced minimally invasive surgery in a low-resource setting. Additionally, she will gather and analyze data, identify trends, and later present the findings in a scholarly poster at MUSC.

Beverly Spinks

• College of Health Professions, Occupational Therapy
• Project title: Advancing Pediatric Occupational Therapy & Functional Independence in Underserved Communities of Belize City
• Location: Belize City, Belize
• Project description: Spinks will take part in a pediatric occupational therapy service-learning trip to Belize City through Therapy Volunteers, working alongside American clinicians and local partners to deliver cost-free therapy services to school-aged children in underserved communities. During this experience, she will support outpatient and school-based sessions, assist with screenings and evaluations, contribute to therapeutic and educational activities and help promote children’s participation and developmental growth.

Leah Tichy

• College of Medicine
• Project title: Pediatric Preventative Medicine in Bolivia
• Location: La Paz, Bolivia
• Project description: Tichy will complete a four-week public health practicum in La Paz focusing on pediatric preventive medicine and the structure of Bolivia’s healthcare system. During this experience, she will rotate through hospitals, clinics, and community organizations—including pediatric, women, and adolescent health centers—while observing clinicians, attending lectures, and participating in public health placements. Further, she will conduct research that will generate meaningful data for the host institution and MUSC that aim to analyze the social determinants shaping child health outcomes in Bolivia, compare preventive pediatric practices between Bolivia and the U.S., observe community use of preventive services, evaluate barriers to effective care, and deepen understanding of healthcare delivery within a universal health system.

Interested applicants were required to submit a cover page, project proposal, personal essay, program budget, letters of support and resume. Awardees must use the funds within the next 12 months.

In addition to the funds provided to support their travels, students and trainee grant recipients also have access to free resources from the University’s travel, health and security assistance provider, International SOS, as do all individuals traveling abroad while representing MUSC. The company offers 24/7 access to medical and travel assistance, emotional and mental health support and security advice while abroad. Students and trainees are required to comply with the MUSC international travel policy, including requesting review and approval via the University’s travel registry.