St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences awards degrees in global child health

The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences today awarded Global Child Health Master of Science degrees to nine students from eight countries. Ten international students who graduated from the Global Child Health program in 2021 also participated in the commencement ceremony. The event was held in the Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education on the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus.

The graduate school also held a convocation to welcome 26 students starting one of the three degree-granting programs, including a doctorate and a master’s degree in clinical investigation.

“The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was created to share the knowledge and information that researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are acquiring every single day,” said Stacey Schultz-Cherry, Ph.D., senior associate dean of the school.

The Global Child Health master’s degree is a two-year online program for health care professionals interested in global health and pediatrics. The program equips students with the perspective, knowledge, tools and skills to identify and implement changes to policy and health systems to improve treatment and care of children with cancers and other catastrophic illnesses.

“The Global Master’s in Child Health is another way of reaching promising students who can lead the charge in furthering the mission of eliminating catastrophic childhood diseases on a global scale,” Schultz-Cherry said.

Students in the Global Child Health program include physicians, nurses, laboratory scientists, administrators and advocates from 27 countries. The list includes Ukraine, Yemen, Nigeria, the Philippines, Mexico, India and Ethiopia.

“The need for health professionals to expand their perspective on medicine and health couldn’t be more relevant,” said Shaloo Puri, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of the Global Child Health program. She praised the resilience students showed during the past years of global turbulence. “We compared the last few years to a flight. You take off, and sometimes you must change your flight path and make adjustments in the air.

“Equipped with academic and experiential learning, these students work tirelessly as agents of change,” Puri said. “Their inspiring stories bolster our optimism for a hopeful future for children around the world.”

The Global Child Health graduates will continue to collaborate with St. Jude faculty and staff on Global Scholars Projects. These projects provide funding for students to put their learning into practice in the real world.