Host: Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP

Guest: Michael Cappello, MD

Improving public health in the developing world depends on a number of factors, such as adequate financing, strong governmental and private support, and stable local infrastructures that include hospitals, laboratories, and health professionals. While funds allocated to tackle global diseases have risen in recent years, in many cases, local infrastructures have been neglected. What are the global implications of an imbalanced distribution of first-rate medicine? How can the local talent pool of health workers be encouraged to stay in their home countries and work to improve the health of people in their native lands?

Dr. Michael Cappello, professor of pediatrics, microbial pathogenesis, epidemiology and public health at the Yale School of Medicine, directs a Yale program, based in Ghana, that aims to build research capacity, strengthen academic infrastructure and create viable career opportunities for local scientists. He joins host Dr. Jennifer Shu to talk about efforts to keep home-grown research talent at home.