Bethany Hedt-Gauthier Receives Cugh Velji Award

Congratulations to Dr. Bethany Hedt-Gauthier who recently received the Velji Global Health Education Award at the 10th annual Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Conference. The Velji Family Foundation celebrates global health education, research and service by honoring individuals and projects that demonstrate committed, creative approaches to serving underserved populations.

Bethany currently leads research related to provision of cesarean sections and outcomes at rural district hospitals in Rwanda. Her work spans multiple countries, with extended residencies in Namibia, Malawi and Rwanda. Education has always been core to her work, starting in the US Peace Corps as a high school math teacher in northern Namibia and continuing today as a course instructor and mentor to clinical researchers and university students from around the world. Since 2012, Bethany has led a comprehensive research capacity building program at Partners In Health/Rwanda and has held faculty positions at the University of Rwanda and the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda. As part of her focus on global health research equity, she has begun to agitate for US-based universities to review and alter their promotion criteria, including valuing a faculty’s participation in global health education activities, to advance fair partnerships. Bethany is currently an Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Harvard Chan School.