It’s been a whirlwind of excitement and educational opportunities for six public health scholars visiting Ohio University from Egypt this summer.

The College of Health Sciences and Professions, the Global Health Initiative (GHI), the Office of Global Affairs and the Ohio Program for Intensive English welcome Shaimaa Abdelrehim Khalaf, Noha Osama Ahmed Adel, Rasha Mohammed Farghaly, Mariam Hassan Abdelmoneam, Hoda Ibrahim Ibrahim and Tayser Bauomei Fahmei. These six women are Egyptian Junior Scholars through the Fulbright Junior Faculty Development Program and each are from different educational institutions in Egypt. They are currently in the midst of a 10-week stay in the United States, having arrived in mid-July. More than 50 faculty and staff of the University along with community members are contributing to the program with mentors from CHSP and the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“I hope that they all will establish long-term research collaborations with us,” said Gillian Ice, director of GHI. “We saw this as an opportunity to not only increase their research capacity but also to increase our own in global health. Hopefully some of the mentors and some of the faculty will have projects that we can work with them on in Egypt that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.”

During their stay, the scholars will learn foundational knowledge of the United States higher education, academic administration and leadership system. A focus will also be placed on sharing knowledge of curriculum and strategies for student engagement and establishing collaborations.

In addition to learning about the culture and community of Athens, the scholars plan to visit Columbus, Ohio, Washington, D.C. and the group hopes to find time to visit New York City.

The six scholars were chosen from more than 300 applicants and Ohio University faced significant competition to host the program as only one public health program was awarded. Ice has hopes that the program will able to be repeated on an annual basis.