YEREVAN, Armenia — On October 20-21, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian College of Health Sciences (TCHS) hosted the third annual meeting of the “Armenia-U.S. Collaboration to Address Chronic Disease via Education in Social Determinants Science” (ACCESS) project, in partnership with the George Washington University (GWU) Milken Institute School of Public Health. Dr. Carla Berg, professor in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health and associate center director for Population Sciences and Policy within the George Washington Cancer Center, delivered the opening remarks and greeted 19 Fogarty Fellows and AUA and GWU faculty members.
ACCESS closely collaborates with AUA’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program. AUA and GWU faculty have developed a series of seminars and single-credit courses that are requisites for Fogarty Fellows and electives for other MPH students. This program builds upon TCHS’s ongoing collaborations with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Lena Nanushyan (MPH ’05), the first deputy minister of health, was the special guest at the event. She presented on “Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in Armenia: Achievements, Progress, and Future Directions” and suggested several priority areas for Armenia on which the MPH students could focus.
As part of the two-day event, GWU faculty conducted two seminars open to AUA and the public health community. Dr. Nino Paichadze, associate research professor in the Department of Global Health, presented on noncommunicable disease risk factors and exposure to commercial practices to market unhealthy commodities in Bamako, Mali. She has been managing a training and capacity development program in Mali funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center.
Dr. Paul Ndebele, professorial lecturer in the Department of Global Health, assistant director of the Office of Research Excellence, and a member of the GWU Institutional Review Board, held a seminar on “The ethics of artificial intelligence in research: navigating emerging dilemmas.” Both topics sparked significant interest in the public health community and representatives of other units at AUA, including undergraduate students.
ACCESS is a five-year project supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center that builds on the long-standing relationship between TCHS and GWU, encompassing extensive collaboration and joint publications. The principal investigators are Dr. Carla Berg, Dr. Nino Paichadze, and Dr. Varduhi Petrosyan. The co-investigators are Dr. Tsovinar Harutyunyan, Dr. Anya Agopian, and Dr. Paul Ndebele. The MPH Fogarty Fellowship supported by ACCESS is open to Armenian citizens holding a medical degree (M.D.), dentistry degree (D.D.S. or D.M.D.), or doctorate in related sciences, who has been admitted to the TCHS MPH program. The target demographic is mid-career professionals working in health organizations or clinics with a desire to strengthen their research skills and devote their careers to making an impact in the area of social determinants of non-communicable diseases. As of the Fall 2025 semester, TCHS has welcomed three cohorts of 19 Fellows, with the objective of hosting about 25 Fellows throughout the five years of the project.
The AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian College of Health Sciences works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of health professionals to be leaders in public health, nursing, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
