Research
Emerging and re-emerging plant, animal and human diseases are increasingly complex global problems and training the next generation of leaders to address these problems holistically for sustainable solutions is a desperate, global need. In the U.S., this need is particularly acute in Idaho and the northwest, a region that is adversely impacted by diseases in a landscape that is largely rural, ecologically diverse and geographically vast. The IHHE mission and vision are focused on these issues with both local and global perspectives.
Our model prepares our trainees and students with today’s knowledge and provides them with the skills to discover new knowledge and translate it for sustainable solutions to challenging threats to health in the human ecosystem. To this end, the IHHE seeks to nucleate collaborative and transdisciplinary thinking, networking and research, thereby supporting the development and submission of scholarly works and grants that support training and career development for faculty, postdoctoral scientists, graduate students and undergraduate students.
In support of research and intellectual development, the IHHE provides access to shared use facilities and equipment, opportunities to participate in large collaborative grant initiatives, an annual IHHE research symposium featuring an invited plenary speaker and submitted talks and posters prepared by trainees of IHHE member laboratories, financial support for IHHE-relevant symposia at national and international scientific meetings, scholarships for graduate students to present their research findings at scientific meetings, our annual international six-day “Biology of Vector-borne Diseases” course and our commitment to and facilitation of research/internship experiences for the new undergraduate major “Global Disease Ecology.” These efforts harmonize with our mission and vision across multiple scales in important feedback loops, from undergraduate education and research experiences to facilitating innovative research among our faculty members and affiliates.