Dhaka, Bangladesh: Nidhi Kadakia, an emergency medicine instructor at the Yale Institute for Global Health, has been awarded the Fall 2024 Global Health Spark Award. The award, which provides up to $10,000 in seed funding, supports innovative initiatives in global health research.

Kadakia’s project centers on enhancing care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This community, comprising over 200,000 individuals, faces significant health challenges, including chronic respiratory illnesses, diabetes, hypertension, and malnutrition.

To achieve its goals, the study will rely on retrospective chart reviews and patient focus groups to examine treatment effectiveness, epidemiological trends, and barriers to care. Kadakia’s team, in collaboration with the nonprofit Health and Education for All (HAEFA), aims to address the pressing challenges associated with NCD management in this vulnerable population.

“This initiative seeks to identify key facilitators and obstacles in delivering effective NCD care within a humanitarian context,” Yale stated in a release, highlighting the project’s potential to guide tailored healthcare interventions.

Kadakia expressed her gratitude for the award, stating, “This Spark Award enables my team and I, in partnership with Health and Education for All (HAEFA), to explore unique treatment patterns, epidemiological insights, and barriers to NCD management. Our goal is to enhance the quality of life for this vulnerable group and provide a framework for improving NCD care in other crisis and refugee settings.”

The Spark Award is granted to projects that demonstrate innovation, feasibility, sustainability, and alignment with the institute's mission to advance global health solutions.