UC Davis Health
Department of Pediatrics

Global Child Health Program | Academic Programs | Department of Pediatrics | UC Davis Health

Global Health Education

The program in Global Child Health works to improve health outcomes for children and their communities.

Hospital Roatan, Honduras, building with colorful murals on walls.

Program in Global Child Health

Our Work

Global health doctor with two patients in neonatal ward.

The UC Davis unique advantage is our global health expertise across the disciplines of nutrition, agriculture, human health, and veterinary science. The Program in Global Child Health works to take advantage of this expertise to improve health outcomes for children and their communities. We do this through education, capacity-building, and research with global communities here and abroad.

Our Values

  • We work with populations locally and abroad to improve the health of children and their families.
  • We partner across disciplines and institutions to exchange, educate, and build mutual capacity.
  • We generate evidence for which interventions work best, for whom and how to scale.

Mentored Scholarly Projects

For those residents with deeper interest in global health, mentoring for a scholarly project is possible. The Global Health Director works with residents one-on-one to conduct research or program implementation for global health populations. The UC Davis Global Health Office offers competitive travel grants for residents, fellows and medical students working in Global Health.

Five children playing and climbing in tree.

Time for scholarly work is built into the residency schedule and dedicated time for experiences abroad is available in both PGY2 and PGY3 years.

“UC Davis Pediatrics provided me the opportunity to experience global health first hand and learn more about global health research during my two one-month rotations in Roatán, Honduras. My co-resident and I were thankful to have excellent mentorship by Dr. Herlihy and Dr. Chantry who helped us with a research project to improve exclusive breastfeeding in Roatán, Honduras using educational text messages and videos. I am very thankful for this enriching experience through the UC Davis Global Health Program.”
— Lisa Rasmussen, M.D.

  • Dr. Elysia Alvarez, M.D., M.P.H.

    Dr. Elysia Alvarez, M.D., M.P.H.

    Director of Global Health Research for Trainees

    Dr. Elysia Alvarez is the Director of Global Health Research for Trainees for UC Davis Health. Dr. Alvarez is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist, received her medical degree from the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She did her pediatric residency training and hematology/oncology fellowship training at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Dr. Alvarez provides care to children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer. She has a special interest and expertise in adolescent and young adult patients with solid tumors. Her research focuses on identifying factors that impact health outcomes in adolescent and young adult patients with cancer both in the United States and globally, with a current focus in Latin America.

    View full bio for Dr. Alvarez