VCU infectious diseases expert is principal investigator of grant to support women health care professionals from developing countries

By Sathya Achia Abraham

Richard Wenzel, M.D., chair of internal medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, is the principal investigator of a new project grant to support women health care workers from Africa, Asia and the Asian sub-continent.

Wenzel, an internationally recognized expert in infectious diseases, has helped implement a professional development program for these women to provide an opportunity for networking with leaders and experts of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, ISID, gathering information and applying the new knowledge to improve the standard of care for women with infectious diseases in their home countries.

Through the grant to the ISID, approximately 70 women with careers in medicine, nursing, public health and infectious diseases, will be selected to attend the 13th International Congress on Infectious Diseases that will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
June 19-22, 2008.

In many developing nations, there is a critical need to boost the global shortage of physicians and improve patient care – especially for women suffering from various infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria.

"In many developing countries there are more women than men in the field of medicine, and they relate well to large segments of the population of women and children. This is important because mothers make important medical decisions for themselves and their children. Additionally, women physicians and nurses often do not have the same opportunities as men to travel to excellent international congresses," said Wenzel. 

According to Wenzel, there will be a six-month, post-meeting follow-up to identify what progress and changes the women have been able to make in their home nations. 

Approximately 3,000 infectious disease experts from more than 100 countries will attend the 13^th International Congress on Infectious Diseases to share the latest scientific findings and emerging trends in the field.

Wenzel is a frequently sought editorialist for leading medical journals because of his vision of the field, critical appraisal of data and clear writing style. He is the editor of five textbooks and 450 scientific articles and has received several awards for research and teaching. Wenzel was named chairman of VCU's Department of Internal Medicine in 1995. He was the first editor-at-large of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The work is supported by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the ISID.