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Khoshnood Receives Two Yale Grants for Conducting Studies in the Middle East
Kaveh Khoshnood, Ph.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor in Public Health Practice in the Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health, serves as Principal Investigator on two grants totaling almost $20,000 for one year from the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies (The MacMillan Center) and the Yale Middle East Council. The first study, “Social Stigma, Homosexuals and Transsexuals in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” is funded by the MacMillan Center. While the Iranian society shuns homosexuality and sexual intercourse between males can result in harsh penalties, Iran is growing in its acceptance of sex change. However, those who seek to switch their gender face harsh scrutiny from society including their family disowning them and losing their jobs. This study will examine the social stigma experienced by homosexuals and transsexuals attending a sexual disorder clinic in Tehran, Iran. This is the first study of its kind to be conducted among this specific population. The second project is funded through the Yale Middle East Council entitled, “The Transformation of the Medical Education and the Health Systems in Iraqi Kurdistan (IK): Accomplishments and Prospects.” The aim of the project is to develop a strategic plan outlining the priorities in medical education, including the prospects for developing a school of public health in Iraq. The project also seeks to identify the health systems related and health status priorities in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Khoshnood will travel to IK this summer to interview Ministry of Health and education officials, as well as directors of hospitals and clinics to uncover current medical education and health system priorities in IK. International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were the primary health service providers in the IK from 1991 until 1996 when the United Nations assisted the IK with the Oil-For-Food program, providing food and health-care, such as door-to-door immunizations for citizens of Iraq. Currently, the Kurdish authorities have taken responsibility for medical education and the health care system. They are assisted in their efforts with funds from international donors and NGOs. A workshop will convene at Yale in Fall 2006 to discuss the strategic plan. In this project, Dr. Khoshnood will be working closely with Dr. Ali Sindi, Senior Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister for the Kurdistan Regional Government, and 2003 World Fellow at Yale. Khoshnood and Asghar Rastegar, M.D., Associate Chairman for academic Affairs and Professor at the Yale School of Medicine served as co-advisors for Dr. Sindi during his stay at Yale. —Story by Marcie Foley |
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