Inside Duke Medicine

Bartlett back, joins DGHI

Dr. John Bartlett, a Duke professor of medicine who has lived in Tanzania for most of the past four years, is joining the Duke Global Health Institute as associate director of research.

A faculty member in the Department of Medicine for 21 years, Bartlett in Tanzania assisted with the growing partnerships among Duke, the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) and the local grassroots AIDS organization, KIWAKKUKI.

During his stay in Moshi, Tanzania, the Duke-KCMC partnership has conducted significant research on AIDS, tuberculosis, and other diseases prevalent in Tanzania, helped build the Child Centered Family Care Clinic, developed the programs in the KCMC Biotechnology Laboratory to international quality standards, and vastly improved the information technology infrastructure.

The collaboration has also expanded training opportunities available to participants from both institutions. More than two dozen Tanzanian physicians and research staff have engaged in Duke’s clinical research programs or other specialized research training programs in the U.S., and an increasing number of physicians, residents, medical students, and undergraduates from Duke are choosing Moshi as a venue to broaden their experience in global health.

“John has been masterful in nurturing partnerships in Moshi,” said Dr. Michael Merson, director of the Duke Global Health Institute. “He has put great energy and compassion into his work, and paved the way for Dr. John Crump, DGHI’s site director in Moshi, and others to continue this vital collaboration. We look forward to having John’s experience and expertise at the Institute to guide our research programs. His deep knowledge of Duke will help us cultivate the interdisciplinary research that we see as the hallmark of the University’s work in global health.”

As the associate director of research for DGHI, Bartlett will focus on facilitating interdisciplinary research in areas where Duke already has great strength, particularly in the institute’s six signature research initiatives.

“My personal research interests have been concentrated mostly on the study of AIDS in resource-poor settings such as Tanzania,” said Bartlett. “But I look forward to working with colleagues from all over Duke who conduct research in diverse areas. My main priority will be to link Duke investigators with the resources they need to engage in international research. Hopefully this will include new investigators within Duke, new investigators recruited to the Duke faculty, and established global health investigators within Duke.”

In addition to his role at the Duke Global Health Institute, Bartlett will continue to serve as a co-director of the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).