Welcome from the Director

Welcome to the Center for Global Health. We are committed to advancing research, education and clinical training for improved health and development in resource-limited settings worldwide. The Center operates several international research projects, primarily focused in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Center for Global Health brings together international partners with members of the New Mexico community. We offer bilateral exchange for research and training between UNM and our collaborative research sites abroad.

The collaborative activities offer health professionals the opportunity to form partnerships aimed at improving the public health challenges facing our global community

Director Douglas J. (DJ) Perkins, PhD

Dr. Perkins is a Professor of Medicine at UNM. Research projects in "Dr. Perkins' laboratories" are primarily based in the U.S. and Kenya, and focus on various molecular aspects of the human host-immune response to parasites and viruses.

These include:

• The role of the host immune response in the pathogenesis of COVID-19
• Determining the role of genetic variation in cytokine, chemokine and effector molecule genes in conditioning susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum-induced severe malarial anemia in African children
• The impact of endemic area co-infections (e.g., HIV-1, TB and bacteremia) on clinical outcomes in African children
• Discovery of molecular targets for immunotherapeutics
• High-throughput drug screening for tropical diseases
• Mathematical and epidemiological modeling for integrative biosurveillance