Colgate-Palmolive Awards

American Public Health Association - International Health Section Award Program, sponsored by Colgate Palmolive

“Community-Based Field Research Grants to Young Faculty and Students at Schools of Public Health for Behavioral Hygiene Promotion and Global Health”

            In 2005 the APHA, in collaboration with Colgate Palmolive, was pleased to begin the management of a small grants program that is to be repeated for three years. The CBPHC working group of the International Health Section is undertaking the technical management of this grant on behalf of APHA. This program is to support young faculty and students in schools of public health to carry out community-based field research in behavioral hygiene. These research projects are to investigate hygiene motivation and behavior change that target mothers, families and children in resource-poor settings. Awards are made on the basis of a competitive review process, with preference being given to projects in the one the following countries: Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Mozambique, or the United States (with migrant or immigrant populations). Awards are to be made through schools of public health based in the United States or in another country as long as the field research is carried out in one of the above countries.

            In 2005, the grants program was promoted widely throughout the world’s public health network. Applicants who satisfied the above criteria were encouraged to apply. All applicants that  demonstrated interest in the program were sent a copy of the grant protocol. All grant submissions underwent a competitive review process by five public health expert reviewers. These reviewers included three independent technical experts involved in behavioral hygiene research and two members of the Community-Based Primary Health Care Working Group.  Three grants for $10,000 were awarded for excellent proposals from young researchers who are to do their research in Nepal, Colombia and Peru. They are currently doing their research over an 18- month period that began in February 2006. These projects will be presented and/or recognized at the annual meeting of APHA and at the International Health Section formal meeting.

In 2006 similar grants of $10,000 each will be made available for young researchers according to the above criteria.  Applicants interested in applying for these grants in 2006 are encouraged to write to the representatives of the CBPHC, listed below, for a copy of the grant proposal protocol beginning June 2006. The deadline for the submission of proposals for the second round of competition will be 1 October 2006, with funded projects beginning in early 2007.