Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health annually selects a group of health professionals and scholars to participate in training programs in the United States. In November, 2007, Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW), in conjunction with the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, was selected as one of the training sites. Dr. Marianne Yoshioka, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Social Work at CUSSW, headed the development of a unique training series to meet the needs of the twenty scholars who were selected for the training program in New York City. Together with colleagues, Dr. Yoshioka created Health Science and Service Training Series which included courses, site visits to health and social service facilities, and individualized meetings with leading experts working in New York City. All courses were held at CUSSW’s state-of-the-art training and research facilities.

Four courses were offered to the scholars: Bioethics, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Health Sciences and Services Lectures. Courses were held in the U.S. academic style where lectures are combined with experiential learning opportunities and case discussion.

Course instructors hailed from CUSSW and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and each had broad research interest and professional experience. Some of the notable lecturers were:

• Ms. Joyce Plaza, Deputy Director of the Center of Bioethics at Columbia University. Ms. Plaza provided an overview of the structure and bioethics review committees, their history, and current issues encountered by Institutional Review Boards (IRB).
• Dr. Julien Teitler, Associate Professor, CUSSW. Dr. Teitler discussed IRB review process, identification of ethical issues and means of addressing ethnical conflicts.
• Dr. Alan Berkman, Associate Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Berkman is renowned for his work developing integrated health and social programs that address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.
• Dr. Rogerio Pinto, Assistant Professor, CUSSW. Dr. Pinot has conducted extensive research on community-focused models of research prevention.
• Dr. David Hoos, Assistant Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and the Director of Southern Africa AIDS International Training and Research Program. Dr. Hoos lectured on the implementation of national HIV/AIDS systems of care and research.
• Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, Chief of the Infectious Disease Division at Harlem Hospital, and Director of the Mailman Center for Infectious Diseases Epidemiologic Research. Dr. El-Sadr discussed research on HIV/AIDS, patient care, and service development.
• Dr. Ellen Lukens, Associate Professor, CUSSW. Dr. Lukens, a leading authority on family-based schizophrenia research, spoke about psychiatric service delivery.

Six instructors presented eight lectures on various topicsrelated to epidemiology and Dr. Melody Goodman, Professor of Biostatisticstrained at Harvard University, led the biostatistics course.

Dr. Nabila El-Bassel, Ms. Louisa Gilbert and representatives of the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia met with the health professionals, to explore future collaboration between the Center and researchers in Kazakhstan. To facilitate such future collaborations, Dr. Frank Moretti assessed scholars’ needs and available infrastructure to utilize newmedia and technology in collaborative projects and research.

To supplement their training experience, the twenty Kazakhstani scholars visited the Harlem Community Justice Center, New York State Psychiatric Institute, the Association for the Help of Retarded Children, and the Jewish Home and Hospital Center. Individualized tours and appointments included cardiology intensive care unit at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Harlem Hospital, a geneticbiochemistry research lab, and genetic microbiology research lab at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

The scholars also enjoyed being tourists in New York as the city prepared for holiday celebrations. Lighting of the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center, tours of the Statue of Liberty, visits to the city’s many museums, and attendance of Broadway musicals filled the scholars’ freetime. Dr. Yoshioka and her colleagues also arranged an overnight trip to Washington, D.C. for a guided sightseeing tour of the city and visit to the Smithsonian National Museum.