Our first day at FHI 360 was one full of admiring the GORGEOUS office space, learning a little more about the organization, and learning the ropes (it took us quite a while to find the parking garage).
We started the morning with a tour from Ms. Donna Vasco, the Executive Assistant of the Contraceptive Technology Innovation Initiative, where she showed us everything from the modern kitchen to the library to, my favorite, the office overlooking the Durham Bulls baseball field. Everywhere we looked there were brightly colored windows and pictures of smiling kids and adults from Africa, Asia, and everywhere else.
After our tour, Dr. Laneta Dorflinger, the director of the CTI Initiative, and Dr. Kavita Nanda, who does lots of the group’s research on contraceptives, told us a little more about the organization and their group focus. We learned that the organization had had lots of change in the past decade, from their switch to this Durham location to changing their name from FHI (Family Health International) to FHI 360 to changing what they researched. We also learned lots about contraceptives in general, including the main things that need to be improved and the types. I thought it was really interesting that Dr. Nanda’s group was working on making biodegradable contraceptives!
Following this, we got a little more into the research aspect. Dr. Lara Lorenzetti, who works with the BECS group, talked to us about a project that she had for us. Her group focuses on the behavioral and social aspects of public health. For example, in her current research, she is examining adherence and retention of HIV medicine in Mozambique. Specifically, she is trying to determine whether community savings groups, where many people pool their money to help them afford medical care, improve the amount in which people take their medicine. She is finding all of the articles about the benefits of community savings groups and articles about the reasons people in sub-Saharan Africa do or do not take their medications, and comparing these results. She needed our help going through the articles and determining which ones would be beneficial for her research. For the rest of the day, starting after lunch, we worked with FHI-360’s Library Associate and Library Manager to learn more about the tools that Dr. Lorenzetti and her group use to conduct this research. In the future, we will use these tools for quite a few projects.
One day working here has already taught me more about what I want to do in the future – I can’t wait for tomorrow!
