At UWM, Galvão is involved in two major public health research projects – one in the Republic of Malawi in southeast Africa, and one in Wisconsin.
She is co-principal investigator in the Tiphunzitsane Project in Malawi. (The name comes from the words “learning together” in the local Chichewa language). The project is a collaborative effort to look at the links among poverty, food insecurity and HIV in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, and one which has been devastated by the African HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In Wisconsin, Galvão is associate director of SHOW (Survey of the Health of Wisconsin), a major study collecting information on the health of households. The survey is the first statewide effort to assess critical health conditions in Wisconsin, providing not only a picture of the health of the state’s residents, but helping to identify needs and resources. The work is also intended to serve as an infrastructure for other public health studies in Wisconsin, says Galvão.
Whether the focus is global or local, it’s important to collaborate with people who understand and respect those they are working with, says Galvão. In Wisconsin’s SHOW project, a community advisory board is being piloted in Milwaukee as a vital part of the project, helping provide information and sharing the results of research with the African-American community
Dr. Galvão is Associate Director for Community Partnerships, Center for Urban Population Health; Senior Scientist, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, CON, Center for Cultural Diversity and Global Health; and, Honorary Fellow, Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
