EDUCATION
Elijah Paintsil, md Research with a global impact Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and of Pharmacology MD – Ghana Medical School YCCI Scholar
“I was watching children die of measles,” remembers Elijah Paintsil. As a district health director in his native Ghana, he desperately needed more measles vaccine. External donors were giving ample resources for family planning but they would not consider his request to divert funds to fight infectious disease. “This is happening to us in Africa just because we don’t have the capacity to do research,” the young doctor thought. He came to the United States determined to obtain training as an investigator. Though a practicing physician, he had to repeat residency training. He had had virtually no lab experience when he arrived as a fellow at the Yale School of Medicine. “ycci, personally and professionally, was great because it offered me that transitional period,” he says. As a ycci Scholar, he received the mentoring and training he needed to reach his goal. Paintsil investigated how long hepatitis C survives in used syringes and found that the virus can live longer than 60 days. This finding offered a valuable clue as to why hepatitis C is spreading so fast, particularly in resource-limited countries. Paintsil has applied for nih funding to build on these findings and translate them into public health strategies to prevent hepatitis C transmission. Combining his own experience living and working in Ghana with the research skills he’s acquired at Yale, Paintsil is hopeful that he can improve the systems that once so badly frustrated him. “I see myself as a bridge,” he says. 60
YCCI: A Bridge Across Disciplines to Strengthen Clinical and Translational Research