UAB Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Division of International Women's Health
The Division of International Women’s Health (IWH) is based out of Lusaka, Zambia, where it manages a
broad portfolio of research and service programs. The majority of this work is in the area of HIV
prevention, care, and treatment. Over the past few years, however, this scope of our work has expanded
to include other facets of women’s health: family planning and contraception, obstetrical outcomes, and
cervical cancer screening.
IWH faculty work at the university’s Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ),
utilizing the substantial administrative infrastructure of this 600-employee organization.
s of July 2009, CIDRZ programs had tested and served more than 750,000 Zambian women and their
infants; enrolled more than 200,000 adults and children into long-term HIV care
(including starting 120,000 on antiretroviral therapy), and screened more than 20,000 women for
cervical cancer. We have collaborated with the Zambian Ministry of Health and the University of
Zambia to build health care infrastructure and provide technical support to 238 sites across four
of Zambia’s nine provinces. CIDRZ-sponsored training programs have provided 114 expatriates and
Zambians with year-long public health fellowships and 35 Zambians with postgraduate degree-earning
opportunities. IWH division members comprise 5 of 9 UAB faculty members living full-time in Lusaka,
since as far back as 2001. Our division director, Dr. Jeffrey Stringer, serves as the CIDRZ director;
our other faculty members hold key leadership positions in this Zambia-based non-profit company.
The IWH division is anchored at UAB by a strong administrative team, led by Karen Brown, MSHA.
Mrs. Brown oversees a staff of 5 experienced administrators who manage over $30 million in grants
annually for the expanding Zambia-based programs. CIDRZ has more recently expanded its focus to
include other areas of health concern, such as cervical cancer control, tuberculosis, hepatitis,
and measles. Our division has three faculty and two fellows who live in Zambia full-time.
These, and other faculty members from UAB, are collaborating with the Zambian government to improve
healthcare infrastructure, access to services, train healthcare workers, and to conduct research on
HIV/AIDS and opportunistic infections. We also partner with the US Government to provide free
antiretroviral medications through the PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) program.
Our program has enrolled more than 113,000 adults and children into long-term HIV/AIDS care,
and started more than 70,000 on ART. Since the ART program launched, Lusaka's overall mortality rate
has declined by more than half. Our administrative office at UAB was formalized in 2007 to provide support
to the faculty and staff in Zambia, and to facilitate relationships between other UAB departments and CIDRZ.
We are now taking applications for 2010 fellowship in International Women’s Health and Clinical Epidemiology
For a quick reference of contact information
For more information please visit
CIDRZ