Welcome to the HAITI CVD RESEARCH COLLABORATORY
Improving Heart Health In Haiti
Our Mission
The HAITI Cardiovascular Disease Research Collaboratory brings together researchers, clinicians, community partners, and public health leaders dedicated to reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in low‑resource settings. Our mission is to generate high‑quality, population-based evidence that can directly improve clinical care, inform policy, and strengthen health systems in Haiti and serve as a model for similar settings of severe poverty in the US and globally.
Our network generates actionable research to improve CVD outcomes, share best practices, and build local capacity and infrastructure. Our work is led by GHESKIO (the French acronym for the Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections), which was founded by Dr. Bill Pape and partners in 1982 as a non-profit clinical organization to provide treatment, training, research, and social services in Haiti. GHESKIO has never closed its doors despite natural disasters, pandemics, and political unrest. Currently, it provides care to more than 100,000 patients annually. Our partners include community stakeholders, national leaders and policy makers, and collaborations with academic institutions and national and global public health organizations.
Our Collaboration
We are committed to building local capacity through mentorship, clinical training, and collaborative learning. Our initiatives support Haitian and US clinicians, emerging researchers, and international trainees through hands-on field experiences, skills-building in methods including epidemiology and implementation science, training in cardiovascular imaging, and clinical training.
Our collaboration helped develop and disseminate the national Primary Care Hypertension Guidelines across GHESKIO clinics, ensuring that new evidence drives improved care and strengthens the foundation for the next generation of cardiovascular health leaders.
Our Research
Our work focuses on understanding the local epidemiology of the CVD epidemic in Haiti through population-based studies to identify modifiable risk factors driving disease and disability. We then use this epidemiologic data to design practical, locally-adapted interventions for both prevention and treatment. We use rigorous demography and epidemiology methods, community-based engagement, clinical trials, implementation science and interdisciplinary collaboration to advance the science of cardiovascular health and drive measurable improvements in patient care.
Our Team
The HAITI CVD Research Collaboratory comprises three major site teams: GHESKIO in Haiti, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Washington University in St. Louis, with growing global collaborations. Together, our teams include principal investigators, physicians, nurses, research faculty, community health workers, data analysts, research coordinators, and trainees.
Leaders
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Principal Investigator, Founder & Executive Director GHESKIO, Howard and Carol Holtzmann Professor in Clinical Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
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Deputy Director GHESKIO
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Co-Investigator, Chief of Research and Pediatrics GHESKIO, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
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Principal Investigator, Professor of Medicine, Chief – Division of General Medicine & Geriatrics, Hospital Medicine, WashU
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Co-Investigator, US Study Director, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
PI, (K23HL177149) — Environmental Lead & CVD