Projects & Programs

What we do

Since its inception, WINDREF has forged partnerships with regional and international institutions to advance health and environmental development through multidisciplinary research and educational programs.

Collaborators include Ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture and Tourism, Universities, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) throughout the globe.

help the cause

Our Focus

  • Caribbean Corporative Measurement, Reporting and Verification Hub (CCMRV Hub)
  • Research Collaboration with Microsoft Research, Johns Hopkins, and University of Pittsburgh
  • Bioethics of Climate Change
  • Caribbean University Interdisciplinary and Integrated Drug Demand Reduction Project
  • Characterization of Immune Factors of Severe and Chronic Chikungunya Disease in Grenada
  • Community Health Initiatives—Sport for Health, Touch Toes Test, Road Safety, Sexual and Reproductive Health Education
  • East Caribbean Bee Research and Extension Center (ECBREC)
  • Eastern Caribbean Marine Managed Area Network
  • Energy for Sustainable Development in Caribbean Buildings (ESD-Caraibes)
  • Genetic Correlates of the Addictive Diseases: Cocaine, Alcohol and Marijuana Addiction in Grenada, West Indies
  • Genetic Diversity and Antibiotic Resistance of Clinical and Nonclinical Isolates of Escherichia coli in Grenada, West
  • Indies
  • Global Virus Network
  • Grenada School Nutrition Study
  • Implementing Renewable Energy and Preventing Land Degradation: An Intervention in the Nutmeg Industry in Grenada
  • Investigation of Disease in Pre-growout Fish in a Commercial Aquaculture Operation in Ecuador and Other Marine Projects
  • Needle Stick Injury Prevention Training for Health Care Workers in the Caribbean
  • One Health, One Medicine Initiative
  • Phylogeny and Evolution of Housekeeping Genes in Marine Vibrio Isolated from the Caribbean Sea, Grenada, West Indies
  • Reach Within
  • Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (REEF) Initiative
  • Soil Transmitted Helminths and Streptococci infections Among Schoolchildren in St. Andrew’s Parish
  • The Environmental Testing Unit (ETU) at St. George’s University Controls Quality of Drinking and Bathing Waters
  • Undergraduate Research in Genomics Presented Internationally
  • United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) St. George’s Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC)

  • A video to teach moulage and special effects makeup for trauma simulation
  • Baseline Coral Reef Monitoring Program for Sandy Island Oyster Bed Marine Protected Area Mooring Buoy Installation Project
  • Beta hemolytic streptococci in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Biogeographic distribution and evolution of Gallionella
  • Caribbean EcoHealth Programme (CEHP) & Atlantis Mobile Laboratory (AML)
  • Chest compression competence in CPR among medical students
  • Decoding genome of Ferroplasma
  • Disaster Management in Grenada: Northumbria University Student Research
  • Economic Evaluation Study of Coastal and Near Shore Resources of Carriacou
  • Ethical Issues and Challenges in Global Population Health Research Partnerships
  • Genome annotation in microorganisms and metagenomic libraries as a part of an undergraduate curriculum
  • Grenada Beach waters harbor antibiotic resistant bacteria
  • Horizontal Gene Transfer contributed to evolution of Marine Vibrio isolated in Grenada
  • Investigation of disease in pre-growout fish in a commercial aquaculture operation in Ecuador
  • Marine Research Related Activities
  • Molecular identification of marine Vibrio isolated in Grenada
  • Occurrence of Antibiotic-resistant Fecal Indicators in Coastal waters of Southern Grenada
  • Photovoltaic Power Generation Program
  • Reducing Marine Litter in the Wider Caribbean: Developing and Implementing Best Waste Management Practices
  • Student Satisfaction, Comfort and Self-confidence in a Simulation Lab Practice Session Disaster Management in Grenada: Northumbria University Student Research

Caribbean Center for Health Equity (CCHE)

Health Equity Matters

Inequality is a major barrier to good health. According to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), persistent inequities across gender, race and socioeconomic groups in the Caribbean compound every major health challenge facing the region.

Caribbean Center for Health Equity (CCHE)

Inequality is a major barrier to good health. According to the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), persistent inequities across gender, race and socioeconomic groups in the Caribbean compound every major health challenge facing the region.

It has been shown that access to health care for women of indigenous and African descent in the Caribbean has been stymied by deep discrimination, including patient blaming, neglect, verbal or physical abuse and disregard for traditional beliefs.

  • In response to the identified socio-economic determinants of health in the Caribbean region, PAHO/WHO launched a new Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Region of the Americas to focus on the profound effects that non-health social factors have on health outcomes.
  • This is among the first large-scale effort to gather evidence on health inequities in the Region of the Americas.
  • In support of these initiatives, the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF) has established the Caribbean Center for Health Equity (CCHE) at St. George’s University (SGU) in Grenada.
  • WINDREF and SGU have been involved over the last 20 years in many applied research projects related to health disparities.

CCHE will serve to coordinate regional efforts to promote health equity from within the region, and will include a regional network of partner governmental, academic and community based institutions, related researchers and practitioners. In addition, CCHE will support students in education, research and service work on health equity.

Mission

Serve as a center of excellence in education, research and knowledge translation towards addressing social determinants of health and providing accessible and equitable health for the Caribbean region.

A Caribbean free from health inequities

The principal goal of the proposed CCHE is to promote equity among the Caribbean society by reducing the impact of social determinants of health.

  • Establish a regional network of key partners focused on promoting health equity
  • Establish an advisory board composed of experts and key policymakers from throughout the Caribbean
  • Identify priority areas of health inequity across territories in the Caribbean
  • Seek resources to fund and support participatory action based research, epidemiological and population-based studies, education initiatives, and policy development and implementation among Caribbean regional stakeholders
  • Align CCHE work with work plans and agendas for regional governments and institutions
  • Monitor and evaluate all community based research programs to inform efforts that promote health equity or remove barriers to achieving equity

The CCHE will exist as a Program within WINDREF. Other currently existing centers and programs in WINDREF include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Regional Collaborating Center (UNFCCC, RCC), Sports for Health, Caribbean Ecohealth, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Bioethics, and Brain Initiative, among others.

Similar to these other programs, the CCHE would be established with a director, deputy director, and expert advisory board of vested individuals and investigators who will provide support and oversight of the Center’s activities. The CCHE will utilize the administrative capability and physical space provided by WINDREF in Grenada (located on SGUs True Blue campus) for raising and tracking funds for the program.

The CCHE will report to the Board of WINDREF (via the Director of WINDREF), and will provide an annual report to the Director of WINDREF outlining the Center’s activities over the past year. This report will be included in the WINDREF annual report.

The CCHE as a center will be administratively aligned to the Director and Deputy Director of WINDREF, which will provide oversight and support for the work of the CCHE. The Director of the CCHE will be appointed as a Senior Research Fellow of WINDREF and will be able to access resources and technical support through the Director and Deputy Director of WINDREF.

The CCHE will join and coordinate ongoing local and regional initiatives at WINDREF, which also serve to address several health equity needs for the region including areas of promoting health equity. Specific programs with a focus on Health Equity will be aligned to the CCHE and the administration of the CCHE will be organized as shown in the Figure below.

A number of ongoing projects and programs will immediately fall under the purview of the CCHE:

  • Sport for Health
  • Soil Transmitted Helminths and Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • Saving Brains Initiative
  • Neurodevelopment and Vector-Borne Diseases
  • Women’s Health Initiatives (e.g., Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening)
  • Disadvantaged Children (i.e., reachwithin)

It has been shown that access to health care for women of indigenous and African descent in the Caribbean has been stymied by deep discrimination, including patient blaming, neglect, verbal or physical abuse and disregard for traditional beliefs.

In response to the identified socio-economic determinants of health in the Caribbean region, PAHO/WHO launched a new Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Region of the Americas to focus on the profound effects that non-health social factors have on health outcomes.
This is among the first large-scale effort to gather evidence on health inequities in the Region of the Americas.

In support of these initiatives, the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF) has established the Caribbean Center for Health Equity (CCHE) at St. George’s University (SGU) in Grenada.
WINDREF and SGU have been involved over the last 20 years in many applied research projects related to health disparities.

CCHE will serve to coordinate regional efforts to promote health equity from within the region, and will include a regional network of partner governmental, academic and community based institutions, related researchers and practitioners. In addition, CCHE will support students in education, research and service work on health equity.

Mission

Serve as a center of excellence in education, research and knowledge translation towards addressing social determinants of health and providing accessible and equitable health for the Caribbean region.

A Caribbean free from health inequities

The principal goal of the proposed CCHE is to promote equity among the Caribbean society by reducing the impact of social determinants of health.

  • Establish a regional network of key partners focused on promoting health equity
  • Establish an advisory board composed of experts and key policymakers from throughout the Caribbean
  • Identify priority areas of health inequity across territories in the Caribbean
  • Seek resources to fund and support participatory action based research, epidemiological and population-based studies, education initiatives, and policy development and implementation among Caribbean regional stakeholders
  • Align CCHE work with work plans and agendas for regional governments and institutions
  • Monitor and evaluate all community based research programs to inform efforts that promote health equity or remove barriers to achieving equity

The CCHE will exist as a Program within WINDREF. Other currently existing centers and programs in WINDREF include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Regional Collaborating Center (UNFCCC, RCC), Sports for Health, Caribbean Ecohealth, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Bioethics, and Brain Initiative, among others.

Similar to these other programs, the CCHE would be established with a director, deputy director, and expert advisory board of vested individuals and investigators who will provide support and oversight of the Center’s activities. The CCHE will utilize the administrative capability and physical space provided by WINDREF in Grenada (located on SGUs True Blue campus) for raising and tracking funds for the program.

The CCHE will report to the Board of WINDREF (via the Director of WINDREF), and will provide an annual report to the Director of WINDREF outlining the Center’s activities over the past year. This report will be included in the WINDREF annual report.

The CCHE as a center will be administratively aligned to the Director and Deputy Director of WINDREF, which will provide oversight and support for the work of the CCHE. The Director of the CCHE will be appointed as a Senior Research Fellow of WINDREF and will be able to access resources and technical support through the Director and Deputy Director of WINDREF.

The CCHE will join and coordinate ongoing local and regional initiatives at WINDREF, which also serve to address several health equity needs for the region including areas of promoting health equity. Specific programs with a focus on Health Equity will be aligned to the CCHE and the administration of the CCHE will be organized as shown in the Figure below.

A number of ongoing projects and programs will immediately fall under the purview of the CCHE:

  • Sport for Health
  • Soil Transmitted Helminths and Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • Saving Brains Initiative
  • Neurodevelopment and Vector-Borne Diseases
  • Women’s Health Initiatives (e.g., Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening)
  • Disadvantaged Children (i.e., reachwithin)