Global Health Travel Awards Program

The Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health at UAB (MHIGH) is expanding access to transformative global learning through its new Global Health Travel Awards Program, an initiative designed to eliminate financial barriers that often restrict meaningful global engagement. International travel, research costs, and conference fees can prevent students, trainees, faculty, and global partners from participating in collaborative global health work. This program ensures those opportunities remain within reach.

Built on a foundation of bidirectional exchange, the Travel Awards support both UAB scholars traveling abroad and international collaborators visiting Birmingham. By strengthening partnerships with key global institutions across four continents, the program deepens shared learning in research, education, and service—the core pillars of MHIGH’s mission.

Open to participants across UAB’s schools and disciplines, the initiative reflects the inherently interdisciplinary nature of global health. Whether through hands‑on fieldwork, project development, or academic exchange, award recipients gain the skills needed to confront health challenges worldwide.

As shifts in funding threaten traditional travel opportunities, MHIGH’s commitment is clear: sustain equitable global collaboration and build a health workforce prepared for a connected world. The Travel Awards Program ensures that financial limitations do not stand in the way of global partnership, innovation, or impact.

For a full list of UAB Giving Days projects, click here.