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by Marinea Mehrhoff
Some well water with high mineral content in Belgrade, Serbia, will
be easier to test for radiological contamination, thanks in part to
lessons learned by Gordana Pantelic during her visit to the
radiochemistry section at UHL.Gordana is a trainee in the UI Fogarty Scholar International Training
program. She has been studying risk assessment, exposure pathway, and
cost-benefit techniques for three weeks at the UI Center for
International Rural and Environmental Health in the College of Public
Health. While attending classes, Gordana asked if she could tour the UHL
and visit with the Radiochemistry section, which she did on November
2.
The Fogarty Scholar observed UHL's staff conducting an alternate
procedure for gross alpha that reduces the interference caused by
mineral salts in drinking water. As the head of the Radiological
Department of the Institute of Occupational Health and Radiological
Protection in Belgrade, Gordana plans to adopt the method in her
homeland.
Last year, Vedrana Vuletic, another Fogarty Scholar from Gordana's
Belgrade department, spent time in the Radiochemistry section performing
Strontium testing in water and calibration techniques.
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| What is a Fogarty Scholar? |
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Each year, students from around the world attend courses at American
universities and collaborate with public health mentors in the United
States, thanks to funding from the Fogarty International Center, part of
the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The center bears the name of John Fogarty, a master bricklayer by trade
who rose through the ranks of Depression-era politics to be elected to
the U.S. House of Representatives. During his 27-year career in the
House, Fogarty tirelessly campaigned for global health research, for
libraries and for improving conditions for the mentally and physically
impaired. A champion for public health legislation, the Rhode Island
native continually advocated for the NIH and medical research.
This year marks the 12th consecutive year that UI's Center for
International Rural and Environmental Health has hosted students from
Central and Eastern Europe.
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