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The 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in western Africa was the longest and most deadly Ebola epidemic in history, resulting in 28,616 cases and 11,310 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The Ebola virus has been known since 1976, when two separate outbreaks were identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and South Sudan (then Sudan). However, because all Ebola outbreaks prior to that in West Africa in 2014–2015 were relatively isolated and of short duration, little was known about how to best manage patients to improve survival, and there were no approved therapeutics or vaccines. When the World Heath Organization declared the 2014–2015 epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in August 2014, several teams began conducting formal clinical trials in the Ebola affected countries during the outbreak. Integrating Clinical Research into Epidemic Response: The Ebola Experience assesses the value of the clinical trials held during the 2014–2015 epidemic and makes recommendations about how the conduct of trials could be improved in the context of a future international emerging or re-emerging infectious disease events.

Achieving social and economic growth requires collaboration, especially in global health. If universities are to improve health globally, they will need to train students and to support faculty who can effectively collaborate with those from other disciplines and cultures.

Since 2009, a mysterious neurologic condition has afflicted thousands of northern Ugandan school children. This fatal disorder—known as nodding disease—leaves its victims stunted, mentally incapacitated, and often severely scarred or burned due to unexpected falls from epileptic-like seizures.1,2 The syndrome is characterized initially by cognitive impairments, followed by frequent head-nodding episodes that give the disorder its name. Over time there is a progressive deterioration of the child's condition that can result in death, often from secondary conditions like malnutrition and injury. The disease dates as far back as the 1960s and can be found in neighboring countries Tanzania and Sudan, where the syndrome was first described.