Global Scholars

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has transformed the child health landscape since opening its doors in 1962, with Danny Thomas’ dream that “no child should die at the dawn of life.” The creation of the department of Global Pediatric Medicine accelerated the founder’s dream by engaging a global audience in efforts to advance care and improve outcomes for children with cancer and catastrophic diseases globally.

A need existed for a community of empowered professionals who are willing to advocate for children everywhere, who are equipped and willing to tackle systems and drive scalable, sustainable, positive change to existing structures for the benefit of children around the world. Solutions cannot be “one-size-fits-all.” They must be rooted in the realities of local health systems, cultures, and resources. Leaders need the ability to navigate complex social, political, and economic environments—while mobilizing multisectoral partnerships and inspiring collective action.

To address this urgent need, the Global Scholars Program was established to provide child health leaders with the skills necessary to integrate evidence into practice, apply systems thinking, and adapt strategies to local cultural and health contexts. The Global Scholars Program fills this gap with its focus on the broader competencies needed to lead systemic change, strengthen health systems, and build sustainable solutions.

The Global Scholars Program’s vision is to advance child health globally. To do so, transformative education must be provided, spaces for knowledge generation and dissemination must be encouraged, avenues for capacity building must be provided, collaborative opportunities must be fostered, and an empowered, diverse community of change agents - global child health professionals, faculty, and staff- must be cultivated.

The Program creates these spaces and opportunities with the overall aim of enhancing equity, access, timeliness, and quality of treatment and care for children globally through its three components:

• Master of Science in Global Child Health
• Global Scholars Projects
• Global Scholars Alumni Network

Master of Science in Global Child Health

A two-year competency-based degree program in global child health focusing on population health, innovation in health systems and research, and leadership and management, the Master of Science in Global Child Health (MSGCH) program offers students a transformative education, which is needed to enhance the treatment and care of childhood cancers and catastrophic illnesses in an evolving world. Developed in collaboration with the St. Jude Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, students learn to identify and generate evidence needed to improve child health in target environments. By learning to apply systematic, scientific, and evidence-based approaches, students can facilitate the delivery of timely, comprehensive, and effective health care programs to children who need them. The MSGCH program equips students to work with leaders across disciplines. It challenges students to critically examine assumptions and beliefs, and engage in an invigorating, collaborative quest for learning and personal development.

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Global Scholars Projects

The St. Jude Global Scholars are a community of trained professionals committed to advocating for children’s health and strengthening health systems to benefit vulnerable populations worldwide. To support these endeavors, the Department of Global Pediatric Medicine (GPM) provides funding opportunity for eligible Scholars through the Global Scholars Projects. In these applied projects, Scholars apply analytical competencies, leadership and communication skills, advanced knowledge, translational tools, and implementation skills gained during their training to impact health systems affecting child health.

Each Scholar begins their journey by reflecting on a profound question: “What global child health issue keeps you awake at night?” Through mentorship and structured learning, Scholars transform their thoughts into a thesis during their master’s, a project proposal, and an actionable project, responding to the pressing needs of children in their context.

The Scholars’ Projects are funded through St. Jude’s first-ever funding award of up to $100,000 USD for each of the selected projects over two years for project implementation- a historic investment in scalable and sustainable innovative solutions and in building the next generation of global child health leaders committed to transforming child health systems locally, regionally, and globally.

Global Scholars lead these projects with engagement from local collaborators, mentorship from the Global Scholars Program, technical guidance from faculty advisors, and experience sharing among peers. While each project is unique in its approach, they share the common goal of enabling positive systems-level change to strengthen health systems, improve the health of children globally, and advance equity.

Global Scholars Alumni Network

A thriving community of Global Scholars continues to be engaged with the mission of the program through ongoing professional development and collaborative opportunities. This dynamic community of change agents is committed to advancing global child health through systems-level change, the generation and dissemination of knowledge, and collaborative action.

The Alumni Network engages in ongoing professional development by deepening their expertise in global health and advanced adaptive leadership as they seek to navigate complex challenges and drive sustainable impact. Through project management and strategic communication, alumni lead initiatives and influence change across diverse settings.

United by a shared commitment to systems-level change, the network engages in meaningful collaboration. Alumni co-author publications, host webinars, and participate in multi-stakeholder projects to amplify collective knowledge and experience. These activities contribute to the generation and dissemination of knowledge that helps to shape policies and practices.

The Global Scholars Alumni Network continues to push boundaries, share innovations, and advocate for children everywhere.

Contact Us

To learn more about the Global Scholars Program, email globalscholars@stjude.org.