International visitors, potential leaders in their countries, visit Rural and Underserved Health Research Center at UK

Front row, from left: Chanchamnap Sok, Cambodia; Dr. Asma Hamid, Algeria; Dr. Mangu Kendino, Papua New Guinea; Suzette Adel Maher Faragallah, Egypt; Mariana Bezugla, Ukraine. Back row: Dr. Richard Ingram, assistant professor of public health and affiliate of the University of Kentucky's Rural and Underserved Health Research Center; Dr. Tyrone Borders, director of the center; Henry Kohar, Liberia; and Mohamed Abdalla Yosry Mohamed Gamaleldin, Egypt.

The Rural and Underserved Health Research Center at the University of Kentucky hosted eight visitors from Algeria, Ukraine, Egypt, Cambodia, Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Malaysia as part of a three-program focused on health care among marginalized populations, including rural residents.

The visitors, who were recommended by their embassies to the U.S. Department of State, were part of the department's International Visitor Leadership Program. Several prior participants in the program have gone on to become prime ministers or presidents of their countries.

Because of their interests in rural health and health care, they asked to learn more about the center’s work and how it informs policymakers’ decisions. They met with senior executives at the National Institutes of Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration before traveling to UK.