SAEMF/GEMA Research Grant - $10,000
"Humanitarian Response, Land Tenure, and Community Resilience After Hurricane Irma on the Island of Barbuda: A Qualitative Foundation for Community-Based Participatory Research"
This project advances emergency medicine by integrating local knowledge systems into the discourse on disaster readiness and response. As climate change increases the frequency of disasters in geographically isolated and resource-constrained areas, emergency medicine must adapt to community-based, culturally appropriate approaches to resilience. By identifying how non-institutional, community-rooted structures such as land tenure and informal support systems affect health and safety outcomes, this study supports the development of more effective, responsive, and ethical emergency interventions. The long-term community-based participatory research (CBPR) focus will foster collaboration between emergency physicians, community leaders, and emergency management to co-design systems that enhance both autonomy and survivability in future crises.
Recipient(s)
-
-jpeg.jpg?sfvrsn=bdc1566_1 "William J. Bruno, MD, MPH 400x600")
William Bruno, MD, MPH
University of California, San Diego
"Humanitarian Response, Land Tenure, and Community Resilience After Hurricane Irma on the Island of Barbuda: A Qualitative Foundation for Community-Based Participatory Research"
William Bruno, MD, MPH, is an emergency medicine physician at the University of California, San Diego, with a focus on global emergency medicine and public health.
Dr. Bruno earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego. He completed his emergency medicine residency at Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center and a fellowship in global emergency medicine at Columbia University, where he also earned a Master of Public Health in epidemiology and a certificate in public health and humanitarian action from the Mailman School of Public Health.
His work focuses on improving public health and human rights in humanitarian settings. He has worked internationally as both a researcher and clinician in regions including the Gaza Strip, the Thai-Burmese border, Bangladesh, and Moldova, collaborating with organizations such as Community Partners International, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Medical Teams International, and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders.