%0 Journal Article %A Apurv Soni %A Nisha Fahey %A Abraham Jaffe %A Shyamsundar Raithatha %A Nitin Raithatha %A Anusha Prabhakaran %A Tiffany A Moore Simas %A Nancy Byatt %A Jagdish Vankar %A Michael Chin %A Ajay G Phatak %A Shirish Srivastava %A David D McManus %A Eileen O'Keefe %A Harshil Patel %A Niket Patel %A Dharti Patel %A Michaela Tracey %A Jasmine A Khubchandani %A Haley Newman %A Allison Earon %A Hannah Rosenfield %A Anna Handorf %A Brittany Novak %A John Bostrom %A Anindita Deb %A Soaham Desai %A Dipen Patel %A Archana Nimbalkar %A Kandarp Talati %A Milagros Rosal %A Patricia McQuilkin %A Himanshu Pandya %A Heena P Santry %A Sunil Thanvi %A Utpala Kharod %A Melissa Fischer %A Jeroan Allison %A Somashekhar M Nimbalkar %T RAHI–SATHI Indo-U.S. Collaboration: The Evolution of a Trainee-Led Twinning Model in Global Health Into a Multidisciplinary Collaborative Program %D 2017 %R 10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00190 %J Global Health: Science and Practice %P 152-163 %V 5 %N 1 %X RAHI–SATHI presents an innovative twinning model of global health academic partnership, resulting in a number of successful research activities, that features trainees or students as the driving force, complemented by strategic institutional support from both sides of the partnership. Others can promote similar student-led initiatives by: (1) accepting an expanded role for trainees in global health programs, (2) creating structured research and program opportunities for trainees, (3) developing a network of faculty and trainees interested in global health, (4) sharing extramural global health funding opportunities with faculty and trainees, and (5) offering seed funding.Background: In recent years there has been a surge in the number of global health programs operated by academic institutions. However, most of the existing programs describe partnerships that are primarily faculty-driven and supported by extramural funding.Program Description: Research and Advocacy for Health in India (RAHI, or “pathfinder” in Hindi) and Support and Action Towards Health-Equity in India (SATHI, or “partnership” in Hindi) are 2 interconnected, collaborative efforts between the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Charutar Arogya Mandal (CAM), a medical college and a tertiary care center in rural western India. The RAHI–SATHI program is the culmination of a series of student/trainee-led research and capacity strengthening initiatives that received institutional support in the form of faculty mentorship and seed funding. RAHI–SATHI's trainee-led twinning approach overcomes traditional barriers faced by global health programs. Trainees help mitigate geographical barriers by acting as a bridge between members from different institutions, garner cultural insight through their ability to immerse themselves in a community, and overcome expertise limitations through pre-planned structured mentorship from faculty of both institutions. Trainees play a central role in cultivating trust among the team members and, in the process, they acquire personal leadership skills that may benefit them in their future careers.Conclusion: This paradigm of trainee-led twinning partnership promotes sustainability in an uncertain funding climate and provides a roadmap for conducting foundational work that is essential for the development of a broad, university-wide global health program. %U https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/ghsp/5/1/152.full.pdf