Through a global health component in my research program, I seek to understand health inequities and developing strategies for reducing health and social inequities in a global context. Globally, the burden of disease and rapidly widening health and social gaps between the wealthy and those living in poverty within and between countries provide an urgent call to reexamine our research approaches as we endeavour to investigate health inequities and health practices with vulnerable groups. As with many other research endeavours, global research is not merely answering a research question. Global health research means respecting community participants and their culture, avoiding the imposition of knowledge and foreign culture, respecting cultural context, assessing risk benefits, and selecting participants fairly. Traditions, cultures, and limited resources must be understood before undertaking a research project in a middle or low-income country. In my research program, a genuine partnership entails a South-North dialogue where researchers from the North value the knowledge and expertise of researchers from the South. Global health research must be linked to mutual understanding, the context, the complexity, and issues within the population under study.