Sydney Axson
Sydney Axson is a 2010 graduate of Syracuse University. Her interest in public health developed through working with uninsured patients and their families. She was immediately taken with the “right” to healthcare, in addition to the numerous consequences of needing care without sufficient coverage. This led her to spend the second half of her SU career working in bioethics. Her work focused on informed consent and clinical trials in vulnerable communities. However, she is also interested in women’s health and resource allocation. She will be pursuing the MPH as a full-time student and will build a strong public health foundation by following the generalist track. She hopes this foundation will enrich her own research and make her more capable of addressing the gap between scientific progress and the distribution of health. When not on Penn’s campus, you can find Sydney rowing on the Schuylkill River. As an undergraduate she was a member of the Women’s Rowing team and will continue training on the elite level.
Anna Barnwell
Anna Barnwell graduated in 2010 from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee with a BA in psychology and medicine, health, and society. After graduation she worked on two National Cancer Institute studies related to how families adjust to and cope with pediatric cancer and how they communicate about the disease. Witnessing the detrimental impact of cancer-related stress on family and individual functioning, she became fascinated by how psychosocial factors affect health outcomes. Anna is currently enrolled in the dual MSW/MPH program and hopes to use the skills from both programs to design evidence-based interventions to help individuals manage chronic illnesses.
David Beckmann
David graduated from Duke University with a degree in psychology and concentrations in neuroscience and mathematics. He then worked in Duke’s division of child and adolescent psychiatry as a research assistant and a program coordinator for a clinical trial comparing treatment modalities for adolescents who have attempted suicide. After some additional course work at Bryn Mawr College, he came to Penn in 2007 and is currently an MD/MPH candidate. David is particularly interested in mental health disparities in children and adolescents.\
Whitney Buckholz
Whitney is enrolled as a full-time MPH student at Penn. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2009, having majored in history. Whitney’s interest in health policy stems from her experience volunteering as an undergraduate with a healthcare NGO in Ghana, where she was struck by both the high quality of health care services offered by many NGOs, and the difficulties inherent in coordinating, and ensuring the efficiency of, those services. Since graduation, Whitney has worked as an Americorps member and tutor at MATCH Charter Public High School in Boston. Many of the students and families Whitney worked with at MATCH had unmet health needs, which solidified Whitney’s commitment to working to ensure universal access to high quality health care services.
Merlin Chowkwanyan
Merlin Chowkwanyun is a joint Ph.D.-MPH candidate in History and in Public Health. He is writing a dissertation of post-1945 public health that examines the history health services and environmental health burdens in four American regions -- and a related separate study on health care social movements in New York City during the same period.
Heather Forquer
Heather completed her Bachelor’s degree in biology at Penn in 2008. She now works full time as a research coordinator in the Annenberg School’s health communications department and will complete the MPH degree part time. The research project she currently works on involves evaluating mass media effects on health, and in particular, cancer prevention and screening behavior. Her personal research interests also include smoking cessation and women’s health issues. She plans to continue working in the field of public health research after graduation.
Jacob Fyda
Jacob Fyda is currently enrolled as a full-time student in the global health track of the MPH program. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from The University of Florida. His undergraduate studies included research in reproductive biology and environmental toxicology. Jacob's interest in global health & development has led him to work in Nicaragua as a site-coordinator for an international NGO.
His interests include: medical anthropology, economic development, and health disparities.
Patricia Goelz
As a clinical resesarch coordinator at the Center for Interdisciplinary Resaerch in Nicoltine Addiction in the School of Medicine, Patricia Goelz has the opportunity to study a leading public health issue from an interdisciplinary standpoint. Since graduation from Lafayette College with a degree in neuroscience, Patricia has developed a special intereset in health communication. As an MPH candidate she hopes to study health communication strategies and examine the effectiveness of health communciation in different sectors. Her goal is to be able to work with private and governmental organizations, as well as physicians and other health educators, to improve the ways in which they communicate health information to their respective populations.
Mariana Gonzalez
Mariana is a recent Penn graduate (class of 2010) and am currently working as a Clinical Research Assistant at the Center for Resuscitation Science (associated with the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania), where she is involved with a number of projects in CPR training and education, post-cardiac arrest care (specifically, therapeutic hypothermia). She is currently working on a project focused on post-cardiac arrest cardiac catheterization, and an abstract of her findings (Gonzalez MR et al., “Patient-level variables predictive of significant coronary lesions on angiography after cardiac arrest”) has been accepted for presentation at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions this coming November in Orlando, Florida.
Mariana is particularly interested in the ways that both individuals and communities make decisions about their health, and is hoping to combine her interests in health education, social media, and community-based health interventions. One of her main areas of interest is the prevention and management of chronic conditions (such heart disease, diabetes, and obesity), and she hopes to focus on these issues as she continues to pursue training in preventive medicine and community health. In addition to her work in the MPH program, she is currently in the process of applying to medical school, and believes that a strong foundation in public health will be a crucial addition to her career.
Bethany Hall
Valuing human dignity and appreciating the accountability inherent in global citizenship, Bethany is dedicated to working to ameliorate existing health and socioeconomic disparities. As an undergraduate, Bethany surveyed the needs and rights of asylum seekers in Dublin and drafted a report that was later presented at the Irish Social Policy Conference. As an undergraduate she also had the opportunityto travel through the Navajo Nation, India, New Zealand and Mexico dialoguing with various indigenous communities. After graduating from Boston University with a bachelors in psychology, Bethany became a facilitator of group therapy for low-income, chronically mentally ill adults in Philadelphia, and briefly volunteered teaching ESL classes in North Philadelphia.
Bethany endeavors to increase access to health services and to facilitate community development. She is particularly connected to the concept of a pan-American identity. Bethany is pursuing her MPH (global health track) part-time while continuing to work full-time at the English Language Programs at the University of Pennsylvania
Noel Harbist, M.D.
Noel is enrolled as a full-time MPH student, having affirmed her interest in public health through course work last year prior to matriculation.
Noel's background is in primary care pediatrics. She first considered public health after participating as a facilitator in an American Academy of Pediatrics program on the prevention of child abuse. She currently is serving on the New Jersey American Academy of Pediatrics Government Affairs Committee, which has given her the opportunity to observe the process of policy development and participate in the translation of policy into pediatric practice.
Sara Hayes
Sara is currently a part time student in the Master of Public Health Program. She received a bachelor's degree in biology from Temple University, and currently does research at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in the gastroenterology and nutrition division. Her interests include health care disparities, affordable health care access, women's health, and health literacy. She hopes to work to improve the health of those who need it most.
Marion Holaday, MA
Rio Holaday is a generalist MPH student with experience in social work and research. She has worked with resettled refugees in Vermont on issues of accessing social services, and conducted Fulbright research on migrant networks in South Africa. Most recently, Rio was a Research and Data Analyst at Harvard Medical School. She holds an MA in Forced Migration Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand and a BA in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University.
Rio’s interests include social and behavioral health, low-income migrant communities and access to healthy food. She is especially interested in bridging the gap between academic research and practical application. She hopes to expand her skill set, perspective and interests during her MPH studies.
Giovanna Imbesi
Giovanna Imbesi graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in psychology. Since then she has been working with the Cystic Fibrosis Adult Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Her current role there, as research ccordinator, has shown her the powerful impact that large-scale health initiatives have on the welfare of an individual patient as well as the necessity of resaerch for improving healthcare. Giovanna is interested in hospital administartion and policy.
Rachel Koster
Since graduating from Wesleyan University in 2006, Rachel has applied her liberal arts background and B.A. in psychology to several different settings, including supervising case managers for families with disabled children, supporting research on community partnerships, and teaching in an elementary school. Drawing from her experiences abroad, Rachel wants to further explore the influence of behavioral, social, and cultural factors on health problems in order to shape effective practices and policies. She maintains an interest in community-based work and collaborative partnerships to create services and programs for our vulnerable communities. By pursing the dual MSW/MPH degree, Rachel hopes to build a stronger foundation in public health and policy as she commits herself to social justice.
Allison Kuntz
Allison graduated from Northwestern University in 2009, where she received her bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Spanish. Various experiences throughout her undergraduate career, including a concentration in pre-medical sciences, a study abroad program in Madrid, Spain, a medical mission trip in Honduras, and a thesis project on cultural competency in health care quality and delivery, made her realize her strong passion for public health.
Upon graduating from Northwestern, Allisom worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she performed clinical research on heart disease and aging. As a research coordinator, she evaluated the risk of coronary events in peripheral arterial disease patients and analyzed the effectiveness of physical activity interventions on reducing physical and cognitive decline amongst elderly participants. Most recently, she has been supporting AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in developing a corporate reputation platform around chronic disease management, in order to improve health outcomes while reducing the burden of chronic disease.
Allison is a full-time MPH student at Penn and her public health interests include policy, advocacy, healthcare reform, as well as disease prevention and management. In pursuing her MPH, she hopes to be able to integrate my experiences in patient care, language, culture and pharmaceuticals, to advocate for improved population-based health.
Myra Lazo, MSPA-C
With 7 years of clinical experience as a physician assistant in the field of obesity and weight loss surgery, Myra decided last year to pursue a master’s in public health. Her role in the practice ranged from surgical assisting, surgical evaluation, in-patient and out-patient post-operative care, nutritional counseling, health education & promotion, practice marketing, various administrative functions, health insurance approval process and obesity research.
Being involved in both the clinical and organizational care in a private surgical practice, Myra became increasingly interested in the delivery of healthcare, health promotion and disease prevention. She believes that focusing not only in clinical care but also in the management and organization of available resources with business considerations such as issues of costs, governmental regulation and public and private policies are fundamental in providing better healthcare in the future.
With an MPH degree with a focus on healthcare administration and policy, Myra plans to fill a leadership role in public or private health institution that aims to provide quality healthcare, improved access to healthcare, maintain excellent delivery of healthcare, increase focus on promoting healthy lifestyles and disease prevention that would affect the local, national and possibly in the global community. She believes that this program will help me gain perspective on how our current healthcare systems can promote health and improve access to healthcare.
Clare Leinweber
Clare Leinweber holds a BA in anthropology and an MA in human development from the University of Chicago. She also has a graduate certificate in management from the Wharton School. Clare is a part-time student in the MPH program and is pursuing the global health track. Clare aims to integrate her experience developing and managing educational programs with her interest in the impact of girls’ education on public health in developing countries.
Damien Leri, MSEd
Damien holds a BA and MSEd, both from Penn. He works for Penn Law as a full-time administrator in information technology. For the past 2 years he has been learning about public health and doing informal projects applying IT for public health.
Susan E. Levy, M.D.
Susan E. Levy, M.D., is a board certified pediatrician with certification in neurodevelopmental disabilites. She is currently a clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Associate Division Chief for the Division of Child Development, Rehabilitation and Metabolic Disesase of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and the Director of the section of Developmental Pediatrics. Dr. Levy's research interests include epidemiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), early identification of children with ASD, and Complementary and Alternative Medical treatments of ASD. She is the Co-principal investigator (with Dr. Jennifer Pinto-Martin, UPENN School of Nursing) of the Pennsylvania CADDRE (Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology), which is funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This multi-center grant is devoted to investigating risk factors and causes of autism in children ages 2-5 years of age as well as conducting surveillance studies of ASD.
Dr. Levy is active in policy and advocacy on te local, regional and national levels. She co-chaired the research subcommittee of the Pennsylvania Autism Task Force and was chairperson of the workgroup to standardize ASD evaluation in Pennsylvania. As a member of the Autism Expert Panel for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Dr. Levy contributed to the recent (2007) clinical report and Autism Toolkit for pediatricians. She is a member of the Executive Board for the Council on Children with Disabilities of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Adina Lieberman
Adina Lieberman graduated from Boston University in 2004 with a BA in English and is currently enrolled as a part time MPH student at Penn. During her time as an Americorps National Civilian Community Corps member in 2002-03, she became aware of a lack of health education and services in low-income communities. In 2006, moved by her neighborhood’s call for action against violence, she founded SoSo Town Watch and served as president for over two years. In this capacity, she increased her exposure to and strengthened her understanding of the diverse population in Philadelphia. She worked for the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Regulatory Affairs as an IRB Administrator for four years and is currently a clinical research auditor for the Abramson Cancer Center’s Department of Compliance and Monitoring. In these two regulatory roles, she has become familiar with much of the research conducted at Penn, especially cancer research and clinical and translational research. She is uncertain as to what her MPH focus will ultimately be in, but she is very interested in learning more about health education efforts in Philadelphia for children.
Jonathan Lo
Jonathan is currently pursuing his MPH full-time while working as a clinical research coordinator at the Scheie Eye Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a B.A. in biology from Swarthmore College. At the Scheie Eye Institute, he assists in clinical trials focused on treatments of uveitis, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. He was drawn to public health after spending several years working with underserved communities at ophthalmology clinics in Honolulu, Hawaii. His work with patients suffering from diabetic retinopathies sparked an interest in preventive medicine as well as diabetes education. While at Penn, he hopes to better understand diseases within a behavioral and social context, and learn how to better work with the local communities. He plans to apply to medical school where he can use his MPH degree to investigate and design more efficient interventions for diabetics and concomitant diseases. He is also an avid surfer and tennis player.
Edith Maravanyika
Edith Maravanyika, born on March 28, 1984, grew up in a family that was keen on education, and at a young age her parents knew she would stand out and make a difference in the world. She was a very caring person and always made sure everyone was well taken care of. Edith consistently maintained a stellar academic record throughout her matriculation. She was involved in many volunteer programs through the National Honor Society ranging from volunteering in nursing homes to assiting in youth-run programs in the community. Being of Zimbabwean descent, she was always determined to give back to her country and the world at large; she was determined to stand out.
After careful consideration Edith decided that nursing was the best way for her. She graduated from the University of MA in Lowell, with a bachelor's degree in science in nursing and she began working on a medical surgical telemetry floor. At he same time she did some geriatric care, home health and community health. During her free time she assisted her church with health related issues and went into the community and reached out to residents. She was also involved in health screens as well as HIV/AIDS testing, and educating the community on preventative programs; a department that is underfunded by the government. After three years of experience Edith decided to go back to school to obtain a MSN/MPH from the University of Pennsylania to focus more on preventive health programs educating the community and assisting in increasing health care access in these communities.
Amanda McCarthy
Amanda graduated from Loyola University Maryland in May of 2010 with a bachelor's degree in biology and is currently enrolled as a part-time student in the MPH Program at the Univesity of Pennsyvlania, on the global health track. Her interest in public health has largely been formed by her long-time participation in social justice work, especially in the underserved urban communities of Camden, North Philadelpha and inner-city Baltimore. In collge she co-led the Loyola corps of Poject HEALTH, a national non-profit that works to break the link between poverty and poor health in America. Her primary interest is in international health, especially the interconnectedness among the political, cultural, and econmic factors that affect access to care in underserved areas of the world. She is especially interested in exploring these factors in places that are experiencing or have recently experienced conflict, natural disaster, or other destabilizing crises.
Amanda currently works as a study coordinator in the Adult & Pediatric Bone Marrow Failure Center, a collaboration between the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania. After finishing her MPH at PENN, Amanda hopes to attend medical school so she can continue to work toward her goal of providing direct medical care in areas where health care access is extremely limited. Amanda intends to continue to direct her efforts at correcting the inequalities surrounding health care access both at home and abroad throughout her academic and professional careers.
Lindsey McCracken
Lindsey McCracken graduated from Penn State University in 2007 with a BS in Biobehavioral Health. Her undergradaute experience fostered her interest in Public Hatlh through coursework, research, and most notably through a global nutrition-based study abroad to Italy and the World Food Programme. After graduation Lindsey has worked on several research projects within the Philadelphia area. Most recently she spent a year working on a large scale behavioral intervention study aimed at using primary care physicians in preventing childhood obesity. She is currently pursuing a master's in public health part time, while working as a research coordinator in neuroscience at the Univerity of Pennsylvania. She is most interested in studying biostatistics and health policy, and using those skills to guide community outreach and creation of sustainable health intervention programs.
Kathleen Murphy, MEd
Katie Maeve Murphy is a second-year PhD/MPH student at University of Pennsylvania in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development and is interested in ways to improve developmental, educational, and health outcomes for children in low-income and impoverished settings. Before Penn, Katie was based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University as the Deputy Director of the Master's in Development Practice Secretariat, working with university partners around the world to launch cross-disciplinary training programs for practitioners in the field of sustainable development. Prior to working at the Earth Institute, Katie was the Education Manager for the International Rescue Committee in Chad, working with Darfurian refugees to build and improve educational and recreational programs for children and youth. Katie was also a health, sanitation, and education volunteer with the Peace Corps in El Salvador, where she lived in a rural community for 2 years working in education, health and income generation. While serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, Katie was also president of the Gender and Development (GAD) for El Salvador, leading the development of national youth leadership workshops and teacher trainings on gender, self-esteem and HIV/AIDS. Katie has a M.Ed. in International Education Policy from Harvard and a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
Ethan Nguyen
Ethan Nguyen is a project manager with the University of Pennsylvania. His research examines the experiences of limited-English proficient communities in navigating US health systems. As a former Thomas J. Watson Fellow, he has conducted extensive immigrant-focused research in Europe and Australia. He is a graduate of Vassar College.
Priscilla Nunez
Priscilla was born and raised in Philadelphia, and attended its public schools through high school until 2003 when she attended Penn State University. Priscilla graduated in 2008 with a nursing degree and Spanish minor. While she attended Penn State, Priscilla had several opportunities to participate in summer internships with a focus on public health and research. She served as an outreach worker for a federally-qualified health center in Philadelphia, a community health intern program at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan, and as a research trainee for the Children’s Institute in Capetown, South Africa.
Priscilla returned to the Philadelphia area after graduation and currently works in the neonatal intensive care unit as a registered nurse at Albert Einstein Medical Center. While she enjoys her career as a RN, Priscilla is ready to challenge herself even further and use her clinical skills in new ways as she pursues a graduate education. She is interested in the management aspects of nursing and learning how to be an effective leader in the field. She is also interested in exploring public health research.
Miguel Padilla-Hernandez
Miguel Padilla-Hernandez graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Molecular Environmental Biology. After working one year doing research at Berkeley for Dr. Tanouye’s Neurogenetics research lab, he came to University of Pennsylvania and is currently a DMD/MPH candidate. His interest in public health developed through working in underserved communities in Northern California with the Biology Scholars Program and Chicanos in Health Education Student Organization at Berkeley. He is especially interested in the impact dental health has in overall health and hopes a strong public health foundation will provide him the tools needed to address this important connection to his community and the world. He also hopes to inspire more dentists to take interest in public health as many connections to overall health have yet to be explored.
Anna Payanzo
Anna Payanzo holds a BA in Social Anthropology from Harvard College, with a focus on medical anthropology and critical science and technology studies. Undergraduate studies included research in tradition healing and religious practices in a Central African urban community, particularly as a means of addressing psychiatric and behavioral distress. Anna has been working, since completing her undergraduate studies, in inpatient and community mental health service setting, first with individuals, as a mental health specialist on a unit for dissociative and trauma, and most recently in program and housing development for a community-based social service agency operating throughout southern New Jersey. She is interested in researching policy and programmatic solutions to the nexus of health issues around homelessness, trauma, and dislocation and behavioral health program assessment. Anna would like to use her current work in supportive housing development as a focal point, but explore how research and programmatic interventions can be applied to similar issues among folks dislocated by war, trauma and poverty in Africa and in the Rural Native American Southwest United States.
Alison Petok
Alison is currently a dual MSW-MPH student. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and history. She was drawn to public health after spending a few years working in the family planning clinics of Planned Parenthood in Colorado and Philadelphia, which fueled an interest in STI prevention, contraceptive use and sexual health education, as well as preventative medicine and infertility. Alison also has an interest in geriatrics after her social work placement at a long term care facility. She is pursuing an MPH to broaden her public health and policy knowledge and hopes to work abroad in the future.
Maureen Pickarsky
Maureen has worked in the pharmaceutial industry as a bench scientist for ten years. In this environment, the focus is on identification of a viable disease target, and development of effective treatment methods. This model, while valuable, centers on treatment as opposed to prevention. Maureen believes the public health sector offers the opportunity to intervene and effect chagne before disesase overwhelms a community, be it biological or social disease. Maureen believes the direction of our society would benefit from changing our focus on cure to a focus on prevention and personal responsibility. This will require candid communication among many groups to better understand individual community differences and belief systems which are often key barriers to successful implementation of public health practices. Maureen has seen within her own circle of family and friends the gap between public health problems identified through solid scientific research and the resulting distilled message relayed to the larger community. Often, the message is miscontrued, the intent lost, and change does not happen. Through study, she hopes to gain the necessary skills to identify and evaluate public health disparities and then effectively communciate potential solutions to the individuals or communities affected.
Jennifer Plebani, PhD
Jennifer Plebani is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. She obtained her PhD from the University of Vermont in 2004, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Addictions prior to joining the faculty in 2009. Dr. Plebani has conducted research on the treatment of addictive disorders, including the evaluation of behavioral interventions for nicotine dependence, and pharmacotherapies for the treatment of cocaine dependence and alcohol dependence. Her current research interests include investigating the mechanisms of action of promising pharmacotherapies in human laboratory studies. A certified personal trainer, she hopes to combine her interests in order to develop health behavior promotion programs as substance abuse prevention. She is an outdoor enthusiast, a dedicated localvore, and an avid baker.
Laura Pollan
Laura Pollan attended the University of Washington where she majored in cellular, molecular and developmental biology and minored in chemistry. During her undergraduate studies, she completed basic science research with Dr. Hannele Ruohola-Baker and Dr. Ian Sweet. Upon graduating in 2006, Laura found herself drawn towards the human side of science, and consequently began working as a clinical research coordinator for Dr. Xue-Qiao Zhao’s Coronary Atherosclerosis Research Laboratory at the University of Washington. She is currently a clinical research coordinator for Dr. Daniel Rader’s Institute of Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania and attributes her interest in public health and research to her experiences working with Drs. Zhao and Rader. As a result of her work with primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, Laura is interested in researching the health economics of primary prevention in prevalent chronic disease states, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. She will continue her coordinating responsibilities for Dr. Rader while pursuing her masters in public health on a part-time basis.
Vishnu Potluri, MBBS
Vishnu'a training as a physician in India brought him across a large number of people who had been suffering from diseases. Many of these diseases could have been prevented by following proper immunizations, regular screening and maintaining proper hygiene. Through his work on “The Prevalence of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria in Pregnancy” he and his colleagues were able to identify and treat women who were at risk of developing complications due to it, such as premature delivery, pyelonephritis, and low birth weight infants. This was his first experience at conducting a screening study and realized that the ability to conduct a sound study in a population at risk had the potential to be of immense benefit to the community and this is when he became interested in public health. After completing his MPH Vishnu wishes to utilize the skills he acquired to teach and conduct beneficial studies in the community that he serves
Chantel Priolo
Chantel graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in natural science and history. Since graduating, Chantel has worked as a research coordinator for the WIN asthma study and the HAP asthma studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Today, Chantel fulfills “double-duty” as a patient advocate and research coordinator.
Chantel enjoys working in research studies because it delivers a rich opportunity in the medical field. Her position allows her to act as a liaison between providers and patients. A majority of the patients and clinics she deals with are in underserved areas of West Philadelphia so she is able to help patients who struggle with navigating the health care system.
Chantel is seeking a master’s degree in public health so that she can continue to both develop the research skills she has used in the clinical research studies, and help improve health care outcomes for low-income patients. Eventually, after getting her master’s degree in public health, Chantel intends on obtaining a masters degree as a physician assistant. Such a career will allow her to further help, educate, and encourage those in need to be more forward in obtaining the advice and guidance they need from the health care system.
Aaron Rak
Aaron Rak is pursuing his MPH part-time while working in Vaccine Public Policy and Advocacy at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Prior to GSK, Aaron spent five years with the federal government, primarily working in policy and budget at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. While at CDC, he was part of the staff of: the National Immunization Program; the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases; and CDC’s offices in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Aaron also was employed by the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington DC. Aaron holds a BA and a MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California and Yale University, respectively. While at Penn, he is interested in examining public health policy and its impact on government healthcare programs and the health outcomes of their target populations. Aaron is also an avid marathoner and swimmer.
Amna Rizvi
Amna Rizvi’s interest in public health arose because of the deteriorating health situation in the country she was raised – Pakistan. In Pakistan, there are approximately 4 doctors for every nurse – a relatively large ratio of skilled personnel – but there is a grave lack of understanding about what systems of prophylaxis are best suited to the country.
Amna got her Bachelor’s in journalism from Temple University, Philadelphia, PA and moved back to Pakistan, where she became the primary health reporter at Dawn News, Pakistan’s first English language news channel.
She wrote articles and produced television stories on pressing issues such as unsafe abortions, domestic abuse, lack of breastfeeding, dengue and bird flu outbreaks. She also worked as a communications consultant for two maternal health organizations in Pakistan. After moving back to the US, Amna continued to work for mothers in developing countries by becoming involved as a PR/editorial cordinator for a maternal health organization in Boston. Amna plans to pursue the Global Health track of the MPH program. She wants to work in the maternal and neonatal health field, specifically to devise effective prevention strategies and to uncover the eyes and ears of the public to the tragic realities of maternal and neonatal health in developing countries.
Deena Roemer
Deena Roemer is enrolled as a full-time MPH student at Penn. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in mrketing, she put her business and communications skills to work in the Philadelphia media market for five years, a majority of which she spent at KYW Newsradio. In 2009, Deena spent six months abroad in Israel where she worked at The Lincoln David Abraham Pediatric Educational Institute of Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. There she worked one-on-one with children, in collaboration with their parents and doctors, to develop resources and programs that served the specific emotional and developmental needs of the chronically ill pediatric patient. Her experience at Shaare Zedek sparked her curiosity in the patient-parent-provider dynamic and its impact on compliance, health literacy and disease management. Upon returning to the U.S. Deena began to question where children actually fit into the national health literacy agenda and how parents’ and caregivers’ own health literacy influences a child’s ability to acquire, process, and understand health information. She recently contributed an article entitled “Building Rapport with the Pediatric Patient: A Retrospective Perspective” to PEDIATRICS: A Competency-Based Companion (Elsevier 2011) and is now working part time at The Nemours Center for Children’s Health Media (KidsHealth.org) as a policy analyst. She hopes to further explore the complexities of pediatric chronic care and to make tangible contributions to the healthcare community and the patients and families receiving care nationwide.
Maria Samohod
Maria Samohod is enrolled as a full-time MPH student at Penn. She graduated from Loyola University Maryland in May 2010, where she received her Bachelor’s of Science in biology. She first became interested in public health when she began volunteering at a shelter for medically fragile babies with drug addiction and disease in Baltimore during her sophomore year at Loyola. Living in Baltimore for four years opened her eyes to the serious healthcare issues existing in our country. Maria was also a part of Project Health at Loyola, where she worked at the family help desk of the Druid Clinic in inner city Baltimore. At the clinic she acted as an advocate for individuals in need of food, housing, health insurance, childcare, adult education and job training and connected them to the necessary resources. Her ultimate goal is to become a physician working in the Public Health field, advocating the importance of preventive Medicine.
Amanda Schultheis
Amanda first became exposed to public health while serving in the AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) program, where she was placed at Civic House, the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for community service and advocacy work. While she was an AmeriCorps volunteer, she sat as a co-chair on the committee that planned National Public Health Week on Penn’s campus. Amanda now works full-time at Civic House and is pursing the MPH degree as a part-time student. At Loyola University Maryland, where Amanda received her B.A. in communications, she developed her passion for community work that drives her interest in public health today.
Danielle Soucier
Danielle Soucier's personal interest in the field of public health began with mission trips that were a component of her undergraduate carer. Having traveled to Lima, Peru, and San Juan, Costa Rica and lived in rural Virginia and Pennsylvania, she becamer aware of the need for advocating for the public health needs of these communities. The social aspects of health and healthcare interested Danielle in pursuing both a biology and sociology bachelors in college at Villanova University. She then spent the previous year (2009-2010) in the UPENN Masters of Bioethics program, where she also completed a certificate in clinical ethics consultation through the Mt. Sinai/Graduate Union/UPENN Program.
Danielle works full time as a clincial research coordinator at the Center for the Integration of Genetic Healthare Technologies at the University of Pennsylania. She hopes to be able to explore public health policy, administrative, and management opportunities through the MPH Program and other opportunities at PENN as she moves toward a career in healthcare law/policy and hospital administration/management. she also hopes to become more involved in formulating social, legal and healthcare policy and optimizing administraive and operational development in order to best meet the needs of patients, physicians, and community. Furthermore, she plans to broaden her public health knowledge through advanced research opporutnity at CIGHT, inlcuding exploring the public health aspects of emerging genetic technologies and the impact on changing behaviors associated with higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseaese.
Deon Steele
Deon Steele is enrolled as a full time student in the MPH program. She graduated from Howard University in 2008 with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry. After numerous volunteer activities with the homeless, Deon developed an interest in health education and communication. She hopes to work with women and children while focusing on obesity prevention.
Elisabeth Stelson
Beth graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in history. Following graduation (and a brief stint as a wildland firefighter), Beth worked at an HIV/AIDS drop-in center in Minneapolis. She continued her work with the HIV-positive community as an HIV counselor in New Orleans while also working at The Green Project, an environmental waste-management organization in the 9th Ward. While at The Green Project, Beth founded The ReUse District, a nonprofit collaboration that unites reuse organizations and small businesses to promote source reduction and increase the commercial density of New Orleans’ low-income neighborhoods. Beth is currently perusing a joint masters in social work and public health at the University of Pennsylvania with specific interests in HIV-prevention among low-income women and prison populations.
Katelyn Tente
As an undergraduate student at Saint Joseph’s University pursing a dual major in elementary and special education and a minor in faith justice studies, Katie witnessed the many barriers faced by Philadelphia’s youth that make success in school difficult. She discovered that although teaching was her initial passion, she was drawn to the greater societal issues in terms of health, wellness and social welfare that her students and their families encountered. After graduating she completed a year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corp in Sacramento, Ca where she was a case manager for pregnant and parenting homeless youth. After her year of service was completed she stayed for an additional year honing in on her interests of the impact of nutrition, exercise and stress with young mothers. As a case manager she worked with young mothers dealing with high risk pregnancies, mental health, pre-natal and post-natal physical health, educational barriers, inadequate health care, domestic violence and many other matters. From a young age Katie was exposed to social inequities through volunteer work in Chester, Pa in a mother baby program. She also spent time in Bolivia studying the Jesuit run school system Fe Y Alegria and also in Ghana working at the Missionaries of Charity Orphanage with babies infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Katie has an interest in disaster response and relief after working in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, especially using a trauma based approach to serving victims of disasters. She is pursuing her MSW/MPH at Penn and hopes to continue with the family unit focusing on healthy birth outcomes and unplanned pregnancies in young mothers, she also has interests in community based approaches to deal with STD prevention and control. She works part time at an adoption agency and in her spare time loves to run, read, explore and cook.
Nishika Vidanage
Nishika graduated from Lehigh University in 2007 with a B.A. in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology and in 2008 with a M.A. in Sociology. Starting in the Fall of 2009, Nishika plans on pursuing the Global Health track of the MPH program. Before coming to Penn, Nishika was the Prevention Program Coordinator and Prevention Case Manager at the AIDS Services Center at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She would like to continue working in the field of HIV/AIDS however, on a global level. One of Nishika’s passions is prevention education and empowerment. She hopes to focus her Capstone Project on how literacy can improve the health of the community.
Kathryn Volpicelli
Kate graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in 2007 with a B.S. in psychology. At SJU, she became interested in learning about health disparities among low-income populations while participating in multiple community service trips throughout the United States. She also traveled to Peru and England, as well as studied abroad in Brisbane, Australia. After completing her studies, she took up a position at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA as a Health Educator. There, she studied the effects of tailored versus generic phone counseling on the engagement of total skin exams, skin self-exams, and sun protection practices among first-degree relatives at increased risk for melanoma. She also recruited early-stage breast cancer patients for study on the effectiveness of couple-focused group therapy. Her travel experience combined with her community service and work experience has led her to the University of Pennsylvania to obtain a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Global Health. Kate’s current interests include: health prevention, women’s health, and child nutrition.
Jennifer Walton, MD
Jennifer is a fellow in developmental and behavioral pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She graduated from Kent State University with a B.S. in integrated life sciences, received her medical degree from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, and completed her pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Jennifer’s focus is on education and policies on children with special healthcare needs. Jennifer is currently working on research involving urban children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Changying Wang
Changying Wang is from China, where she received her Bachelor's degree in preventive medicine. She likes participating in healthcare volunteer activities and internships. She volunteered in the Prevention of H1N1 Influenza in the Guangzhou Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau at the Airport. Changying also completed a health supervision internship in China. All these different experiences inspired her interest in the field of public health administration.
Danfeng Wang
Danfeng Wang graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a MSW degree in 2009. Currently she is working as an intensive case manager with children and families who have mental health diagnosis in Philadelphia. Danfeng wants to pursue the Master of Public Health with a concentration in mental health policy and services in order to research and implement intervention policies aimed at increasing the effectiveness of treatment, eliminate health disparities, and improve access to mental health services, particularly among populations that are disproportionately affected.
Michael Wu
Michael Wu graduated from college as a pre-med student with a B.A. in biology. At the time, he wanted to explore other fields and found work at a firm engaged in litigation before the International Trade Commission. In returning to graduate school, he knew he wanted to combine his interest in healthcare with his work in the law. Ultimately he hope to build a career working for a federal agency as an investigator or policy maker. Through the MPH program he hope to gain the skills and experiences necessary to succeed within that field.
Michael's primary interest is in learning about the role of the Federal government in promoting the public health. He hopes to gain a better understanding of the abilities and limitations upon government in regulating and managing the many aspects of health. He also hope to gain some insight into the challenges involved in policy making, as well as the processes by which policies are assessed and implemented.