Meet Our 2017-18 Global Health Specialty Cohort!
(Read more on Eligibility and Requirements above)
Prasad Acharya
Academic Program: MPH, Interdisciplinary
Prasad's interest in global health started with an experience in a rural health outreach program in South India during a break in medical school. He observed interdisciplinary teams providing care to remote areas and learned about a new telemedicine system used to reach patients who would otherwise lack access to medical care and prevention efforts. Since then, Prasad has been passionate about social and technological innovation more broadly along with innovative approaches to improve prevention efforts and access to care at the local, national, and global levels. Currently, he is in the Interdisciplinary MPH program while training in Preventive Medcine with the California Department of Public Health.
Natasha Borgen
Academic Program: Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and received my BS in Public Health with a minor in Global Health from the University of Washington in 2015. After graduating, I taught English in a public high school in Colombia, and then spent a summer contributing to a health education projects in rural communities in Dominican Republic. Currently, I am a first year student in the Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health concentration. I am fascinated by the intersection of culture and health and am interested in learning how to increase access to care, especially for women and children, through community-based participatory research and the development of cost-effective, culturally aware interventions in the global community.
Robert Castro
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Dorothy Chen
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Caitlin Collins
Academic Program: MPH, Interdisciplinary
Caitlin Collins grew up in Kansas City, MO before migrating to the East coast for college and medical school. She is currently a General Surgery resident at UCSF pursuing an interdisciplinary MPH as part of her surgical education. She is interested in the intersection between trauma care delivery and global health. In line with these interests, she will be assisting with the implementation of a trauma care quality improvement program in western Cameroon following completion of her degree.
Caroline Collins
Academic Program: MPH, Environmental Health Sciences
I grew up south of Boston and received my BA in Biological Sciences from Connecticut College in 2015. Before pursuing my MPH, I worked in a laboratory where I assisted with human development research. I am a second year Environmental Health Sciences MPH student and I am interested in the intersection between environmental health and infectious disease. I am particularly interested in infectious disease epidemiology in low and middle income countries.
Jalang Conteh
Academic Program: MPH, Community Health Sciences
I’m from The Gambia, and was a recent Mastercard Foundation Scholar at Michigan State University. There, I received my B.S. in Human Biology with minors in Women and Gender Studies and Global Public Health and Epidemiology. My interest is global public health through a women’s empowerment lens. In The Gambia, I served as a youth advocate for a grassroots women’s rights organization addressing traditional practices with harmful effects on women’s health. My passion led me to Ghana, where I researched knowledge and use of antenatal and postnatal care. I also worked with Last Mile Health in Liberia on integrated medical outreach, providing basic healthcare in difficult-to-reach villages. During my graduate studies, I hope to broaden my understanding of different global maternal health issues. I am excited to return to The Gambia, to influence national level maternal public health policies and advocate for issues relating to access.
Laura Deneckere
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Laura is a first year MPH student in the Infectious Disease and Vaccinology program. She is from Madison, Wisconsin and graduated from Lawrence University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Biology. Laura discovered her passion for public health while using bioinformatics and molecular imaging techniques to study gene regulation in an intermediate snail host for the neglected tropical disease, schistosomiasis. After graduating in 2016, Laura was fortunate to serve with City Year Seattle King County, an education non-profit that focuses on bridging the achievement gap in marginalized youth. She is interested in studying structural detreminants of neglected tropical diseases, hoping to spread global awareness of various diseases and illnesses..
Audrey Denman
Academic Program: Master of Translational Medicine
Audrey Denman is a Master of Translational Medicine student originally from Seattle, WA. Building off an undergraduate degree biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology from Whitman College, Audrey gained experience in infectious disease research as a National Institutes of Health fellow working on HIV dynamics and replication. She has also served as a research analyst recommending feasible medical solutions for Military Service members in resource-constrained, battlefield settings. Inspired by these endeavors, Audrey aims to address global health disparities by developing medical devices to improve the well-being of those in low- and middle-income countries.
Thien-An Ha
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology and Biostats
Thien-An is originally from Rockville, Maryland and received her BS in Biological Sciences at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). During her undergraduate studies, her research focused mainly on genetic diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis. Her focus shifted towards public health after joining a team of UMBC students involved in sustainability efforts in her third year. Her interest was solidified when she traveled abroad and noticed the impact of poor health infrastructure and citywide pollution on low income Asian communities. She is currently in her first year of the Epidemiology/Biostatistics MPH program and is excited to pursue this next step in her career.
Robin Hauschner
Academic Program: MPH, Vectorborne & Emerging IID
Kirsten Hogstad
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Kirsten Hogstad originates from Spokane, WA. She attended the University of Washington, Seattle graduating with BS in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology in 2014. Following graduation, she enrolled in the Peace Corps, serving as a Youth Development Volunteer in Costa Rica from 2014-2016. During her service she discovered her interest in the field of public health, specifically her passion for equitable care and access on a global level. She hopes to work with the implementation of new health programs or the reimagination of existing health programs related to infectious diseases in developing countries. She is currently a first year MPH student in the Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology program.
Diana Holden
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Diana Holden is a first-year MPH student in the Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology program. She is from Honolulu, HI and graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. After graduating, she completed research on a Parkinson’s disease related project and developed an interest in public health while serving different communities in a health clinic in Hawai‘i. Her research interests include studying the spread of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance and hopes to bring change to communities both in the United States and globally.
Zaidat Ibrahim
Academic Program: MPH, Health Policy and Management
Navita Kalair
Academic Program: MPH, Interdisciplinary
I am a dentist from India and pursued my Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Panjab University, India following which I practiced clinical dentistry in Chandigarh. I have always been interested in the oral health education of the underserved populations in India. I have worked as a Continuing Dental Health Co-convener with Indian Dental Association after my graduation for almost 5 years in educating adolescent children in various schools of Chandigarh. Currently, I am in my Interdisciplinary 11-month MPH program which will be followed by UCSF Dental Public Health Residency in 2019-20. I am interested in working globally with mothers and young children to educate them regarding Oral Health and its impact on the overall health and growth of children and also spread awareness about Nutrition playing a vital role in tooth decay all over the world.
Ramanjot Kaur
Academic Program: MPH, Global Health and Environment
Hello everyone! My name is Ramanjot Kaur and I’m a first-year MPH student in the Global Health and Environment program. I was born in India, but grew up in Santa Rosa, California. I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 with a major in Environmental Science. I am very passionate about water quality, sanitation, hygiene and its effect on children’s health. For my senior thesis as an undergraduate, I was lucky enough to travel to India and design and conduct an epidemiological study that focused on the relationship between poor water quality and stunted growth in young children in informal settlements. In the future, I hope to work directly with vulnerable populations in developing countries to implement public health interventions. It is an honor to attend UC Berkeley as a graduate student and I am very excited for the opportunities ahead.
Nicole Kelly
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Nicole Kelly grew up in the LA area and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill. After graduation, she served as an AmeriCorps member in Denver and assisted with HIV prevention research at the University of Colorado. Nicole is a first year Epidemiology & Biostatistics MPH student where she is working with Dr. Sandi McCoy to evaluate incentives to increase antiretroviral adherence/engagement in Tanzania. Nicole’s other interests include the intersection of social epidemiology and infectious disease, particularly within low and middle-income countries.
Amber Khan
Academic Program: MPH, Global Health and Environment
Arti Kundu
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology
Arti is working in getting a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at One Health Institute at the University of California, Davis and was working on a collaborative project between All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India and University of California, Davis, USA, which was funded by a grant from the Fogarty International Center at National Institute of Health (NIH). She is using molecular techniques and stochastic modeling to predict human health risks in developing and developed nations from water-and food-borne pathogens. Prior to her postdoctoral fellowship, she was a graduate student at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the University of California, Davis (UCD). She completed her fieldwork and research on a number of projects including molecular techniques, Microbial Source Tracking (MST), and risk assessment modeling. She intends to work on challenging issues arising from contaminated environment for which she can provide practical and cost-effective solutions. Her research focuses on reducing diarrheal diseases in resource-limited countries by measuring enteric pathogens and fecal indicator organisms in stored household drinking waters, communal waters and hand-rinse samples of mothers and their young children.
Katie Kurowski
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Disease and Vaccinology
Katie Kurowski grew up in the Boston area, graduating from Elon University with a degree in Biology. After graduation, Katie spent two years doing stem cell research focusing on ALS at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She developed a passion for public health while studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, where she learned how widespread tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are in South Africa and the effects they had on the culture and development of the country. As an MPH student in the Infectious Disease and Vaccinology program, Katie is interested in infectious disease in a global context, especially the epidemiology of these diseases.
Thai Lee
Academic Program: MPH, Health Policy and Management
Thai Lee is a student in the Health Policy & Management MPH program and is also a physician specialist with the San Francisco Dept of Public Health. Dr. Lee recieved his DO from LECOM-Bradenton and completed his residency in Family Medicine from the Univ of MN. After residency, Dr. Lee moved to New Zealand and worked with the Maori and other underserved communities on chronic disease management. Dr. Lee is interested in improving health care delivery systems and turning health equity challenges into policy.
Lizzy Leighty
Academic Program: Master of Development Practice
Lizzy is a Bay Area native with a BA in International Studies from the University of Oregon and an MA in International Development from the University of Denver. She’s currently pursuing an interdisciplinary MPH at UC Berkeley and will graduate in the Spring of 2019. Lizzy has significant experience working with small nonprofits in the areas of program management, operations, and nonprofit administration. Her interests include global health equity, prevention and control of infectious disease, and health in humanitarian emergencies.
Rocky Li
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Amiel Maldonado
Academic Program: MPH, Community Health Sciences
Clarissa Martinez
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Clarissa is a first year MPH student in the Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology program. She developed an interest in microbiology at the University of Texas at Austin where she received a B.S. in biology. After graduation, she joined Global Medical Training, an international humanitarian organization that provides free medical-dental care to underserved communities in Latin America. It was during a mission trip in Panama where she decided to pursue a graduate education in global health in order to contribute to innovative responses to infectious diseases in Latin countries. Her interests include molecular pathogenesis research and the development of disease diagnostic technologies for low resource settings.
Rachel Marusinec
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Rachel is a first year Infectious Disease MPH student originally from Wisconsin. She graduated in 2016 from the University of Minnesota. While there, she discovered her interest in applying public health to infectious disease problems through her classes in microbiology and epidemiology, and experience working in a virology lab. After graduation she gained clinical research experience by working with the cancer immunotherapy program at UCSF. At Berkeley, she hopes to gain the skills and knowledge to help lower the burden of infectious disease, both in the US and elsewhere.
Serena Master
Academic Program: MPH, Health and Social Behavior
Serena Master is from Eastvale, CA and she is a recent 2018 graduate of USC with a B.S. in Global Health. She became interested in global health after participating in a community-health driven volunteer program in Rajasthan, India. After returning to southern California she continued to focus on community health by addressing walkability, food deserts, and access to care in a local LA neighborhood. Currently, she is a first year Health and Social Behavior MPH student, and her interests include global health policy, universal access to resources, and addressing refugee health care.
Matthew Mayes
Academic Program: Master of Development Practice
Matt is a second year Master of Development Practice student focused on the relationships between sustainable development, energy generation and climate change. A native of Northern California, Matt earned his BA in Political Economy from the UC Berkeley studying the parameters influencing access to energy resources in low-income countries. Before graduate school Matt worked at the San Francisco non-profit UniversalGiving, where he led partner management and recruitment efforts connecting public and private donors to development initiatives globally. As a member of UniversalGiving's corporate team Matt handled the comprehensive due-diligence and vetting of non-profit organizations nominated to their international clients’ CSR grant programs. Matt is pursuing the certificate in Global Public Health as a complement to better characterize the effects of energy poverty and climate change on health outcomes globally.
Alton Mpungu
Academic Program: Master of Development Practice
Stephanie Ng
Academic Program: MPH, Environmental Health Sciences
Stephanie is a first year MPH student in the Environmental Health Sciences program. She is from Fresno, California and graduated form UCLA with her B.S. in Environmental Sciences and minor in Environmental Engineering. After graduating, she worked for the Oregon Sea Grant, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Her interests include air and water quality issues in disadvantaged areas and how they affect health at both local and global scales.
Jennifer Nguyen
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Jennifer Nguyen grew up in Garden Grove, CA and graduated from UC San Diego with her B.S. in Biology and a minor in Global Health. After graduation, she worked at UCLA Ronald Reagan hospital researching futility of treatment in ICUs. Jennifer is a first year MPH student in Infectious Diseases & Vaccinology, interested in outbreak response and surveillance of vector-borne diseases.
Gathenji Njoroge
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Cara Nolan
Academic Program: Master of Development Practice
Cara is currently studying a Master of Development Practice and working as a Graduate Student Researcher at the Berkeley Center for Global Public Health, where she assists a USAID-funded program on implementation science. She is passionate about improving the implementation and scaling up of effective global health solutions. Previously, she worked as a management consultant shaping Australian public policy in areas such as health, education and Indigenous affairs. She has spent time working alongside Aboriginal community organizations in Central Australia and with the Prime Minister and Cabinet Indigenous Affairs Group. Prior to consulting, Cara worked in impact evaluation of economic development and public health policy across Uganda and Vietnam. She also co-founded and led an educational organization building young people’s skills in social entrepreneurship. Her undergraduate studies were in biochemistry and international relations at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Mollie O’Brien
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology and Biostats
Karen Raju
Academic Program: MPH, Interdisciplinary
I am Karen Raju. I am a student of the interdisciplinary MPH program. Before coming to Berkeley I have volunteered in many community outreach programs with oral aspect as its focus in India. I have worked for underserved in rural set up in North India. I also engaged myself in some dental camps in schools and day boardings during my internship. I worked as a non academic Junior resident in Oral health Sciences Center, PGIMER for a couple of months, providing oral health services to low income group in my country. My interests revolve around promoting the maternal and child oral health at a global level.
Kimberly Restrepo
Academic Program: MPH, Environmental Health Sciences
Kimberly Restrepo is from Miami, FL and graduated from Florida International University with a BS in Biological Sciences. She is currently a 1st year Environmental Health Sciences MPH student. Her interests include climate change, WASH, infectious disease, and emergency and disaster response.
Tatyana Roberts
Academic Program: MPH, Health and Social Behavior
Tatyana Roberts grew up in Westchester, New York and graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Biological Sciences and a minor in Global Health. During her undergraduate career, Tatyana conducted health policy research in Zambia and participated in clinical shadowing at health facilities in Peru. Following graduation, she became a Global and Public Health Fellow for Cornell’s Global Health Program. In this position, she supported undergraduate education in global and public health and provided programmatic support to their international summer programs in Dominican Republic, India, Tanzania, and Zambia. She is currently a first year MPH student in the Health and Social Behavior program. Her current interests are in health system strengthening initiatives, global diplomacy, and implementation science.
Nathaniel Sands
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Hello everyone! My name is Nathaniel Sands, and I am excited to meet and learn from everyone in the Global Health Specialty. Together, we will work toward a brighter future! I am originally from Oakland, CA, so I will be living at home while completing this Masters. I completed a B.S. in Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara in January, and later worked in a lab in the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Department at the USC Health Science Campus since then. Under the direction of Dr. Chengyu Liang, this lab focused on autophagy, a word generally defined as cellular bulk degradation of cytoplasmic components. This process is implicated in many health issues, including viral infection and cancer. In addition to my interest in laboratory sciences, I am also interested in healthcare delivery. I have travelled with an organization called MEDLIFE (Medicine, Education, and Development for Low-income Families Everywhere) to Peru and Ecuador, volunteered in the emergency department at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, and I am a certified EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). I think that the Global Health Specialty is a great way to combine these interests and find a career I can be passionate about.
Samantha Schildroth
Academic Program: MPH, Environmental Health Sciences
Christine Smith
Academic Program: MPH, Community Health Sciences
Maria Vassimon de Assis
Academic Program: Master of Development Practice
Lilia Walsh
Academic Program: Master of Development Practice
Lilia is a second year Master of Development Practice student who focuses on women's global health and arts and community engagement.
Naomi Wilcox
Academic Program: MPH, Epidemiology and Biostats
Mingxi Yin
Academic Program: MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
Mingxi Yin is a MTM student pursuing a global health specialty. She is from Kunming, China, and graduated with a B.S in biomedical engineering in Georgia Tech. She had two years of laboratory experience in single molecule mechanobiology in the human immune system. Her internship at a telemedicine startup company as part of the new hierarchy medical system in China has fostered her interests in advancing public health and delivering accessible and affordable health care services.