Ambassadors

The Department of Epidemiology and Population Health is proud to announce a new ambassador program as part of the department’s continued commitment to supporting all student community members. Ambassadors are current MS and PhD students within the department who have graciously volunteered their time to help prospective and incoming students answer questions about our programs, department, and life at Stanford. Ambassadors do not review or help with individual student applications but serve as an additional resource to help students navigate the transition to Stanford.

Have a question about life at EPH? The Ambassadors are here to help. Just access this Zoom link to join Ambassador office hours and chat face-to-face with current EPH students who are happy to answer questions. 

*Please note: Ambassadors cannot answer specific admissions questions.

June Li

PhD Student

June is currently a 1st year PhD student in Epidemiology; her research interests lie in understanding clinical outcomes and assessing the benefits and risks of hypertension treatment in patients with chronic kidney disease and concomitant cardiovascular disease. She has also completed her MS in epidemiology in the department. June is an international student from Canada, and in her free time, she enjoys painting/sketching, reading, and challenging baking projects.

Catharine Bowman

PhD Student 

Catharine Bowman is a PhD Student in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University and an MD Student at the University of Calgary. In 2007, Catharine’s mother was diagnosed with lymphedema, leading Catharine to promise her mother that she would one day develop a pharmacological treatment for her incurable disease. By age fifteen, Catharine founded a national team of clinicians and scientists to pursue this work across Canada. Today, Catharine's research focuses on the epidemiology of lymphatic disease, lymphedema therapeutics, psychosocial manifestations, and surgical treatment of lymphedema. In 2020, Catharine was named one of Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 in Healthcare, and in 2022, she was awarded a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship at Stanford University.

James Gou

MS Student

My name is James, and I prefer to be called James. I am a first-year MS student at the EPH department. My research interests include multi-omics data integration to study cancer and ethnic disparity. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me whenever you have any questions!

Melissa Leeolou

MS student

Melissa Leeolou is a medical student and graduate student in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health. She is passionate about using research to support patient advocacy and is currently focused on investigating novel biomarkers in dermatomyositis.

Pari Ghazi

MS student

Pari Ghazi is a first-year MS student in EPH. Prior to Stanford, she researched the health, social, and economic value of health interventions and received BAs in Biology and English from Cornell University. Her research today relates to reducing emissions from brick kilns in Bangladesh to mitigate the climate consequences of air pollution and support human health. She enjoys exploring California's farmers markets and experiencing the great outdoors through running, cycling, and rock climbing.

Bella Vincent

MS student

Bella Vincent is a 2nd year Master's student in Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Stanford University with a focus in Infectious Disease and Global Health. At the Reddy Lab at Stanford Medicine, she investigates cardiac microvasculature and hemodynamic insults in pediatric patients at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, investigating congenital heart defects through biochemistry, microscopy, and biocomputational methods. Concurrently, at the Biogeochemistry Fendorf Lab at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and Stanford Medicine, she analyzes environmental samples from Bangladesh to examine lead levels in relation to child and maternal health. Beyond her research commitments, she is an ardent contributor to her university community, serving as the Vice President of the Stanford Biosciences Student Association, a Graduate Residence Assistant at Duan Residence Hall, a Stanford Haas Center Graduate Public Service Fellow, a Teaching Assistant, and consultant for Stanford Health Care Group, a JEDI Student Representative for EPH and the NGSO coordinator for the grad class of 2024. She has presented at various local and national conferences and plans to continue her work post-graduation in the Reddy Lab as a full-time researcher and clinical research coordinator.

Vaishnavi Bhamidi

MS student

Vaishnavi (she/her) is an MSc candidate in Epidemiology and Clinical Research with a concentration in Global Health at the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University. She has a keen interest in global health research and strives to achieve a holistic, nuanced understanding of the discipline from a transdisciplinary lens. Outside of school she enjoys reading, singing acapella, and staying active.

Richard Liang

PhD student

Richard is an MD/PhD student from the Bay Area with research interests in life course and social epidemiology. After graduating from UCLA with a major in physiology and minor in public health, he took a gap year working in clinical trials at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center before starting medical school at Stanford. Now having started the PhD program at EPH, he is building on research conducted as a Stanford medical student on longitudinal studies and data linkages in various countries, such as the US, South Korea, Denmark, and Japan. While his dissertation research is on the metabolic risk factors of preterm birth, he also has research experience on health care access and aging. Feel free to reach out about questions about research, medical school, life in California/Stanford, or international collaborations!