Stanford Population Health Summer Research Program

Nina Edwards

Project Title: Teamwork, Targets, Technology, and Tight Control in Newly Diagnosed Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes: 4T Study

Faculty Mentor: David Maahs, Lucile Salter Packard Professor of Pediatrics

Nina Edwards is a senior at the University of Arizona Honors College. She is working toward a Bachelor of Science in Care, Health, and Society, with a Public Health and Pre-Health Professions minor. She is involved on campus as incoming Co-Director of the Student Health Advocacy Committee, a student government organization that aims to improve preventive health education and resources for students. 

Nina is originally from Anchorage, Alaska, and is Tlingit and Tsimshian Alaska Native. Inspired by her family’s commitment to Tribal Health, she hopes that her future career will contribute to health equity for Alaska Native, American Indian, and otherwise rural or underserved communities. She has broad interests in the ways health can be improved at the population level through addressing social determinants of health, public policy, and healthcare systems. She plans to pursue a graduate degree in medicine and/or public health. In her spare time, she loves to hike, play guitar, practice yoga, and read.

Karrington Hendrix

Project Title: Environmental causes of social inequalities in biological aging

Faculty Mentor: David Rehkopf, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine (Primary Care & Population Health)

Karrington Hendrix (she/her/hers) is an incoming junior at California State East Bay majoring in Health Science with a Public Health Concentration. 

Before transfering to Cal State East Bay, Karrington’s exploration into public health began when a close family member started to struggle with mental illness. Karrington recognized a gap in the healthcare system for treating black youth with mental illnesses and since then has been dedicated to advocating for black youths' mental health. 

Through the AHEaD Research program with mentor Dr. David Rehkopf, Karrington hopes to better understand the impact of population health research in hopes of conducting her own research on the impact that predominantly white schools have on black and brown mental health and academic performance, with the goal of increasing the number of person of color (POC) counselors in said school systems. Until then Karrington volunteers at the Berkeley Free Clinic as part of their Peer Counseling Services, providing a non judgemental space for individuals experiencing homlessesnes and drug addiction to express themselves with the opportunity to obtain assistance. In her free time, if she is not trying out a new restaurant, Karrington enjoys reading science fiction books. 

William Hutson

Project Title: Influence of weather and environment on the efficacy of water, sanitation, and handwashing interventions in rural Bangladesh

Faculty Mentor: Jade Benjamin-Chung, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health

William Hutson (he/him) is an incoming MPH student at Washington University in St. Louis. Through his leadership roles in his university’s Minority Association of Premedical Students chapter during his undergraduate degree, he gained exposure to ways physicians can impact their patients’ health on a community or population level. He now hopes to be a physician who works to both treat and prevent disease for his patients by addressing the social factors influencing their health. He is passionate about reducing health inequities that impact marginalized communities, and especially hopes to address inequities in addiction treatment access and gun violence. He plans to use his interests in epidemiology and health policy, along with his perspective as somebody who grew up surrounded by these issues to advocate for people of color in the St. Louis community and worldwide. In his free time, he loves hiking, listening to Motown music, and pretending he’s an NBA analyst when discussing basketball with his friends. 

Joaquin Luqueño

Project Title: Trends in police shootings in the United States

Faculty Mentor: Mathew Kiang, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health

Joaquin Luqueño is a junior at the University of California Davis, majoring in Economics (specialization in Data Analytics & Economic Analytics) with a double minor in Public Health and Sociology. Hailing from Southeast Los Angeles, he has experienced first-hand the systemic issues in inadequate access to healthcare facilities and the lack of resources needed for a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, he works at the intersection of medicine and economic theory in order to improve the access and quality of healthcare within low-income communities and to make medical knowledge more accessible to marginalized populations. 

At UC Davis, Joaquin also serves as a Public Health Ambassador, a sociology research assistant, and the vice president of the Sociology Association. His most impactful position has been serving as a Public Health Ambassador in the wake of COVID-19 and distributing knowledge about policies and resources to the Davis community. He also has gained experience in academic research at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, where he assisted with a data science project on Latinx intersectionality. Thanks to these experiences, Joaquin aspires to pursue a graduate degree in Public Health or Medicine., concentrating on health economics. During his free time, Joaquin enjoys learning about video content creation, trying out new restaurants, and playing Pokemon Go. 

Mileati Melese

Project Title: Improving Equity for Health Care Payments

Faculty Mentor: Sherri Rose, Associate Professor of Health Policy

Mileati Melese graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a major in biology and a minor in mathematics. Her interests in using data to improve public health stem after she took a course in biostatistics and reflected back to her experience growing up in Tigray and the scarcity of public health data and how that might have negatively impacted health and health outcomes of vulnerable communities. Mileati plans to continue her graduate degree in quantitative methods of health to improve and innovate preventative public health measures and post-care or follow-up interventions that can potentially lead to favorable health outcomes and enhance the health of the general public. In her free time, Mileati enjoys cooking.

Hodan Mohamed

Project Title: The Built Environment and Life Expectancy in Santa Clara County

Faculty Mentor: Michelle Odden, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health

Hodan Mohamed is a senior at James Madison University pursuing a degree in Health Sciences with a minor in Humanitarian Affairs. She is interested in pursuing a career in Public Health in hopes of addressing the needs and concerns of populations’ experiencing humanitarian emergencies. Her interest stems from her parents immigrating to the United States from Somalia due to conflict in their home country and opened her eyes to the intersectionality between global health and conflict. She also has an interest in the health disparities in minority populations and community health. In the future, Hodan aspires to pursue a Masters degree  in Public Health, Global Health or Population Health. During her free time, Hodan loves reading, listening to music and spending time with family and friends. 

Justin Naidu

Project Title: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Care for the Latinx Community

Faculty Mentor: Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, Instructor, Epidemiology & Population Health

Justin Naidu is a first-generation undergraduate student at the University of California, Merced double majoring in Sociology & Public Health with minors in Psychology & Community Research and Service. He was born on the small island of Fiji and immigrated with his family to the San Francisco Bay Area. 

As a student residing in Merced, Justin has encountered many people from diverse immigrant backgrounds in the Central Valley struggling with the impacts of health inequities, including low COVID-19 vaccination rates, tobacco-related diseases, and food insecurity. Because of the persistence of these health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Justin came to understand the importance of epidemiology and population health. In addition to his personal experiences, Justin previously conducted qualitative research under the guidance of Dr. Andrea Polonijo at UC Merced, where he identified facilitators and barriers to HPV and meningitis vaccination among MSM populations in the Inland Empire.

Justin is motivated to pursue a career in social epidemiology with the aim of incorporating community engagement and the social determinants of health. In the future Justin hopes to work alongside with Asian and Pacific Islanders communities. In his free time, Justin enjoys traveling with his family, listening to K-Pop music, and playing video games. 

Stephanie Perez

Project Title: Improving Equity for Health Care Payments

Faculty Mentor: Sherri Rose, Associate Professor of Health Policy

Stephanie Perez is a recent graduate from UCLA, where she earned a degree in International Development with minors in Global Health and Global Studies. She enjoys audiobooks, making little crafts for friends, a good allegory, and of course, public health.

Her special area of interest lies within dental public health and bridging the gap between clinical and preventive oral healthcare for underserved populations. This is in part due to her personal experiences navigating care as a low-income, daughter of immigrants growing up in Compton, where she witnessed great need within her community. Since oral health is such a huge indicator of systemic health, she hopes to improve health outcomes for all by increasing access to dignified healthcare through policy and further understanding disparities in the social epidemiology of disease burden.

In the future, Perez plans on pursuing an MPH/DDS degree and bring a perspective to oral health delivery that involves education as preventative care, community-based participatory research, and the advancement of oral epidemiology as a discipline. Until then, she will be obtaining her post-baccalaureate and focusing on further understanding the unique needs of various communities beyond her own. 

Jaleel Poole

Project Title: Recipe4Health: A comprehensive approach to addressing food insecurity and chronic disease to promote health equity

Faculty Mentor: Lisa Goldman Rosas, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine (Primary Care & Population Health)

Jaleel Poole is a recent graduate of Denison University and will be attending Columbia University in Fall 2022 to obtain his Masters’ of Public Health degree in Chronic Disease Epidemiology. He is passionate about health disparities in cardiovascular diseases and their connection to food apartheid (a term emphasizing the role of racist and oppressive structures in creating nutrient-deprived food environments) in disinvested, disenfranchised Black communities. Jaleel’s interest for this subject emanates from having grown up in food apartheid and losing family members to diabetes and heart diseases who had a history of unhealthy eating because of limited, infrequent access to healthy, affordable, and culturally-appropriate food. Through internships with the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Food Systems Division of Columbus Public Health, Jaleel developed a profound comprehension of the structural determinants— racism and poverty— driving the differences in the prevalence of food insecurity and chronic disease mortality between Black and white populations in the US. Through his AHEaD research project with Dr. Lisa Goldman Rosas, he is hoping to improve his understanding of how epidemiologists design and employ multi-sectoral initiatives to reduce reliance on emergency food systems and build community partnerships that promote food sovereignty and security. Jaleel enjoys eating food just as much as he enjoys studying it, trying new vegetarian and vegan foods as often as he can. He also enjoys biking along Chicago’s beautiful lakefront, exploring the outdoors, and listening to hip-hop/rap music.

Filsan Abdisatar

Project Title: Algorithmic Fairness in Population Health

Faculty Mentor: Sherri Rose, Associate Professor of Health Policy

Short Bio: Filsan Abdisatar is a senior at the University of Washington, majoring in Public Health with a minor in informatics. She is passionate about addressing health disparities to increase quality healthcare for all. She is also interested in health policy and public health informatics. Her passion stems from growing up in a low-income neighborhood. Filsan has seen first-hand the effects of gentrification, pollution, lack of affordable healthy food and chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes have had on her community. She interned with a local community organization in learning about environmental impacts on the community and collaborated with other residents from the community to organize community-building projects. During her free time, Filsan enjoys swimming, listening to podcasts, trying new restaurants and recipes, and playing with her cat.

Pierre Alvin Go

Project Title: Algorithmic Fairness in Population Health

Faculty Mentor: Sherri Rose, Associate Professor of Health Policy

Short Bio: Alvin Go is a graduate of UC Davis where he studied Mathematical and Scientific Computation. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, he has seen firsthand the effects of housing instability and the homelessness epidemic that closely follows it. Through this, he learned about challenges such as mental illness, substance abuse/dependency, and the insufficient availability of appropriate resources which prevent members of these marginalized populations from obtaining better living conditions. Alvin has interests in learning about and utilizing statistical and machine learning tools in order to identify and predict which individuals are at risk of homelessness so that early interventions (access to the appropriate healthcare services, safe and stable housing, etc.) can be implemented, thereby mitigating the risk of homelessness. In addition, some of his broader study interests include neurological diseases, and infectious diseases.

Jessica Hernandez Castaneda

Project Title: Recipe4Health Intervention

Faculty Mentors: Lisa Goldman Rosas, Assistant Professor (Research) of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and Associate Faculty Director of Community Engagement, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences; and Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, Instructor, Epidemiology & Population Health

Short Bio: Jessica Hernandez graduated this spring from the University of California, Merced with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health. During her undergraduate experience, Jessica held multiple leadership positions through organizations such as Global Medical Training, Delta Epsilon Mu and Tri Delta. She also conducted qualitative research through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center program, under Dr. Denise Payán at UC Merced where she compared nutrition environments across three South Los Angeles neighborhoods. In the future, Jessica aspires to attend graduate school and obtain a Masters or PhD degree in Community Health Sciences or Health Promotion. Her ultimate goal is to be able to give back to her community by promoting health education to underserved communities.  During her free time, Jessica enjoys exploring new cities, reading, and baking.

Kayla Kinsler

Project Title: Influence of Incentive Amount of Physician Participation

Faculty Mentor: Julia Simard, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and, by courtesy, of Medicine (Immunology & Rheumatology)

Short Bio: Kayla Kinsler is a recent graduate of Howard University where she earned a degree in Human Development with a minor in psychology. Broadly, she is passionate about the importance of educating the public about their health as well as doing research to decline the maternal mortality rate. Her interest in Public Health and Maternal and Child Health began during the fall semester of 2018 when she took a course on the Sociology of Death and Dying. In the course, she learned about the high maternal mortality rate for black women in America, as well as the many other health inequities that disproportionately affect minorities. Inspired by this new knowledge of health disparities, Kayla interned with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, conducting research on food insecurity in the Philadelphia area. Kayla has also worked for the past year as the family care coordinator for Chicago Birthworks Collective where she connects families in the Chicago area to doula services in an effort to bridge the gap in quality maternal healthcare.

Kayla aspires to pursue a career in public health with a focus on maternal and child health. She will be attending Brown University’s School of Public Health in the fall as a Health Equity Scholar to pursue her Master’s of Public Health (MPH). When she is not busy reading about health disparities in America, she enjoys listening to music and playing sudoku.

April LaGrone

Project Title: African-American Cancer Epidemiology Study (AACES): Seeking to understand ovarian cancer outcomes in African-American women

Faculty Mentor: Melissa Bondy, Stanford Medicine Discovery Professor and Professor and Chair of Epidemiology & Population Health, and Co-Director, Center for Population Health Sciences

Short Bio: April LaGrone is a junior attending Michigan State University studying public health in pursuit of a career in Epidemiology, where her focus centers on the lessening of health disparities and increasing health equity, particularly in communities of color that are disproportionately affected by chronic disease. After her diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 7, her passion for health was ignited due to many of her first-hand experiences of navigating the healthcare system as a Black woman, and the complications that followed. Recently, April has spent her time mentoring fellow first-generation college students, including assisting with the coordination of accommodations for students with disabilities within the classroom. Outside of academics, April loves cooking and finding new recipes to try, spending time outdoors and journaling.

Suron Lockett

Project Title: Proteomic Signature of Adversity

Faculty Mentor: Michelle Odden, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health

Short Bio: Suron Lockett is a rising senior at Tougaloo College where he is majoring in Biology. In the spring of 2019, he was selected to be a member of the Undergraduate Training and Education Center of the Jackson Heart Study (JHS), the largest single-site epidemiological study of cardiovascular disease in African Americans. Through this program, he has garnered a passion for researching and creating solutions that lessens the burden of the health disparities that impact African Americans in Mississippi. As a result of this passion, Suron plans to pursue a career in the fields of Population Health and Epidemiology. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing tennis, and exploring the Mississippi food scene.

Sameen Mahmood

Project Title: Community-Academic Partnerships

Faculty Mentors: Lisa Goldman Rosas, Assistant Professor (Research) of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health) and Associate Faculty Director of Community Engagement, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences; and Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, Instructor, Epidemiology & Population Health

Short Bio: Sameen Mahmood is an incoming senior at UCLA pursuing a degree in Psychobiology with a minor in Biomedical Research. As a clinical research assistant and coordinator for UCLA’s Happy Feet Clinic, she is deeply interested in dissecting the underlying framework of chronic illnesses from both a research and clinical perspective. Through volunteering with persons experiencing homelessness and underserved individuals, she has also become eager to tackle socioeconomic catalysts to long-term health outcomes. Merging her passion for scientific research and community health, she aims to dedicate herself to health equity, broaden healthcare accessibility, and further health policy efforts in the future. During her free time, she loves going for a run, playing video games, trying authentic recipes, and hiking!

Eric Melendez

Project Title: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Care for the Latinx Community

Faculty Mentor: Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa, Instructor, Epidemiology & Population Health

Short Bio: Eric Melendez is currently attending his second year at Mission College and is studying to become a Mechanical Engineer. He also is also interested in population health and learning about health disparities within his community. These interests stem from his service while in the United States Army. During his first deployment overseas, he experienced firsthand the value of ethical and sustainable change and how easily a marginalized group of people can suffer against fierce adversity. This experience motivated Eric to pursue a higher education so he could increase the potential scope of his service. Eric’s goal is to pursue a career in bioengineering or public health to attempt to find solutions to problems faced at home and abroad. When not working on his studies, Eric enjoys kayaking and visiting State Parks around the Bay Area.

Lanae Notah

Project Title: Quantifying the impacts of wildfires

Faculty Mentor: Mathew Kiang, Instructor, Epidemiology & Population Health

Short Bio: Lanae Notah grew up on the Navajo Nation in Tohatchi, NM. She is a senior at New Mexico State University (NMSU) where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s of Public Health degree, with a minor in Business Administration. Her studies in Public Health have introduced her to a more complex understanding of the deficiencies surrounding, and need to improve, community health. Gaining more knowledge in study design will be beneficial to her future work, especially regarding: the why and how of which designs best address which questions; how to interpret data that has the power to confuse or to clarify; how to balance conflicting needs; and how to approach the human dimension in quantitative studies. Lanae currently serves as the American Indian Science and Engineering Society Vice-President at NMSU. She volunteered as a COVID-19 Contact Tracer on the Navajo Reservation and at a local COVID Antibody testing clinic. She plans to further her education in the medical field and give back to her community by working on the Navajo Nation. When she is not studying or in class, Lanae enjoys running and helping her younger siblings develop their abilities in playing sports.

Jourdan Ratcliff

Project Title: Place and Longevity: Neighborhood and Life Expectancy in Jackson, MS

Faculty Mentor: Michelle Odden, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health

Short Bio: Jourdan Ratcliff is a senior at The University of Texas at Arlington studying Public Health. Jourdan grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex where she volunteered with grassroots organizations that focus on health promotion in marginalized communities. In her senior year of high school, Jourdan proposed a plan to implement a “Safe Sex Club“ at her alma mater—gaining immense support from peers and faculty. Jourdan’s plan did not come to fruition, but the support she received solidified her love for health communication and population health. In the summer of 2016, Jourdan decided to formally pursue a career in public health, thus changing her major from computer science to public health. 

Jourdan will receive her Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree in December 2021. Post-graduation, she will obtain her community health worker certification and prepare to take the CHES exam the following spring. In her free time, Jourdan loves to learn new skills, spend time with family, listen to podcasts and music, and try new recipes found on obscure cooking websites. She looks forward to becoming a certified health educator and wants to strengthen her community through culturally relevant health education and promotion.

Lee Romaker

Project Title: The New Deal, Women's Emergency Employment, and Infant Mortality

Faculty Mentor: David Rehkopf, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health, of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health), and, by courtesy, of Sociology, and Co-Director, Center for Population Health Sciences

Short Bio: Lee Romaker (they/them or he/him) is a rising junior at Tufts University, double majoring in Community Health and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Lee was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. From a young age, Lee has been passionate about healthcare reform and social justice, and has personal experience with the barriers trans and queer people face when accessing medical care. They hope to contribute research to the limited field of transgender public health, and is particularly interested in transmasculine lung health and the impact of anti-trans legislation on trans communities' mental health. At Tufts, Lee is a co-coordinator for the Sex Health Representatives, a member of the Interfaith community, and a writer for the Tufts Observer magazine. In his free time, Lee can be found playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, drinking coffee out of a jar, or watching video essays.

Charles Yellow Horse

Project Title: The "Indian New Deal" & The Tribes of the Southwest

Faculty Mentor: David Rehkopf, Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health, of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health), and, by courtesy, of Sociology, and Co-Director, Center for Population Health Sciences

Short Bio: Charles Yellow Horse is a senior at Arizona State University (ASU) majoring in Health Sciences with a concentration in public health promotion. Charles is from Fort Defiance, AZ of Diné Bikéyah (Navajoland), and is a citizen of the Navajo Nation. After receiving an associate degree in Computer Science from a Tribal college (Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute), he enlisted into the United States Air Force where he completed eight years of service with two assignments abroad. During his active duty service, he was inspired by the importance of health and wellbeing in multiple aspects of airmen’s lives during their overall service and after transitioning from active duty.

Charles is committed to working with Native American veterans to promote their health and wellbeing holistically, promoting in all dimensions of health including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social health. Through supporting them, Charles aspires to empower Native American veterans to become the agents of positive change in their families and communities. In his internship with the American Indian Student Support Services (AISSS) at ASU, he organized and hosted the first AISSS Veteran Wellness Initiative to support Native American veteran students. His career goal is to become a public health advocate to eliminate health inequities for and with Native American peoples and communities. He plans to pursue a graduate degree in the public health field to investigate the health concerns and resilience of Native American veterans through the social determinants of health framework.