May 21, 2010
The Center for Global Initiatives at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has awarded more than $96,000 to 39 students conducting work around the world. Nine of them are working on degrees at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
 
“We are proud to support the innovative work of students across the University,” said Tripp Tuttle, program officer and coordinator of the awards. “Our awardees this year are from seven different professional schools plus the College of Arts and Sciences.”
 
The students will pursue projects this summer and next year. This fall they will participate in the center’s Student International Research Symposium.
 
“It’s exciting to see the impressive caliber of our awardees,” said Niklaus Steiner, center director. “We hope that these experiences are transformative in the academic and personal lives of these students.”
 
The awards and recipients are described below.
 
 
Pre-Dissertation Travel Awards
 
These awards send doctoral candidates into the field for preliminary explorations of potential research materials in preparation for writing dissertation proposals.
 
KateClouse

Kate Clouse

Kate Clouse
Doctoral candidate
Gillings School of Global Public Health, epidemiology
Country of research/travel: South Africa

Many patients with HIV in South Africa die before enrolling in antiretroviral (ARV) programs. Clouse will explore ways to increase access to these life-saving programs and eventually will focus her dissertation on linking HIV testing services to ARV clinics.
 
 
Carolina Undergraduate Health Fellowships
 
These fellowships enable promising UNC undergraduates to create a self-designed health-related project anywhere in the world. The fellowships are investments in talented students whose medical and cultural experience will strengthen the future of health care in the United States and the world.
 
Matt Ragazzo

Matt Ragazzo

Matthew Ragazzo
Rising junior
Gillings School of Global Public Health, environmental health sciences
Country of research/travel: Republic of Moldova

 
Poor sanitation and unhygienic practices negatively affect the health of millions of children around the world. Ragazzo’s project aims to address this issue by implementing a hygiene education project in one or two schools in the Republic of Moldova, the poorest country in Europe. By adding this curriculum to schools and training teachers how to educate future students about hygiene, this project will maximize the number of children reached and ensure its sustainability.
 
Natalia Smirnova

Natalia Smirnova

Natalia Smirnova
Rising junior
Gillings School of Global Public Health, nutrition
Country of research/travel: Russian Federation

This project places Russian magical folk healing in a contemporary context. Examining both folk healing and biomedical institutions, Smirnova hopes to find ways in which the best qualities of magic and medicine can come together for more humane and accessible health care.
 
 
C.V. Starr International Scholarships
These awards are intended to enable UNC students with financial need to undertake independent, internationally-oriented experiences. Undergraduates who are U.S. citizens and international graduate students are eligible. The Starr awards were established in 2004 with an endowed gift from The Starr Foundation of New York.
 
Esther Majani

Esther Majani

Esther Majani
Master’s degree candidate
Gillings School of Global Public Health, health behavior and health education
Country of research/travel: Belize

Belize is ranked first in Central America for rate of HIV/AIDS infection per capita. Sparsely populated, it is seriously vulnerable to loss of human and economic capital. This three-month project at the Red Cross Society in Belize will develop age-appropriate and evidence-based curricula to address stigma, discrimination and violence associated with HIV/AIDS. It will be concurrent with the government’s effort to address HIV/AIDS as not only a health issue but also a multidimensional human development one.
 
Hannah Spring
Rising senior
Gillings School of Global Public Health, environmental health science
Country of research/travel: Kenya
Spring will work with the Lwala Community Alliance in Rongo to design and implement a sanitation education program at the primary school level. This project aims to improve health by focusing on the importance of sanitation practices in lowering the incidence of diarrhea. Through this project, she hopes to use her passion for global health, love of children and education in environmental health to create a sustainable program that educates young people about sanitation.
 
 
International Internship Awards
These awards support UNC undergraduates and master’s degree candidates who have secured internationally-focused internships that will advance their academic and professional careers. Upon completing internships and returning to UNC, students should build the experience into their academic programs. Ideally, upon graduation, students will acquire jobs with the same or a similar organization.
 
Elliot Montpellier

Elliot Montpellier

Elliot Montpellier
Rising senior
Gillings School of Global Public Health, environmental health science
Country of research/travel: Jordan

Montpellier, who is particularly interested in studying the health impact of agricultural use of treated waste water, will collaborate on an urban agriculture project in Amman. The project aims to address issues of food security and poverty through its promotion of urban agriculture and related micro-enterprises.
 
Katey Mote

Katey Mote

Katelyn Mote
Rising junior
Gillings School of Global Public Health, health policy and management
Countries of research/travel: United States, Moldova, Botswana

Mote will intern with the Bilateral State Partnership Program, a partnership between North Carolina and the countries of Moldova and Botswana. The program aims to build relationships between these countries and North Carolina in the areas of conflict resolution and global health. Mote will interact with foreign leaders and work on international projects.
 
Kathleen Reilly
Master’s degree candidate
Gillings School of Global Public Health, health behavior and health education
Country of research/travel: Tanzania
Reilly will research ways to reduce HIV risk and partner violence among young men. She will focus on the role microfinance and health interventions might play in addressing such issues.
 
Lauren Westervelt

Lauren Westervelt

Lauren Westervelt

Master’s degree candidate
Gillings School of Global Public Health, health behavior and health education
Country of research/travel: Sri Lanka
Westervelt will intern with Emerge Global, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women who have survived abuse to rediscover and celebrate their personal beauty, develop self-sufficiency and become leaders in their communities. At its core is the Emerge Bead Program, which enables girls to become jewelry designers. The aim of Westervelt’s project is to develop a robust reintegration strategy and network of support for girls once they graduate from the Emerge Bead Program.
 
 
 
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

Last updated June 07, 2010

 

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