April 11, 2013
Gillings School of Global Public Health students won nearly a third of the 2013 Impact Awards presented at the annual Graduate Student Recognition Celebration, held April 10 at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC campus.
The awards won by Gillings students – 13 of them – were for research deemed to be of “exceptional benefit to the people of North Carolina.” Each year, the Graduate Education Advancement Board invites Impact Award winners to attend the celebration and present their research to the campus community during a poster event prior to the awards presentation.
J. Crosswell

J. Crosswell
A. Doernberg

A. Doernberg
S. Ellis

S. Ellis
A. Gorzalski

A. Gorzalski
Z. Kerr

Z. Kerr
A.Kranz

A.Kranz
L. Leone

L. Leone
M. Lewis

M. Lewis
K. Messier

K. Messier
J. Moss

J. Moss
M. Nadimpalli

M. Nadimpalli
A. Richardson

A. Richardson
A. Sanders

A. Sanders

Impact Award winners from the public health school, and their research topics, include:

  • Joey Crosswell, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
    Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Coastal Waters and Implications for a Stormier Future
  • Alison Doernberg, Maternal and Child Health and Social Work
    Supporting North Carolina Families Facing Cancer
  • Shellie Ellis, Health Policy and Management
    Prostate Cancer Care Quality Not Affected by Race
  • Alexander Gorzalski, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
    Treating Groundwaters From the Castle Hayne and Peedee Aquifers
  • Zachary Kerr, Epidemiology
    Municipal Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning to Support Safety
  • Ashley Kranz, Health Policy and Management
    Comparing the Effect of Delivery Models for Preventing Dental Caries in Young Children
  • Lucia Leone, Nutrition
    Increase Access to Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in Lower-Income Neighborhoods
  • Meghan Lewis, Public Health Leadership
    Evaluating the Utilization of the Community Health Assessment
  • Kyle Messier, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
    Integrating Multiple GIS Methods for Estimation of Tetrachloroethylene
  • Jennifer Moss, Health Behavior
    Improving Uptake of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine to Improve Cervical Cancer Outcomes
  • Maya Nadimpalli, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
    Carriage of Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Livestock Workers and Household Members
  • Andrea Richardson, Nutrition
    Dynamic Environments and Obesity: Risky Genes?
  • Alison Sanders, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
    Assessing Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead Levels in Pregnant Women

Another Impact Award winner, toxicology student Rebecca Bauer, was advised by Gillings School associate professor of environmental sciences and engineering, Ilona Jaspers, PhD. Bauer studied “The Role of the Inflammasome in Asthma.”

Read more about their research on The Graduate School website.
This year, there were 41 Impact Award recipients from across campus, the most since the program began in 2006. The Graduate School has held the celebration since 1999 to recognize student leaders who have provided significant contributions to the mission of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and to various fields of study. The event particularly showcases the University’s focus on the people of its home state.
S. Baker

S. Baker

In addition to announcing the Impact Awards, the Graduate School recognized students who won prestigious fellowships and awards this spring, as well as those inducted into honorary societies.

Stephanie Baker, doctoral candidate in health behavior at the Gillings School, received the coveted Boka W. Hadzija Award for Distinguished Service. Read more about Baker.
Other Gillings School awardees included the following.

  • Loneke Blackman (nutrition), was honored for her 2013 University Research Day poster.
  • Dane Emmerling (health behavior) was inducted into The Order of the Golden Fleece, the University’s most prestigious honorary society.
  • External fellowship awardees in epidemiology included:
    • Rushina Cholera, NRSA Fellowship (F30) – For MD/PhD Students – National Institute of Mental Health
    • Nabarun Dasgupta, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Law Research Grant
    • Kim Gaetz, EPA-STAR (Science to Achieve Results) Fellowship
    • Marie-Jo Horner, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Graduate Partnership Program
    • Elizabeth Jensen, NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Intramural Research Training Award
    • Zachary Kerr, SOPHE/CDC Student Fellowship in Injury Prevention
    • Irina Mordukhovich, Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Predoctoral Traineeship Award
    • Kristen Rappazzo, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellowship
    • Diana Sanchez, NICHD NRSA F31 Research Pre-doctoral Fellowship Award
    • Shakia Simmons, Gates Millennium Scholarship
    • Genee Smith, American Lung Association Lung Health Dissertation Grant
    • Anne Starling, NRSA Fellowship (F30) – For MD/PhD Students – National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
  • External fellowship awardee in health behavior was:
    • Stephanie Baker, American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship
  • External fellowship awardees in health policy and management included:
    • Alyssa Bullard, Gates Millennium Scholarship
    • Jerome Federspiel, NRSA Fellowship (F30) – For MD/PhD Students – National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
    • Kimberley Geissler, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Health Services Research Dissertation Award (R36)
    • Monica Holloway, Gates Millennium Scholarship
    • Linda Hong, Gates Millennium Scholarship
    • Mohamed Jalloh, Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) Corris Boyd Scholarship
    • Diep Nguyen, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students
    • Huyen Nguyen, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students
    • Ann Wilton, Alpha Phi Foundation Scholarship, Alpha Phi Nancy Pitchforth Patton Scholarship, Alpha Phi Zeta Iota Scholarship
  • External fellowship awardee in maternal and child health was:
    • Weeda Zabih, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students; Delta Kappa Gamma World Fellowships Program
  • External fellowship awardees in nutrition included:
    • Carolina Batis Ruvalcaba, CONACYT (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) Scholarship
    • Lauren Brooks, William and Mary Hinckley Fund
    • Esther Giezendanner, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation Jessie C. Obert Memorial Scholarship
    • Beth Hopping, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
    • Emily Kujawa, American Dietetic Association Scholarship
    • Dalia Stern, CONACYT (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) Scholarship
    • Sarah Stickley, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation – Janette Smith Memorial Scholarship



Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.

 

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