HB alumna presents research at RTI poster exhibit
August 12, 2016
Christin Stewart (left), poses in front of her research poster at RTI with Dr. Leah Devlin, Professor of the Practice of health policy and management at the Gillings School.
Christin Stewart, MPH, 2016 alumna of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, was one of 70 interns from across the U.S. who conducted research at RTI International this summer.
Her work, presented in a poster showcase at RTI on Aug. 5, involved making recommendations for the development, implementation and evaluation of an online and in-person program on gender and sexual diversity training.
Stewart, who studied health behavior at the Gillings School, served as a health governance intern at RTI’s global health division in Washington, D.C.
She said the internship brought her academic experience at the Gillings School full circle. For her Master of Public Health practicum last year, she worked in USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health on a project called Health Policy Plus, which aims to improve the environment for equitable and sustainable health services and systems through policy design and implementation.
“During my internship this summer,” she said, “I had the unique opportunity to work on the same project from the implementer’s side and get a completely different perspective. At RTI, I was able to work with some great mentors and apply my health behavior skills to my work on health governance issues. The internship has led to a full-time job offer as a health systems specialist.”
“Our internship program strengthens RTI’s relationship with universities, engages and inspires the future workforce, and advances RTI’s mission,” said Amy Vargas-Tonsi, MIS, program manager of University Collaborations at RTI.
RTI has a long history of collaboration with students at research universities, extending the organization’s capability to contribute to scientific scholarship and training young scientists to develop skills in research, leadership and policy. Interns are placed at RTI offices in Research Triangle Park, N.C., Waltham, Mass., Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco and Bangalore, India.
This year’s was the eighth annual showcase for interns’ research.
Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu
