Gillings School students selected as injury and violence prevention fellows
January 21, 2019
Eight students at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health have been named inaugural Injury and Violence Prevention (IVP) fellows at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC).
They are Anna Austin, Natalie Blackburn, Jess Bousquette, Venita Embry, Alex Gertner, Sarah Treves-Kagan, Kathleen Shumaker and Venera Urbaeva.
 Anna Austin |
 Natalie Blackburn |
 Jess Bousquette |
 Venita Embry |
Austin, a fourth-year doctoral student in maternal and child health, earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) in chronic disease epidemiology from the Yale University School of Public Health and worked as a fellow for the New Haven Mental Health Outreach for Mothers Partnership. Her research interests include the prevention of child maltreatment and other adverse childhood experiences and parenting in the context of substance use.
Blackburn is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in health behavior. She holds an MPH in behavioral sciences and health education from Emory University. Prior to starting the UNC doctoral program, she was an ORISE fellow in the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where she focused on strengthening the evidence for screening of hepatitis C among persons who use drugs.
Bousquette is a first-year MPH student in health behavior. She previously served as the child protection policy adviser at World Vision, where she focused on violence against children, child labor and children affected by armed conflict.
Embry, a third-year health behavior doctoral student, earned an MPH at Emory University. Her research interests include violence prevention interventions, court system responses to public health problems, and the effects of justice involvement on health.
 Dr. Alex Gertner |
 Sara Treves-Kagan |
 Kathleen Shumaker |
 Venera Urbaeva |
Gertner, a sixth-year Doctor of Medicine/Doctor of Philosophy candidate in health policy and management, worked as a coordinator for the Health and Human Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. His research interests include the effects of state and federal policies on overdose and suicide rates.
Treves-Kagan, doctoral candidate in health behavior, has focused her research on structural approaches to preventing violence, with a specific focus on gender-based violence and sexual assault among vulnerable populations. She earned an MPH in maternal and child health at the University of California at Berkeley.
Kathleen Shumaker is a second-year Master of Social Work student in the School of Social Work, with a concentration in community management and policy practice, and MPH student in maternal and child health at the Gillings School. Her research interests include juvenile justice and the school-to-prison pipeline, community violence, restorative justice and trauma-responsive interventions to keep children engaged and supported in school.
Urbaeva is a second-year MPH student in maternal and child health. A Rotary Peace fellow, she has a graduate degree in international human rights and has worked in the area of child protection and child rights promotion in development and humanitarian contexts for more than eight years.
IPRC is a national leader in recruiting and educating the next generation of injury and violence prevention (IVP) researchers and practitioners.
The IVP Fellowship is an exciting opportunity for master’s and doctoral students from diverse academic, professional and demographic backgrounds to gain hands-on experience in injury and violence prevention, including skills in a broad range of methodological approaches for IVP-related research, programs, and policy design; and translating research to practice for policy makers, health care providers, community organizations and other partners.
IVP fellows work with IPRC-affiliated faculty mentors to identify opportunities to get experience conducting IVP-related research, programming or policy.
Two other UNC students were among the ten named as inaugural IVP fellows – Laurie Graham, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the School of Social Work, and Catherine Paquette, second-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program.
The IPRC is directed by Steve Marshall, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the Gillings School and interim director of the School’s N.C. Institute for Public Health.
“It’s a great pleasure to have Anna, Natalie, Jess, Venita, Alex, Sarah, Kathleen and Venera as the inaugural class of IVP fellows,” Marshall said. “These are public health professionals who are poised to make a impact on the field of injury and violence through their research and commitment to IVP. They are an incredible group of young people.”
Read more about the fellows here.
Contact the Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@listserv.unc.edu.
