Nine from public health receive Graduate School’s Impact Award; other awards also presented to Gillings scholars

March 19, 2015

Students from the Gillings School of Global Public Health earned more than one-third of the 2015 Impact Awards presented by the UNC Graduate School.

The awards, made possible by the Graduate Education Advancement Board, recognize graduate students for outstanding contributions to the state of North Carolina.

The nine public health 2015 Impact Award winners, and their research topics, include:

Maiko Arashiro
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Tree-Emitted Particles: Possible Link to Lung Inflammation?
“This work could have important policy implications, especially since isoprene-derived particulate matter is enhanced when combined with other emissions,” said adviser Jason Surratt, PhD.

Melissa Crane
Health Behavior
Weight Loss Strategies for Overweight or Obese Men
“From day one, Melissa has been focused on an under-recognized disparity: the underserved population of overweight and obese men,” said adviser Deborah Tate, PhD.

Kim Gaetz
Epidemiology
Protecting Teachers’ Respiratory Health
“Her study has really improved our understanding of North Carolina teachers’ exposures to moisture in their school buildings, and provided practical solutions to improve air quality,” said adviser David Richardson, PhD.

Pooja Jani
Public Health Leadership
Telemedicine to Protect Patients, Reduce Blindness
“She has a real desire to improve access to eye care through telemedicine and to reduce the impact of blinding diseases such as diabetic retinopathy for all North Carolinians,” said adviser Seema Garg, MD, PhD.

Jayne Jeffries
Health Behavior
Helping Rural Children ‘Explore’ Healthy Menu Items
“As part of the Food Explorers research team, she has taken a leadership role in planning and developing an intervention designed to increase access to healthy foods among children in Rockingham County,” said adviser Laura Linnan, ScD.

Mona Kilany
Health Policy and Management
Location and Medical Home Effectiveness
“Mona’s findings underscore the value of medical homes for people with severe mental illness in all geographical areas of the state, but they also point to other resources that are needed, especially in rural areas,” said adviser Joseph Morrissey, PhD.

Kyle Messier*
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Nitrate Contamination of Groundwater
“Kyle’s work has a significant impact because it introduces a state-of-the-art mapping method that can be used to map nitrate. Using this method, Kyle was able to find the sources of nitrate in North Carolina — and the extent of pollution,” said adviser Marc Serre, PhD.

Justin Milner
Nutrition
Improved Vaccine Protection for Obese Individuals
“Justin’s work is extremely important in the area of vaccine development and in finding potential therapeutic targets for reducing influenza severity in an increasingly obese population,” said adviser Melinda Beck, PhD.

Marie Patane Curtis
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
N.C.’s Renewable Energy Preparedness
“I am not aware of anyone who has undertaken such a thorough assessment of motor vehicle energy demand and of the supply, demand and deployment issues associated with renewable fuel options for North Carolina,” said adviser Richard “Pete” Andrews, PhD.

*Messier also received a 2013 Impact Award for research leading to a new methodology to analyze groundwater contamination from tetrachloroethylene.

Read more about the recipients’ award-winning research on The Graduate School website.

The 2015 Impact Award winners were honored alongside other students at the 17^th annual Graduate Student Recognition Celebration on April 9, at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center.

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. Other Gillings School awardees are listed below.

Graduate School Leadership Development Scholars included:

• Steffani Bangel, health behavior
• Juliet Sheridan, health behavior
• Eleanor Wertman, health behavior

Frank Porter Graham Honor Society inductees included:

• Beth Hopping, nutrition
• Manish Kumar, public health leadership
• Shu Wen Ng, nutrition

William Chapman

William Chapman, nutrition, was named a Carolina Center for Public Service Community Engagement Fellow.

External fellowship awardees in biostatistics included:

• Pedro Luiz Baldoni, Brazilian Ministry of Education/CAPES Foundation and Fulbright Commission/U.S. Department of State Scholarship
• Nicolas Ballarini, Argentine Presidential Fellowship in Science and Technology (BEC.AR)
  

  Erika Helgeson

• Emily Butler, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Erika Helgeson, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Rongrong Qu, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students
• Kin Yau Wong, Croucher Foundation Scholarship for Doctoral Studies

External fellowship awardees in environmental sciences and engineering included:

• Maura Allaire, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
  

  Maura Allaire

• Ariel Atkinson, National Water Research Institute Fellowship
• Rachel Baum, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Alma Beciragic, W. Wesley Eckenfelder Jr. Scholarship (Brown and Caldwell)
• Elizabeth Christenson, American Association of University Women Selected Professions Fellowship
• Kristen Downs, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship
• Benjamin Foster, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Katie Friedman, NSF GROW Travel Award
• Sarah Hatcher, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Panitan Jutaporn, Royal Thai Government Fellowship
• Ciao-Kai Liang, Scholarship for Studying Abroad (Taiwan Ministry of Education)
• Eliot Meyer, Hydro Research Fellowship
• Osborn Kwena Mwenesa, Rotary Scholarship
• Nur Aisyah Nasution, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students
• Hang Nguyen, Vietnam Education Foundation Fellowship
• Jamie Smedsmo, Krell Fellowship
• Yuqiang Zhang, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Graduate Partnership Program

External fellowship awardees in epidemiology included:

• Brett Doherty, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Graduate Partnership Program
• Danielle Durham, NRSA Fellowship (F31) NIH – National Cancer Institute
• Shakia Hardy, Gates Millennium Scholarship
• Elizabeth Rogawski, P.E.O. Scholarship
• Diana Sanchez, NRSA Fellowship (F31) NIH – National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• Nalyn Siripong, NIH (NIDA) Drug Abuse Dissertation Research (R36)

External fellowship awardees in health behavior included:

• Gabriela Arandia, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-related Research
  

  Joseph Lee

• Steffani Bangel, National Council of Jewish Women Irma M. Isaacson Memorial Scholarship; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Mary Murphy Scholarship; P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education
• May Chen, Silicon Valley Community Foundation – Tang Scholarship
• Christina Galardi, Student scholarship to attend International Making Cities Livable Conference
• Joseph Lee, NRSA Fellowship (F31) NIH – National Cancer Institute
  

  Jennifer Moss

• Cristina Leos, Gates Millennium Scholarship
• Joy Massey, Gates Millennium Scholarship
• Jennifer Moss, NRSA Fellowship (F31) NIH – National Cancer Institute
• Marta Mulawa, NRSA Fellowship (F31) NIH – National Institute of Mental Health
• Laura Villa-Torres, CONACYT (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) Scholarship
  

  Laura Villa-Torres

External fellowship awardees in health policy and management included:

• Kei Alegria-Flores, UJMT Fogarty Global Health Fellowship
• Elizabeth Blodgett, Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy Dissertation Completion Grant
• Ila Broyles, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Health Services Research Dissertation Award (R36)
• Ximena Calvo, Becas Chile Scholarship
• Rachel Dolin, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Daniel Douthit, NAHSE 19th Annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition Scholarship
• Camille Grant, NAHSE 19th Annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition Scholarship
• Emilia Ndely, NAHSE 19th Annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition Scholarship
• Laura Pinheiro, National Cancer Institute’s Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research

External fellowship awardees in maternal and child health included:

• Rebeccah Bartlett, Rotary World Peace Fellowship
• Sang Hang, Vietnam Education Foundation Fellowship
• Hai Ryung Sung, Rotary World Peace Fellowship
• Andra Wilkinson, NRSA Fellowship (F31) NIH – National Institute on Drug Abuse

External fellowship awardees in nutrition included:

• Kate Abel, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation 2M20 Mead Johnson Nutrition Scholarship Fund
• Samantha Attard, American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship
• Claire Bailey, N.C.A.A. Postgraduate Scholarship
• Loneke Blackman, The Commission of Dietetic Registration Doctoral Scholarship from The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation
• Brittany Crump, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Lydia J. Roberts Memorial Scholarship in Public Health Nutrition
• Trisha Grevengoed, Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Research Programs, American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship
• Beth Hopping, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Rouba Kouwatli, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students
• Nancy Lopez Olmedo, Conacyt (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) Scholarship
• Eli Lovell, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Diversity Award
• Dalia Stern, CONACYT (Mexican National Council for Science and Technology) Scholarship
• Benjamin White, CDR Diversity Scholarship from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation for 2014-2015

External fellowship awardees in public health leadership included:

• Callie Brown, NRSA Fellowship (F32) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Marie Lina Excellent, Fulbright Fellowship for Non-U.S. Students
• Jessica Friedman, N.C. Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Scholarship
• Manish Kumar, Rotary World Peace Fellowship