Seven new Royster Fellows join Gillings School

September 22, 2015

This news story is adapted from the original article by Carolina Chronicle.

Each fall, new students bring their unique perspectives to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The UNC Graduate School’s Royster Society of Fellows works to attract exceptionally talented graduate students from around the world to add their points of view to the campus conversation.

Of the twenty-nine doctoral students who joined Carolina as Royster Fellows in 2015, seven attend the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

These students were selected for fellowships based on their academic performance, research, service, life experiences and potential for future leadership.

Below, the Royster Fellows studying at the Gillings School discuss what it means to be part of UNC, as well as the life experiences that shaped them on their journeys here:

Natalie Ernecoff, health policy and management

Natalie Ernecoff, MPH

Ernecoff, recipient of the William Neal Reynolds Fellowship, holds a master of public health degree as well as a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, history and philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Asked to describe a meaningful experience from her undergraduate studies, she shared, “My research working in end-of-life care shaped the way I conceptualize my research and academic career. I saw patients and their families at vulnerable times, and the psychological and emotional complexity helped me define both what I want to study and how I want to study it.”

Jennifer Gilbert, nutrition

Jennifer Gilbert

Gilbert, an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania, holds the Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Fellowship. Upon arriving at UNC, she already had a wealth of research experience.

“In my two years as a research coordinator, I took on many different roles in the lab and jumped from task to task as needed. It wasn’t until the last few weeks that I had time to reflect on everything I had accomplished there. I feel proud to have contributed to the success of a couple large grant-funded studies and many other research projects.”

Luis Enrique Maldonado, nutrition

Luis Maldonado, MPH

Maldonado was awarded the William R. Kenan Jr. Fellowship. He formerly attended Yale University, where he earned a master of public health degree in chronic disease epidemiology, as well as the University of Southern California, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in health promotion and disease prevention studies and a minor in sociology.

“The faculty members in the Department of Nutrition at UNC’s Gillings School not only have similar research interests to mine, but also receive substantial funding, provide endless research opportunities both domestically and abroad, constantly accomplish high research productivity and demonstrate unwavering academic and social support,” said Maldonado. “Other academic institutions seemed to lack one or more of these attributes, not to mention that UNC’s nutrition department was recently ranked among the top departments of nutrition in the country by the National Research Council.”

Sarah Reifeis, biostatistics

Sarah Reifeis

Reifeis, an alumna of the Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Fellowship.

Asked why she chose to attend UNC, she explained, “The prestige of the Gillings School and the Department of Biostatistics initially drew me to apply, and the student recruitment weekend sealed the deal for me. During my visit, I gained a good sense of the program and was able to become more familiar with the faculty, staff and current students in the department. They were kind and charismatic. They made me feel welcome at UNC, like I could truly belong.”

Karen Setty, environmental sciences and engineering

Karen Setty, MS

Setty, who holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from the University of Dayton and a master’s degree in environmental science and management (specializing in water resources management) from the University of California-Santa Barbara, was awarded the Chancellor’s Fellowship.

Setty arrived at the Gillings School with international experience. “While on a service trip to Araypallpa, Peru with Engineers Without Borders, I was able to respond in a meaningful and honest way to questions from a group of concerned citizens from a small mountain town,” she explained “I felt accomplished both for being able to communicate in a second language and for helping to address some very real fears about how the drinking water supply affected their families. It imprinted in my mind the importance of both accurate science and science communication.”

Sarah Treves-Kagan, health behavior

Sarah Treves-Kagan, MPH

Treves-Kagan is the recipient of the William R. Kenan Jr. Fellowship. She studied anthropology and political science as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and earned a master’s degree in public health (maternal and child health) at the University of California-Berkeley.

Treves-Kagan also volunteered for several years as a rape crisis counselor supporting survivors of sexual violence and their families. “The work was difficult but extremely rewarding,” she said. “However, the stream of survivors seemed never-ending, which moved me to focus on prevention. This launched my career in public health and violence prevention. I am pursuing my doctoral degree at UNC to continue my research with some of the leaders in the field.”

Michael Webster-Clark, epidemiology

Michael Webster-Clark, PharmD

Webster-Clark holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy studies and a doctorate of pharmacy from Northeastern University. He is the recipient of the William R. Kenan Jr. Fellowship.

“My most meaningful experiences from earlier studies came during my advanced pharmacy practice experiences,” Webster-Clark shared. “When I worked with an ambulatory care pharmacist, it was one of the first times I really got to sit down with patients and try to help them understand and manage their health conditions. The fact that patients trusted me to give them helpful health information really meant a lot to me, and I hope to continue to help those people on a much broader level through population-level research.”