Two Gillings students receive Class of 1938 Summer Project Abroad Fellowships
May 21, 2019
Areej Hussein and Hailey Jenkins, students in the nutrition department at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, are two of seven UNC-Chapel Hill students to receive Class of 1938 Summer Project Abroad Fellowships this year. The award will fund their upcoming international research.
Areej Hussein
Hailey Jenkins
Hussein will travel to the Philippines to study the impact of early child malnutrition on young women’s reproductive health and childbearing. She will be mentored by faculty from the Office of Population Studies Foundation at the University of San Carlos in Cebu, whose Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey is a collaboration with UNC’s Carolina Popular Center.
“I am very grateful to the Class of 1938 Fellowship for granting me this wonderful opportunity,” said Hussein. “I’m extremely excited about traveling to the Philippines and becoming immersed in the culture while exploring a research topic of interest.”
Jenkins, meanwhile, will complete a six-week internship with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Moscow, Russia. She will work with WHO’s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases to develop a nutrition and physical activity handbook for expectant mothers and will analyze datasets in areas such as salt intake and childhood obesity.
From there, she will travel to Athens, Greece, to work as a research assistant for a professor studying Type 2 diabetes and artificial sweeteners.
“I am most excited for opportunity to observe and interact with international experts in the public health field,” Jenkins said.
Supported by an endowment that was created by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Class of 1938, the fellowship has funded student’s independent international projects since 1975. Many members of the class of 1938 lived through the tumult of World War II, and they created the endowment to promote peace through global understanding and competence.
The fellows, each of whom will receive $5,000, were chosen based on the quality of their proposals, financial need and demonstrated purpose. The selection committee is comprised of former fellows and Class of 1938 members, and the award is administered by International Student and Scholar Services at UNC.
“Areej and Hailey are both incredible students in our department and we could not be more proud of their accomplishments,” said Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, PhD, Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of nutrition and medicine and chair of the nutrition department. “The Class of 1938 Summer Project Abroad Fellowship provides crucial support for them to pursue research abroad. Their planned projects will be invaluable experiences as they continue their studies in our department and beyond.”
A UNC Global news release describes the five other projects that will take fellows to Germany, Jordan, Taiwan and Tanzania.
Contact the Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@listserv.unc.edu.
