The Pivot with Nashmia Khan

Nashmia Khan establishes communities wherever she goes.

What’s your role in public health?

I’m a second-year Master of Public Health student in the Health Behavior concentration. Now that I’m in my third semester, I feel like I’ve gotten my bearings and have more flexibility to explore everything both public health and the Triangle area have to offer.

I’m a teaching assistant for two professors: Drs. Nat Serrano and Liz Chen. They’re also my mentors, and I love getting to work with both of them and being exposed to different ideas, from digital health interventions to design thinking to housing equity.

Can you describe your focus area in one sentence?

Nashmia (center) enjoys a pizza party with her health behavior cohort at department chair (left) Dr. Kurt Ribisl’s house.

I’m passionate about working in health advocacy and health equity spaces.

That links to my focus on tobacco cessation in support of populations that tobacco marketing strategies have intentionally and unethically targeted. At Gillings, I’ve also been able to work on the use of design thinking and trauma-informed principles in mobile health and the intersection of built environment and health outcomes — all emphasizing my interest in health equity. In the long term, I’m seeking a balance between applied research and policy/program evaluation and dissemination.

What brought you to public health?

I was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States as an undergraduate. I graduated college in 2020 — what you’re thinking is true; graduating at the start of a pandemic wasn’t fun — and I took a job at the Yale School of Medicine. I worked there for three years before coming to Gillings.

At Yale, I was a clinical research assistant on three smoking cessation projects. One focused on neuroimaging related to mindfulness and smart apps; another was an adolescent vaping cessation clinical trial; and the third was an FDA-funded research study that used eye tracking to measure the influence of e-cigarette warning labels on the youth population.

The third study is the one that brought me to public health. Up to that point, I’d been planning to eventually get a doctoral degree in neuroscience. I was already a certified special ed teacher and thought the combination would lead to a career in child neuropsychology. But when the FDA project exposed me to the concept of public health policy, I completely changed tracks. I only applied to schools with strong tobacco research portfolios, and I was drawn to Gillings in part because of the work of Drs. Kurt Ribisl and Noel Brewer.

Can you describe a time when you’ve pivoted in your public health career?

As an international student, I have to be comfortable with frequent pivots. Students in my position face unique obstacles, from funding barriers to how long we can stay in the country. We are required to be mentally quick and open to change, which might mean switching specialties from something you’re passionate about to something more practical.

Nashmia smiles with other members of the International Graduate Student Association.

That happened to me during the pandemic. I was going to work in a lab studying Alzheimer’s, but the funding dried up and I had just 90 days to either find another position or leave the U.S. I applied to more than 300 jobs and was lucky to get the placement at Yale.

Those experiences are why I volunteer as co-president of the recently formed Gillings International Graduate Student Association (IGSA). It was started in the summer of 2023 and does lots of advocacy work around diversity, equity and inclusion. It makes sense that a global school should have a global student group. We hosts lots of events, from potlucks to career panels to conversations with a lawyer about immigration status.

We’re partnering with Gillings leaders right now on a project to make it more clear which degrees at the School have official STEM status, because that designation affects how long international graduates can stay in the U.S. after finishing classes.

Who are you when you’re at home?

Friends describe me as someone who is full of life! I’m fond of establishing communities wherever I go, which is why I enjoy being the social chair for the health behavior department. I love bringing people together, and my focus right now is bridging the gap between different concentrations at Gillings. One way I approach that is by hosting weekly student socials at local businesses.

On other nights, you might find me salsa dancing, rock climbing or doing acro yoga.