Each year the UW Department of Global Health is able to provide partial to full funding to recruit top applicants. In addition to financial support, some recipients also receive mentorship and real-world experience through research assistant positions. For the 2021-2022 academic year, 14 outstanding graduate students received funding to support their studies. Learn more about this impressive cohort, including their journeys to arrive at UW and the impact they hope to have on the field of global health.
Read about previous DGH RAs and Fellows here: 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21.
MPH in Global Health
Sulemana Abdul-Matinue, Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact
Sulemana received his BSc in Public Health Nursing at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Before coming to UW, he worked with the Ghana Health Service, leading projects in HIV and adolescent reproductive health. As an MPH student, he is looking forward to gaining knowledge that will help him play a role in minimizing health disparities, improving health outcomes, and addressing reproductive health issues within low-income and marginalized populations. Read more.
Emilia Cárdenas, Endowed Research Assistant for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact
Emilia holds an undergraduate degree in anthropology from the Universidad de los Andes Bogotá, Colombia and has worked with non-profit organizations in India, Mexico, and Colombia to address maternal-child mortality and indigenous and immigrant healthcare. She is interested in gaining an understanding of the social determinants of health and local notions of wellbeing to develop strategies for holistic and sustainable health models. Read more.
Nico Flint, Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact
Nico holds dual bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and Latin American studies from the University of Louisville. Passionate about social justice and health equity, Nico is interested in addressing the social determinants of health, with a focus on education of women and girls. She is also interested in the field of Implementation Science, as well as community organizing and community-based participatory research. Read more.
Erin Ingle, Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact
Erin earned her B.A. from the University of Denver, where she had opportunity to study humanitarian response and refugee resettlement domestically and in Amman, Jordan. After graduation, she joined the Peace Corps in Tanzania and later worked with migrant populations at the US-Mexico border. A UW Fellow for Academic Excellence and Research Assistant with the START Center, Erin is interested in sexual and reproductive health and contraceptive access for marginalized populations and in conflict zones. Read more.
Tasnim Zahlan, Endowed Research Assistant for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact
Tasnim received her B.A. in Global Studies and Arabic from the University of Arizona, where she worked on the ground level supporting environmental health projects with tribal communities in Tucson. After completing her B.A., Tasnim embarked on her Fulbright Fellowship in Morocco before returning to Arizona where she continued working as a community health educator serving marginalized populations. Her research interests include stress-induced noncommunicable disease prevention among at-risk refugee and immigrant populations and the chronic effects of war and military occupation on public health. Tasnim is currently working on a community-based PrEP Navigation project with Dr. Katz. Read more.
PhD – Implementation Science
Dieudonne Hakizimana, Research Assistant and UW Top Scholar Award Recipient
Dieudonne holds master’s degrees in Epidemiology from the University of Rwanda, and in Global Health Delivery from the University of Global Health Equity, where he was also a lecturer. He has worked as a research associate for the Clinton Health Access Initiative and an M&E and quality assurance manager for the Society for Family. A UW Top Scholar Award recipient, Dieudonne’s research interest is maternal and child health, with an emphasis on methods to assess healthcare use, life course outcomes, and testing interventions to improve health outcomes. Read more.
Tina Mensa-Kwao, Research Assistant and Provost Award Recipient
Tina holds an MPH in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education from Emory University, where she focused on understanding the social determinants of health in low-resourced communities and learned how community-based participatory methods can be applied to prevent and address mental illness. She has worked as a Public Health Advisor in the Division of Global Health Protection and as an Evaluation Fellow in the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her research interests include exploring the use of community-based participatory action research methodologies in the implementation and scale-up of mental health interventions for young people in low- and middle-income countries. Read more.
Priyanka Shrestha, Research Assistant and Provost Award Recipient
Originally from Nepal, Priyanka earned an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh and a MSc degree in Control of Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSTHM). Her diverse research and work experience in the field of global health includes working with the International Diagnostics Centre at LSHTM, the Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization, and Global Health Group International. A Provost Award recipient, Priyanka’s research interests include community-based participatory research, health system strengthening, health innovations, and implementation science. Read more.
PhD – Pathobiology
Crystal Chhan, 1st year, Research Assistant and UW Graduate School Top Scholar
Crystal earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from UC San Diego, where she studied innate immunity of intestinal epithelial cells to intracellular pathogens, using C. elegans as a model. A UW Graduate School Top Scholar, Crystal’s research interests include host immune responses (particularly to intracellular pathogens), pathogen evasion mechanisms, regulation of immunity (particularly of inflammation), and vaccine development. Read more.
Shawn Herring, 1st year, Research Assistant and UW Fellow for Academic Excellence
Shawn received his B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Seattle University. Prior to joining the pathobiology program as a UW Fellow for Academic Excellence, he worked in Dr. Stephen Polyak’s lab studying both Arenaviridae and SARS-CoV-2, and at the BSL-3 facility at UW South Lake Union. His primary research interest is emerging pathogens that affect low- and middle-income countries. Read more.
Nolawit Mulugeta, 1st year, Research Assistant, DGH Curci Foundation Graduate Fellow, and UW Fellow for Academic Excellence
Originally from Ethiopia, Nolawit completed her undergraduate education at MIT, where she concentrated on biological engineering and African and African diaspora studies. A DGH Curci Foundation Graduate Fellow & UW Fellow for Academic Excellence, Nolawit is interested in host factors influencing disease, and incorporating global research equity into her work. Read more.
Anthony Reynolds, 1st year, Research Assistant and Pathobiology Scholarship Recipient
Anthony earned his B.S. in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from UW, where he also worked in a molecular aging lab. He is interested in understanding the molecular and genetic mechanisms by which individuals around the world can clear pathogens and is committed to supporting systematically underserved populations around the globe. Read more.
Lakshmi Warrier, 1st year, Research Assistant and Kenny Endowed Fellowship Recipient
After completing her B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UC Davis, Lakshmi worked as a research technician at UC San Francisco, where she studied the immune response to malaria in infants whose mothers received antimalarial treatment during pregnancy. She is interested in studying regulatory mechanisms of the host immune response and T cell immunology. Read more.
Guoyue Xu, 1st year, Research Assistant
Originally from China, Guoyue received her undergraduate degree in microbiology and immunology, as well as her master’s degree in genetics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After completing her master’s thesis on identifying how a specific genetic polymorphism in red blood cells can affect host susceptibility to malaria infection, she moved to Baltimore to work at the Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Her research interests are in parasitic and vector-borne diseases. Read more.