PhD

Jennifer Smith checks readings on a meter

'The point is human health'

Doctoral student feels compelled to help others

When Jennifer Smith considers the role researchers should play as environmental disasters devastate communities across the map, she is guided by her concern for the individuals connected to the countless personal stories, and an awareness of the immeasurable pain involved in places such as Flint, Michigan, and East Palestine, Ohio.

 Michigan Public Health’s first online MPH cohort (l-r): Adam Kollipara, Elizabeth Brueggeman, Melanie Berent, Christopher Rudski (and son), Kathy Heselschwerdt, and Maelyn Bremer. University Michigan

Welcome Class of 2021: Photo Gallery

Recent graduates from the University of Michigan School of Public Health share their thoughts about distance learning, the many things they learned as students, and the personal and communal resilience that helped them navigate multiple public health crises while working toward graduate degrees.

A doctor writes on a clipboard

Patient Discrimination during a Health Care Encounter

A new paper looks at patient experiences of discrimination in the US health system, finding that the types of discrimination a person can encounter in a health care setting varies, with 21% of non-institutionalized, English-speaking US adults experiencing discrimination while seeking medical care.

Geila Rajaee, PhD Student in Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health

How Hospital Chaplains Are Helping People Deal with the Pandemic

The majority of Americans say they are aware of chaplains and desire their services, yet few report previous experience with them in health care. Geila Rajaee, a doctoral candidate at the U-M School of Public Health, discusses how chaplaincy is perceived in the US, and how that might be changing during the pandemic.

Microscopic image of the mycobacterium tuberculosis

Interview with a Pathogen: The Importance of Investigative Reporting in All Things

Dolly Katz, MPH ’90, PhD ’95

Since grade school, Dolly Katz had planned to be a reporter. The Michigan alum worked for years as a Detroit journalist before changing paths. She is now a disease expert at the CDC working to eradicate tuberculosis. Katz’s investigative skills have served her well as both a journalist and an epidemiologist.