Moving so far from home for graduate school was difficult for Mislael Valentín-Cortés. Still, Puerto Rico is always on his mind, and disaster preparedness is a major theme of his academic and extracurricular activities.
Thinking hard about health throughout the lifecycle and about the implementation of research led Chanell Heslop to public health. Collecting and applying data to solve population health issues keeps her moving.
Whether he’s working alongside lawmakers in Michigan’s capital, community members in Ohio neighborhoods, or researchers and psychologists in Chilean schools, MPH candidate Julian Roby is putting his public health education into action to become an agent of change around health disparities and health policy.
Joel Begay’s work with Native communities has provided him valuable insight on how to partner with communities in a way that does not exploit them. As a public health professional, he aspires to help fill gaps around minority health data by collecting and analyzing data while helping tribal governments, health professionals, and other government agencies interpret the data to ultimately improve Indian Country.
Returning to the University of Michigan after five years working and volunteering with the National Alliance on Mental Health, Bachelor’s student Spencer Walz is using his personal experiences — and a guiding belief in vulnerability and the power of community — to carve a path to population and mental health work.
Lukonde Mulenga’s journey to Ann Arbor started with her family in Zambia and led her to the pursuit of an MPH at Michigan Public Health. Along the way, she discovered a few interests and found a way to bring her education home for impactful work.