This year, we had a group of 9 students with majors in Biology, Biochemistry, Neuroscience, Economics, Psychology, and Public Health Studies. The students have a variety of interests, but helping others is a common thread. There are many student tutors and hospital volunteers amongst the group.
Our students were in the Summer Program from May 31, 2008 - June 29, 2008.
Sando K. Baysah was born in Monrovia, Liberia and raised in Providence, RI. She is a rising senior at Harvard University where she is concentrating in Biochemical Sciences and secondary majoring in Healthcare Policy. She plans to pursue a MD/MPH in international health to equip her with the skills to help rebuild the war-torn health infrastructure of her homeland. In pursuit of that goal, Sando spent the last semester on a comparative healthcare study abroad program learning about the social determinants of health and the healthcare systems in Switzerland, India, China and South Africa.
Sando's other passions include reading, relaxing with family, learning about new cultures and playing sports. At Harvard, Sando is part of the JV soccer team, as well as the JV softball team. She can also be found tutoring neighborhood Cambridge Ridge and Latin high school students, serving as Secretary for the Harvard Society for Black Scientists and Engineers and partaking in intramural dodgeball competitions.
Thomas Blair was born in San Diego, California. He currently resides in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He attends Princeton University and is concentrating in Economics with a mathematical focus. He is currently fulfilling medical school requirements and is a rising junior. He is considering a future in medicine, business or related fields such as health economics or biostatistics. He tutors in the city of Trenton in a program run by Princeton called PitStop which brings Princeton students to underprivileged neighborhoods where they can tutor and mentor at the public libraries.
Uchenna Karen Ezeibe, a Nigerian-American, hails from Huntsville, Alabama,
where she has lived all her life. Uchenna is a junior Biology
major and Chemistry minor at Howard University in Washington DC.
She is currently pursuing a six year BS/MD program at the university,
and will begin medical school.
Uchenna maintains an active lifestyle on campus and within the DC metro
area. She is the secretary of the HU Health Professions Society—a
campus organization that promotes medical and other health-related career
fields—and a new member of the HU P.E.E.R.S. (Peers Empowering
Education and Reaching Students), another health outreach program.
Within the community, Uchenna has dedicated her time to the youth.
She has volunteered with the DC Children’s Hospital and Pediatric
Care HIV/AIDS, Inc.
In her spare time, Uchenna enjoys socializing with friends and family, watching movies, relaxing, chatting on Facebook©, and browsing the web. She is looking forward to the weeks ahead, and hopes to gain better insight in the fields of Biostatistics and Epidemiology.
Irene Headen is a native North Carolinian currently completing an academic excursion in the Northeast. She has spent the last four years at MIT earning her B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a minor in Biology. While issues of the mind and body are her main areas of study, matters of public health and policy also capture her intrigue. Throughout her major studies, Irene has nourished her love of public health and policy, including completing a class specifically directed toward preparing students for careers in policy and a summer internship at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC. In August of 2008, Irene will begin work in Washington, DC as a health policy research assistant, focusing on statistical data analysis and programming. She is particularly interested in the role statistical data analysis in producing sound policy analysis and informing policy decisions. Irene is looking forward to learning more about the applications of biostatistics to the realm of public health and health policy. After working for a few years, Irene hopes to earn a Masters in Public Health and continue on to Graduate school. After graduating, she hopes to focus her energies and skills on researching health disparities in hopes of contributing to the reduction of the current gap in health trends in minority communities. Irene’s hobbies include hip-hop dancing, baking, kickboxing, and Southern cooking.
Sunny Intwala was born and raised in North Providence, Rhode Island. He has recently graduated from Rhode Island College, where he received a B.A. in Biology. Sunny plans to attend Brown Medical School in the Fall of 2008. In July, he will be working in Rhode Island Hospital's Emergency Department with physicians and engineers researching a device which allows hemoglobin to be measured noninvasively. In the future, he hopes to be a successful cardiologist with an active role in research.
Marcia McNutt, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, earned a B.S. degree in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Alabama in May 2007. She has had the opportunity to do research on intergenerational studies, as well as work as a psychometrist in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at University of Alabama at Birmingham. She will be attending graduate school in the fall at Emory University's School of Public Health for the master's program in Epidemiology, and she plans to attain a doctorate degree in the future. She is interested in examining the correlation between cardiovascular disease and physical activity, and the relation both have with stress. She strives to increase overall health awareness and physical activity in older adults in the African-American community. In addition to school, Marcia spends her time volunteering as a Youth Advisor at Jeffries Memorial Christian Church. She also enjoys to dance, tumble, laugh, and eat good food.
Marquette D. Moore, Jr. is currently living in Charleston, South Carolina, but he has lived in six different locations around the United States. Being the son of an Air Force Officer, he has had the great opportunity to travel all over the world to places including Japan, Korea, Guam and Germany. Marquette is a rising sophomore at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA, where he is pursuing a major in Biology/Psychology and a minor in Public Health. At Morehouse, he is a member and Secretary of the John H. Hopps Jr. Research Defense Scholars program, which is a research based program, gearing students to obtain their Ph D. After undergraduate school, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in the Public Health Sciences.
Besides academics, Marquette enjoys listening to hip-hop, R&B, working out, playing tennis, running, volunteering, and of course sleeping. In his spare time, he takes pleasure in reading, debating with friends, and enjoying Atlanta's city life. At Morehouse, he is currently working in the lab of Dr. Sinead Younge, where research is done on the cultural antecedents of health behaviors, particularly HIV.
Sophia Sarah Salazar grew up in the very small town of Coyote, population 200, in northern New Mexico. She will graduate from Scripps College in Claremont, California this year with a degree in Neuroscience and a Hispanic Studies minor. After traveling to Costa Rica to do a public health internship and academic program and also volunteering at Planned Parenthood in Santa Fe, New Mexico she realized that she wanted to pursue a career in public health, specifically sexual health. As a result of growing up in a rural area with limited resources, she wants to share with others the importance of providing sexual health education to those who live in underserved communities. When she is not in school, Sophia lives with her husband, Luis Sánchez Saturno in Santa Fe, New Mexico where they share a home with their cat, Kitty Witty. She enjoys motorcycle riding on the windy roads of northern New Mexico, snowboarding, taking photographs, and salsa dancing.
Nian Verzosa is from Diamond Bar, California. She is currently a rising junior and majoring in Public Health Studies at Johns Hopkins University. After college, she plans to teach English abroad and pursue a Masters Degree in Public Health. Her main research interests include mental health, women's health, race relations, and health disparities within urban neighborhoods.
Nian is also very active outside of school. She is the president of her cultural club, the Filipino Students' Association, and is also actively involved in her sorority, Delta Xi Phi. She loves working with children and teaches ballet at Margaret Brent Elementary School, a local school in Baltimore. When Nian has free time, she enjoys going to the beach, dancing, traveling, baking, running, and listening to music.