Alumni

Ainash Childebayeva

Drilling for DNA: The Unexpected Adventures of a Public Health Anthropologist

Ainash Childebayeva, PhD ’19

Could that researcher in goggles sitting in a lab really be an anthropologist? And how much adventure will they actually have? From the top of the Himalayas and the Andes to the insides of cells, Ainash Childebayeva has combined anthropology, genetics, and public health to uncover secrets of human history and keep today’s vulnerable populations healthy.

Katharine Bradley

Guiding Principles: Balancing Context and Evidence to Inform Policy

Katharine Bradley, PhD ’14

Katharine Bradley was steered toward public health by her mother’s career in hospital administration, but, she says, “health insurance policy is different than administration.” Now equipped with a PhD in Health Services Research and Policy, she works to create research-based evidence about Medicaid implementation so we can have better health care policy.

Theresa Gorman

Recovering from 9/11 and Moving Public Health to the Front Lines of Disaster Response

Theresa Gorman, MPH ’11

Theresa Gorman witnessed firsthand the clean up at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks and how rescue and recovery workers began to suffer from respiratory problems. She has built a career around ensuring environmental and worker health and urges public health professionals to see their role in disaster preparedness and response.

Anand Parekh; Photo by Greg Gibson

The Loneliness of the Bipartisan Collaborator

Anand Parekh, MD, MPH ’02

Anand Parekh knows that people on both sides of the aisle agree on many things and want to work together. But actually getting policy made can be challenging. As a researcher, writer, and advocate, Parekh brings people together every day to improve access to health care and health in general.

Dany Zemmel, MPH '20, earned an MPH from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology and was a Dow Sustainability Masters Fellow.

Finding New Passions in Public Health Outside the Classroom

Dany Zemmel, MPH '20

While studying occupational and environmental epidemiology, master's student Dany Zemmel has contributed greatly to another area of public health studies—health equity through food access. Collaborating with peers to grow a food security initiative that benefits students on campus, she has expanded her skills in the field of public health while making an impact on her local community.

Taryn Gal

Sex, Public Health, and Being Human

Taryn Gal, MPH ’07

Working alongside young people as executive director of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health, alum Taryn Gal and her team help ensure young people have access to sexual health services and sexual health education. And she reminds us that we all have a stake in sexual health.