Community Health

Public health student interns with the conservation district

sbrown79 — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:13:11 +0000

Public health student interns with the conservation district sbrown79 Tue, 09/29/2026 - 11:13

911�� senior Amman Haines grew up spending time with her family on her father’s property in West Virginia, where camping, fishing, and hunting nurtured an early appreciation for the outdoors.

That connection to nature now informs her work as an intern with Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District (PWSWCD), where she’s gaining hands-on experience at the intersection of resource conservation and community health.

For Haines, the internship reflects what a 911�� education does best: connecting students with meaningful, real-world opportunities that prepare them to make an impact in their communities and beyond.

“Interning with the conservation district is such a great opportunity. I was immediately able to apply concepts from my public health courses to the community work I'm doing,” Haines said. 

Amman Haines works with the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District. Photo provided.

For example, “I collaborated with local farmers to assess their water quality and already had a foundation to draw from while still learning and absorbing new knowledge,” she said.

A community health major in the College of Public Health, Haines said she chose 911�� because of its flexibility, opportunities, and strong academic pathways. Her father, who attended 911�� and described the university as a place with endless possibilities, encouraged her to apply. For Haines, that promise has proven true.

Her path to the internship began in GCH 310 Health Behavior Theories with Shannyn Snyder, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Global and Community Health. Snyder recognized Haines’s curiosity and engagement in the classroom and encouraged her to pursue the opportunity with PWSWCD.

“I'm so thankful for Professor Snyder who gave me that much-needed push,” Haines said. “Now, I’m here at the conservation district working with amazing colleagues and making a difference in my community.”

Snyder, who has worked with PWSWCD for more than 10 years, said the organization offers students a powerful way to connect classroom concepts with urgent public health issues.

“By offering internship and volunteer opportunities, they give our community health students essential experiences that connect what they are learning in the classroom with the real world,” said Snyder. “I hope this experience will give Amman a chance to contribute to public health promotion and education in the community.”

Snyder noted that the district’s work—from watershed protection to soil health education—has direct implications for human health. That connection aligns closely with the university’s Grand Challenge Initiative’s bold solution to improve human health, well-being, and preparedness. 

Amman Haines is researching harmful algae blooms as part of her internship at the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District. Photo provided.

At PWSWCD, Haines is researching harmful algae blooms (HAB), drawing on credible sources to create educational materials that explain what harmful algae blooms are, where they come from, and how they’re affecting water quality and public health. The HAB reports contribute to broader public understanding of an issue that’s also under the purview of the Virginia Department of Health.

The internship also broadened her understanding of how her chosen major can have applications beyond traditional settings.

“You can't go wrong when you expand upon your major or area of expertise by opening yourself up to other spaces,” Haines said. “Find that space, get hands-on experience, and learn new things.” 

Haines hopes the internship will open doors to future research opportunities. She aspires to work for organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where she can contribute to data-driven research and public education.

“I'm very inspired by the work that NIH is doing,” said Haines when considering careers. “I want to collect and analyze important data, compose health journals, and inform my population.”

As she continues her studies, Haines said she hopes other 911�� students will embrace the same spirit of curiosity that guided her. “Take advantage of every opportunity that is presented to you and never be afraid to try new things.”

This research supports the Grand Challenge Initiative's goal of improving human health, well-being, and preparedness

Discover more GCI health research

Learn about other solutions >>

In This Story

Shannyn Snyder, MAIS

Topics

College of Public Health

Powerful community partnerships help combat public health challenges

Taylor Thomas — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:06:05 +0000

Powerful community partnerships help combat public health challenges Taylor Thomas Fri, 10/10/2025 - 13:06

The Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics’ Empowered Communities program’s success is driven by dynamic partnerships between 911�� and community organizations that are transforming public health outcomes in underserved communities.

Initiatives convene networks of nurses, peer specialists, community health workers, and students to bring acute and chronic health care services, immunizations, school health exams, substance misuse treatment, mental health services, and more to low-income, uninsured, or refugee populations. For example, the Empowered Communities Opioid Project helps people involved with the justice system who struggle with opioid use disorders connect with health care providers and community resources.

Photo by Emily Roscher.

Empowered Communities programs exemplify how college-community alliances can directly improve highly targeted public health issues. These collaborations are foundational to delivering sustainable, person-centered care where it’s needed most. By combining academic expertise with on-the-ground community insight, these partnerships are creating scalable models for building healthier communities.

Prince William County and MAP Clinics partner on several initiatives, including the Jail Medication-Assisted Treatment Program, the Peer Internship Project, and Community MAT efforts. The collaboration is rooted in shared goals of expanding access to treatment, strengthening peer support services, and promoting recovery within justice-involved populations. Their remarkable collaboration was recognized with the Jack Wood Award for Town-Gown Relations in the category of Partnership Initiative.

“Partnerships like these are essential for building coordinated, comprehensive responses to the opioid epidemic, substance use, and behavioral health challenges in Prince William County, City of Manassas, and Manassas Park. By working together, we can leverage collective expertise, align resources, and deliver consistent, person-centered care across systems,” said Sara Wheeler, division manager of the Adult Behavioral Health and Recovery Services in the Prince William County Government.

Harnessing Tech Partners to Improve Health

Sri Vasireddy, co-founder and CEO of REAN Foundation, leads an organization dedicated to using technology to improve access, affordability, and efficiency in health care. Together, REAN and the MAP Clinics created Mason HealthLink, an AI companion that allows patients to self-manage their own care by connecting them with resources, practitioners, and updated care plans. Their partnership exemplifies the intersection of technology and health care.

“There is tremendous need for what we do and there's a lot that we need to put together. I am a technology entrepreneur, and I have little direct knowledge in health care,” said Vasireddy. "What I know comes from working with organizations and partnerships, meeting people, and learning about their communities’ needs. On the technology side, the technology people process aspects of building a platform. But we need nursing staff and community workers and volunteers to help answer is this contextualized, is this personalized? It’s not just one discipline. We need psychology, we need science, we need technology, we need business in terms of the operations."

These partnerships—between academic institutions, local governments, and technology innovators—are the foundation of Empowered Communities’ success. They demonstrate how collaboration across sectors can drive sustainable public health solutions and improve outcomes for underserved populations.

Over the past two years, the Empowered Communities has hosted a conference that served as a platform for these partners to showcase milestones and reaffirm their shared commitment to providing resources to those most in need.

“Gatherings like the Empowered Communities Conference foster connection, knowledge sharing, and inspiration across sectors. They provide a platform to highlight innovative practices, celebrate progress, and strengthen the collective commitment to recovery, equity, and community resilience,” said Wheeler.

Photo by Emily Roscher.

Topics

Empowered Communities

Mason and Partners (MAP)

CPH - School of Nursing

Campus News

GCI-Grand Challenge Initiative

Graduating community health student has her own floss-ophy

sbrown79 — Fri, 02 May 2025 17:09:05 +0000

Graduating community health student has her own floss-ophy sbrown79 Fri, 05/02/2025 - 13:09

Growing up, 911�� senior Haila Salaheddine was not a big fan of going to the dentist.

“I was initially very fearful of the dentist. When I was living in Lebanon, there wasn’t really preventative care for oral hygiene,” said Salaheddine, a community health major.

After high school, Salaheddine moved to the United States and discovered she had eight cavities.

“I got them filled in quadrants, which was not fun, but I paid close attention to what the dentist was doing; all the material he was picking up. I started asking questions and ended up shadowing the same dentist, and soon fell in love with it,” said Salaheddine.

Salaheddine is graduating this spring with a bachelor of science from 911��’s College of Public Health and plans to attend dental school at the University of Maryland.

“Now it will be my responsibility to make sure that patients feel comfortable with me, which is something that I'm very excited for. Going to the dentist is a different experience for everybody and I want to help make the process as easy as possible,” said the Honors College student.

Haila Salaheddine. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding.

During her time on campus, Salaheddine was president of the Volunteers Around the World dental outreach program, vice president of Patriots for Public Health, and a member of the Pre-Dental Society, Chemistry Club, and Alpha Phi sorority.

“Our main goal with Volunteers Around the World is to get enough members to travel overseas for two weeks in the summer and provide dental care for underserved communities in countries like the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, and Peru,” said Salaheddine, who has attended multiple national meetings.

She was also president of a student advisory group that advocated for more global and community health (GCH) courses in Peterson Hall.

“We met with President Gregory Washington on a monthly basis and discussed how having more courses in this building can help GCH students to integrate themselves more in the major and with fellow peers,” she said.

Salaheddine is in her third semester of being a learning advisor for College of Science professor Gwendolyn Fondufe, providing support to students in Fondufe’s classrooms.

One of Salaheddine’s favorite courses was organic chemistry taught by Greg Petruncio.

“Haila has a high capacity for memorization, something that is necessary to perform well in organic chemistry and is evidenced by her stellar performance in the course,” said Petruncio, a postdoctoral fellow in 911��’s College of Science.

“She would show up to my office hours regularly and would often ask exam-focused questions to target her studying efforts,” he said.

Salaheddine describes the course as the climax of her college experience.

“It taught me a lot about myself, about my time management skills, and it was really impactful in me passing my dental admission exams,” she said.

What’s your best memory at 911��? 

My freshman year in fall 2021. It was the turnover of the COVID-19 era and we were getting more social interactions, but it was still very quiet on campus. It was a really new and unique experience, and a critical point for me. I often question what it would be like if I was to go back freshman year and have it completely in person, and whether that would've changed my way of thinking or the places where I usually hang our and study now.

How have you grown at 911��?

My senior year is when I found my love of joining clubs and trying to hold leadership positions because it was something that kept me intertwined with 911�� as a commuter. Something that’s important for me is being able to receive constructive criticism when working with others so being able to socialize and ask this from people was really significant for me, especially as I started applying to dental schools and interviewing for programs. I don't think I would be where I am now as a leader in two different clubs and admitted into dental school otherwise.

What advice do you have for incoming students?

As a learning advisor for BIOL 213 [Cell Structure and Function], a lot of my students are freshmen, and funny enough I oftentimes advise them to socialize and put themselves outside their comfort zone and make friends with people they wouldn't typically interact with. It builds a lot of personality and social awareness.

There are so many different perspectives surrounding us at all times and being able to keep an open mind while interacting with all these different individuals helps you, especially as a person who's still growing. We can't always control the environment we’re in and being able to communicate with others in a meaningful way is crucial.

What’s next for you? 

I'm very excited to finally go to dental school at the University of Maryland. As a dental assistant, you're shadowing professionals and helping on the sidelines. I finally get to say that I am pursuing my future career and providing firsthand care to others. That's something that's very heartwarming and amazing to hear.

Topics

Graduation

Community Health

College of Public Health

Learning Laboratory for Community Health prepares graduate students to solve real-world public health challenges

Taylor Thomas — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 15:55:33 +0000

Learning Laboratory for Community Health prepares graduate students to solve real-world public health challenges Taylor Thomas Wed, 06/05/2024 - 11:55

The Learning Laboratory for Community Health at 911�� held the first in-person Learning Lab Challenge at the Inaugural Empowered Communities Conference. For the challenge, graduate research assistants (GRAs) were tasked with developing an intervention that addressed the very real public health issue of opioid use disorder among adolescents and young adults.

Over the semester, GRAs worked in interdisciplinary teams, with community stakeholders providing insights into their research process and conducting interviews with affected youth and families to determine how to best meet the community's health needs.

Ashley Wiest

“We were excited to showcase student milestones achieved, challenges overcome, and collective triumphs that define our community journey toward a healthier, more equitable future,” said Ashley Wiest, a research faculty member in the College of Public Health and the Learning Lab project coordinator.

The challenge concluded with GRAs presenting their interventions to a panel of experts, who evaluated and selected the intervention that will be implemented at the Mason and Partners (MAP) clinics. The experts included

Kadhambari Sridhar, Community Preparedness Coordinator at the Fairfax County Health Department;
Jennifer Felts, Population Health Epidemiologist specializing in substance use and mental health; and
Shannyn Snyder, an adjunct faculty in the Department of Global and Community renowned for her expertise in socioeconomic disparities and social justice issues.

Under the guidance of Lisa Gring-Pemble, an associate professor in the Costello College of Business, the winning intervention, titled "Club Culmore: A Place-Based Wellness Model for Adolescents and Young Adults," was designed by three GRAs:

Shams Hadi Al Jassar, biology major and pre-medical student
Olivia Hutton, Master of Health Administration student
Eyesha Shaikh, Master of Social Work student

Shams Hadi Al Jassar

Olivia Hutton

Eyesha Shaikh

Club Culmore presents a comprehensive seven-step approach to wellness. From mental health services to tailored social media campaigns, workforce skill development, and a dedicated medication-assisted treatment (MAT) clinic, this innovative proposal promises to address the opioid epidemic through community collaboration and tailored services for at-risk youth.

“It was rewarding to celebrate the transformative impact our Mason students have had on the landscape of community health. Their dedication, resilience, and unwavering commitment to excellence have enhanced their individual growth and enriched our community,” said Wiest.

The Learning Lab was created with support from a $1 million Health Services Research grant, made possible by Congressman Gerry Connolly of Virginia's 11th District, who shepherded the proposal through Congress. Rebecca Sutter serves as the grant's project director and principle investigator. The mission of the Learning Laboratory is to support multidisciplinary training for public health students and professionals, with special attention to marginalized communities within Northern Virginia.

The Learning Lab’s impact on students and the community

Since its inception, the Learning Laboratory has been highly successful. In the second year of the lab, students reported the lab

increased their knowledge of community stakeholders,
increased confidence in discussing core public health topics, and
significantly improved their critical thinking skills related to community health, networking and research, problem-solving, and professional development.

“The Learning Lab is dedicated to equipping students with the multifaceted skills essential for success in the workforce after graduation. Our teaching models foster proficiency in research, interviewing, data collection, administrative tasks, and community resource utilization alongside technological competencies, thus nurturing a generation of adept community health professionals,” said Wiest.

In This Story

Shannyn Snyder, MAIS

Ashley Wiest, DNP, FNP-BC

Rebecca Sutter, DNP, APRN, BC-FNP

Lisa M. Gring-Pemble

Topics

experiential learning

Impact

Community Health

Mason and Partners Clinic

Public Health Students

Registered dietitian students cook nutritious meals for local firefighters

sbrown79 — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 19:31:36 +0000

Registered dietitian students cook nutritious meals for local firefighters sbrown79 Wed, 04/10/2024 - 15:31

Students from 911��’s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies recently visited the men and women of Fairfax Fire Station 33. They taught the firefighters about responsible nutrition habits and cooked nutritious meals for them in the station’s kitchen.

Marcus Brick (left) and Mark Radish prepare a meal for local firefighters. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The experience was part of the master of science in nutrition degree program with a dietetics concentration in the College of Public Health. The program is a pathway to becoming a registered dietitian nutritionist. The seven graduate students in the MS/RD program will be the first to graduate from this program in May.

“The meal preparation is 100 percent student led, and it has to be a completely original and healthy recipes suitable for the firefighters’ needs,” said Sapna Batheja, program director and an assistant professor of nutrition.

The students were split into three groups and prepped meals during three different shifts at the firehouse following the department’s ABC shift pattern, which covers a three-day cycle.

Master of nutrition students Marcus Brick and Mark Rudich worked on this project together, and their dish was a Green Chili Turkey Chili. Rudich had previously made the dish for his family and wanted to recreate it for the firefighters.

“The parameters of the project focused on firefighter performance,” said Brick. “A big part of the meal was making sure that the firefighters had an adequate amount protein—about half a pound of meat [per person]—for a good amount of energy so they're fueled and ready to go for whatever emergency may come.”

Green Chili, Turkey Chili prepared by registered dietitian students. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

In their research, the students found that cardiovascular disease is one of the largest issues facing the American population, especially firefighters, said Brick. “But you can reduce that risk by eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and supplementing them in any meal that you have,” Brick added.

College of Public Health faculty members Batheja, Lilian Dejonge, Allison McKay, and Allison Miner and registered firefighter dietitian Megan Lautz also attended the dinners.

Lautz has been a registered dietitian since 2015 and has a unique position as many fire departments don’t have an in-house dietitian. She works with dietitian students across the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, including Brick, Rudich, and the rest of their cohort.

Lautz met with the students regularly and provided them with Excel templates to guide them throughout the process, said Brick. “They were really handy to have and made our workload a lot easier to handle.”

“They not only had to research and develop recipes in a professional format, but they also cooked meals for six to nine people, including the fire chief,” said Lautz.

Marcus Brick (top left), Mark Radish (top right), Allison McKay (bottom center left), Allison Miner (bottom center right), and the firefighters from Station 33 pose in front of firetrucks. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

After the meal was prepared, the students gave presentations to the firefighters about the importance of a healthy diet. Brick and Rudich’s presentation featured the myths and cons of green powder diet supplement.

“Public speaking is a big part of being a dietitian, and throughout the course of this program, we’ve had a lot of opportunities to practice educating others on nutrition,” said Brick. “I've tried to stick with topics that I don't know much about to fill in my knowledge gaps as I teach others.”

“Without Megan and this program, I wouldn't have known that firefighter dietitian was a niche that I could go into. I can work with airline pilots, doctors, and so many other patient populations, and the program really helped me prepare for that,” said Brick.

In This Story

Allison McKay MS, RD, CSSD

Allison Miner, EdD, MS, RDN

Sapna Batheja, PhD, RDN, LDN

Topics

CPH - Nutrition and Food Studies

Students

Case competitions help students share practical solutions to public health problems

sbrown79 — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 17:00:54 +0000

Case competitions help students share practical solutions to public health problems sbrown79 Wed, 12/06/2023 - 12:00

Six graduate students from 911��’s Department of Global and Community Health and Department of Health Administration and Policy presented a four-pronged solution to address health care and homelessness among Washington, D.C., area women at the D.C. Public Health Case Challenge.

“It was a really exciting day,” said associate professor Debora Goldberg, who mentored them. “The students did an unbelievable job.”

The competition, held at the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine, is a chance for students to use what they’ve learned in the classroom to address a real-world issue, Goldberg said.

Mason’s team used a divided approach, each taking a task that related to their research backgrounds to come up with a pilot study.

Debora Goldberg and the team of Global and Community Health students in D.C. Photo Provided.

First-year health services research PhD student Sravya Vunnam was a member of the team that competed in the case competition.

“Before the actual competition, we did a dry run with six faculty members from HAP and [School of Nursing] who came and listened to our presentation to give us feedback and help us prepare,” said Vunnam.

“[Most] of us are going to be in public health and policy making somehow, so this experience helps to shape our minds and prepare us for that,” she said.

The team’s approach included housing, community and mental health support, developing an app that would provide resources for unhoused populations to find places that provide mental health support, and access peer navigators, as well as an anti-stigma campaign.

Because students bring skills that they learn in the classroom to these experiences, case competitions are also a great opportunity for students to practice in public health courses, said Goldberg.

Public health graduate student Anahita Asghari-Kamrani took the GCH 465 Community Health capstone course taught by adjunct professor Sara Hoffman, where she and her classmates got to compete in hypothetical competitions that are set up to replicate the real ones held by the public health community.

The class breaks into teams and identifies a public health problem for which they must find solutions. At the end of the semester, the student teams present their solutions to a panel of local public health professionals, similar to the official case competitions.

“The capstone course has helped me find problem areas in public health and [potential] interventions,” said Asghari-Kamrani, who is in the epidemiology program. “I would say that having an opportunity like this helps you get out of your comfort zone and [now] I would be comfortable participating in something like this in a real-life scenario.”

Community health alumna Madison Knapp also took the GCH 465 Community Health capstone.

“It's a great way of learning and being able to come up with ideas, especially since the world is changing each year and there are new scientific measures available every day,” said Knapp, who graduated in 2023 and now does community health work for the American Heart Association.

Knapp hopes to one day compete in real case competitions so that she can make a difference in her field and community, she said.

“We got to present to people from the Virginia Department of Health, and hearing their feedback was truly a great experience,” said Knapp, whose team ended up winning the hypothetical case competition. “I still think it's one of the best moments of my college career. I hope it encourages students to do the best they can in their courses because you never know what could come out of it.”

Want to know more about the case study competition? Read more in our earlier article about the event.

Learn more about Global and Community Health at Mason

Join the Mason Nation

In This Story

Debora Goetz Goldberg, PhD, MHA, MBA

Topics

Department of Global and Community Health

Community Health

Students

College of Public Health

Washington D.C.

Strategic Direction

Student team improves substance use disorder app thanks to venture capital funding

sbrown79 — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 18:30:23 +0000

Student team improves substance use disorder app thanks to venture capital funding sbrown79 Wed, 09/20/2023 - 14:30

A 911�� multidisciplinary research team recently received $5,000 in funding from the VentureWell Accelerator to continue to develop their app, iCONNECT SUD.

The team, which includes recent alumna Rebecca Leung, PhD students Dylan Scarton and Tolulope Abidogun, and second year graduate student Srinath Silla, calls themselves the Good Troublers. Their project started as part of the National Science Foundation-funded National Research Traineeship (NRT) program at the Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain Body Interactions (CASBBI).

Rebecca Leung, Srinath Silla, Dylan Scarton, and Tolulope Abidogun in Peterson Hall. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding.

“[The NRT Program] trains graduate students to utilize design thinking principles and develop an entrepreneurial mindset to solve the pressing issues in society today using a community-engaged user-centered approach,” said Siddhartha Sikdar, CASBBI director.

“This funding will help the team translate their work and have a real impact in the community.”

Mason was recently ranked No. 1 for research performance in entrepreneurship among public universities, and No. 2 overall nationally, in the latest report from EduRank. The NRT Program is one of a series of programs at Mason designed to help researchers bring their discoveries to market.

The iCONNECT app uses smart technology, such as customized experiences and automated or user-defined identification of local resources, to help those who are struggling with or recovering from substance use disorder (SUD).

“The grant not only helps us in procuring hardware and software to optimize development, it gives us credibility and will also help us with future grants to sustain our work,” said Leung, co-founder of the team who recently graduated from Mason with a master of social work degree.

The team received the grant as part of their Stage 1 or "Pioneer" funding through VentureWell’s E-Team Program to attend a 2-day start-up entrepreneurship workshop at The Engine in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they were provided with additional guidance for the use of their funds. Any remaining funds after the Stage 1 workshop expenses are covered will be used to further develop their app.

“It was actually our second time applying for the VentureWell grant,” said Dylan Scarton, a neuroscience PhD student and another co-founder of the team. “They gave us feedback [of items] to address and said that we should be good for the next round.”

Tolulope Abidogun, Srinath Silla, Rebecca Leung, and Siddhartha Sikdar in Peterson Hall. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding.

VentureWell funds for-profit enterprises and some nonprofits, like iCONNECT, that tend to focus on social challenges and health-related innovations. The team’s mentors, Mason mathematics professor Padhu Seshaiyer and social work professor Holly Matto, encouraged them to apply for the funding to help them advance the app.

Tolulope Abidogun, a public health PhD student, is one of the new members of Good Troublers. She works with the team to structure the research side of the app deployment.

“One major goal for us moving forward is to make the [SUD resource collation] process more efficient. It's going to take a lot of groundwork, going to different places and people to get information,” said Abidogun.

The app is currently available and free for all to download, but the beta version only has vetted local resources used by peer recovery specialists in Falls Church and Fairfax County. The team hopes to continue expanding its reach throughout the Washington, D.C., area.

The team is currently gathering information in Arlington, Falls Church, and Fairfax, Virginia, and they hope to implement iCONNECT SUD into the practice of peer recovery specialists in those regions by the end of the year.

In This Story

Siddhartha Sikdar

Holly Matto, PhD, LCSW-C

Padmanabhan Seshaiyer

Learn more about CASBBI

Topics

College of Public Health

College of Science

Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions

New graduate sees opportunities for social justice through community health

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 05 Jun 2023 19:34:14 +0000

New graduate sees opportunities for social justice through community health Mary Cunningham Mon, 06/05/2023 - 15:34

Samantha Harrison knew she wanted to pursue a career that advanced social justice when she enrolled in 911��. When she discovered the community health major at a Mason event, her interest was piqued.

“Then I took Global Health, and I instantly fell in love with it,” she said. “This is definitely my career.”

Harrison, who is graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in community health with a global health concentration, said that discovering the community health degree provided her with a comprehensive way to achieve her ambitions to bring equity to communities through well-being.

She first got involved in community health while in high school in New Jersey. Having grown up in a county that is a food desert, she began volunteering with a community garden program to bring fresh produce to the area. Her passion for helping others continued at Mason. Harrison, who was scheduled to complete an overseas internship in 2020, found her program cancelled at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, instead she helped at COVID clinics and with vaccination education efforts in Northern Virginia.

In addition to her work during the pandemic, Harrison worked with an area nonprofit on a comprehensive sex education curriculum and as a social services intern in the Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics to connect uninsured and low-income patients with needed services.

“The thing I love about public health is that it’s so diverse and holistic,” she said. “You really get to collaborate with different people to create programs that meet so many different needs.”

For her many efforts during her undergraduate career, Harrison was recognized at the College of Public Health Student Awards Ceremony with an Overall Excellence Award from the Department of Global and Community Health.

"Samantha Harrison has been an excellent student and is always looking for learning opportunities,” said Brian Gillette, director of student success for the Department of Global and Community Health. “Samantha has demonstrated outstanding leadership, service to her community, academic excellence, and there are no words to describe her value as a person.”

After graduation, Harrison will begin the AmeriCorps and Centers for Disease Control Public Health Informatics Training Program. She will again work with the MAP Clinics, this time to help create interactive dashboards to give providers better data to improve patient care. She will also be deployed to the Fairfax County Health Department for similar work.

While she’s participating in the informatics training program, Harrison says she will also expand her current part-time role as a patient access associate with Inova Health Systems to a full-time position. Eventually, Harrison hopes to become a public health analyst working on programs for uninsured and underrepresented populations.

Harrison credits Mason and the College of Public Health faculty for the many opportunities she’s had as a student. “When I was in high school, I was told that [faculty at college] would be hard on you, that they wouldn’t care. That’s been the furthest from the truth about the faculty here at Mason,” she said. “Their number one priority is to see you succeed, and they will help you in any way possible.”

Topics

bachelor of science in community health

GCH Students

College of Public Health

Graduation

Community Health

Department of Global and Community Health

Health Informatics

Students

Master of Public Health student advocates for community health as This is Public Health ambassador

John Brandon Cantrell — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:34:13 +0000

Master of Public Health student advocates for community health as This is Public Health ambassador John Brandon C… Mon, 09/26/2022 - 09:34

Explore Mason's MPH Program

Topics

Public Health

This is Public Health

Jacqueline Clabeaux led an inclusive social media campaign on the value of exercise in the public’s health for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

Jacqueline Clabeaux , MPH 2023

Master of Public Health (MPH) student Jacqueline Clabeaux knows that leading communities to practice healthier lifestyles is a key role for public health professionals. That’s why she focused her ASPPH This is Public Health (TIPH) Student Ambassador social media campaign on educating people on how to improve their health while strengthening their local communities through physical activities.

“When public health is working at its full capacity, that’s when you see the most inclusiveness within communities and populations because everyone is on board to solve a problem and make their community a better place,” Clabeaux said. “I knew that most people understood what exercise is and how it impacts your body, so I took another approach and focused on how exercise can impact populations and communities.”

Clabeaux, a student-athlete for Mason’s swim team, concentrated her campaign on community building after learning from her MPH coursework that community is an essential factor in an individual’s life and health. Her campaign educated TIPH’s 30,000 followers about how they can improve their community’s health through more physical activity, such as working out in a community gym or swimming pool, exploring scenery in local neighborhoods, and spending time with others while exercising. These types of activities support individuals’ physical, behavioral, and emotional health.

Uplifting Community Health

Her week-long takeover on TIPH’s Instagram and Twitter accounts consisted of graphics on how exercise impacted her life and how exercise aids the public’s health. She also provided ideas to encourage others to exercise within their community. In doing this, she considered physical differences and community demographics to ensure her campaign was inclusive of diverse populations.

“If you live in an area where health resources are scarce, there is a higher chance that this can negatively impact your life compared to areas where health resources are abundant,” Clabeaux said. “If I could spread awareness about exercise and how it can impact communities, there is hope that this topic can build upon a community’s overall health.”

Clabeaux continued, “I wanted to make exercise look more fun to engage in and potentially entice other people to build a network of people to exercise with and that people can look at exercise in a different and fun way that can make an entire community healthier and happier.”

Students who pursue a TIPH student ambassadorship lead national presentations and campaigns to raise awareness of public health education, careers, and issues. In the past, Mason’s TIPH student ambassadors led awareness campaigns on growing a career in public health and bringing attention to the historical public health disparities affecting specific populations.

Moving Forward

For Clabeaux, being a TIPH student ambassador was a rewarding experience where she could grow as a public health professional.

“The most important lesson I learned is how to be more inclusive with how I word my posts,” Clabeaux said. “For example, some people do not have the ability to work out due to physical limitations, disabilities, etc., so I had to make sure that I was using inclusive words so that everyone would benefit from my posts.”

After graduating with her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in epidemiology in 2023, Clabeaux aspires to continue her education and become a physician’s assistant, a career where she will help communities learn the value of exercising to improve their health and aid in disease prevention.

“I’ve had a passion for the medical field since I was very young, and my goal was always to become a medical professional of some sort when I was older,” said Clabeaux. “I found that the human body is capable of many extraordinary things, and I would love to learn as much as I can about our bodies and share it with others.”

Graduation Spotlight: Twin Sisters Uplift Communities with Public Health Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations

John Brandon Cantrell — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:46:46 +0000

Graduation Spotlight: Twin Sisters Uplift Communities with Public Health Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations John Brandon C… Thu, 05/26/2022 - 09:46

Ashley and Briana Dawson share highlights from their undergraduate experience before becoming Master of Public Health students at Mason.

Ashley Dawson (left) and Briana Dawson (right) earned their Bachelor's degrees in Community Health and minors in Dance Appreciation.

Sisters Ashley and Briana Dawson have been helping others improve their health since they were in high school. With their dance studio business, the twins assist the youth in their community to exercise, socialize, and adopt healthy lifestyles with chances to compete and participate in events across the DMV area. Their love for helping others did not diminish during their undergraduate career at Mason. As May 2022 graduates, they share highlights from their experience in the Bachelor of Community Health program, including opportunities that allowed them to help community members around the globe overcome health obstacles through nonprofit organizations.

While excelling in their program and as student-athletes with Mason Cheer and members of the Honors College, the sisters pursued opportunities to gain hands-on experience working with communities across the nation through ElevateHER, a Maryland nonprofit organization with a focus on improving community health.

Gaining Real-World Experience in Public Health

Working with ElevateHER, Ashley and Briana use the skills they learned throughout undergrad in real-world situations. As a community health worker, Ashley worked with underserved communities on health campaigns, such as It's Worth a Shot, a campaign designated to educate others on the COVID-19 vaccine. In this role, she went door-to-door to answer questions, share insight, and provide guidance on immunization.

"I explained how the vaccine was developed, its purpose, and preventative measures they can take to avoid COVID. I learned that communication is so important," Ashley said. "Many of the residents had never been vaccinated, so building a rapport with them and educating them in a way that wasn't hassling was great."

Throughout her time at ElevateHER, Ashley also gained experience as a health behavior analyst and later as a funding and development specialist. Her current role allows her to research, write, and apply for grant funding, such as the $32,000 she helped the nonprofit gain for a diabetes prevention program.

Briana manages its social media channels as the community health campaign and events manager. She creates health campaigns consisting of tailored educational messaging, press releases, and webinars to help others gain insight into health disparities and tools for overcoming health concerns.

In partnership with the Morehouse College of Medicine and the National COVID Resiliency Network, Briana created and organized the webinar series, "COVID-19: What Do We Really Know," to educate others on the latest information regarding COVID-19.

"At first, we were focusing on COVID and how there was vaccine hesitancy," said Briana. "Now we are shifting gears into more mental health topics. Recently, we had a live stream webinar about Black youth mental health, how parents can talk to their kids and give them strategies and resources."

With a mission to help educate others on public health through new avenues like social media, the sisters became involved with American Women for International Understanding (AWIU) to provide educational material on Rwanda Children. This organization provides shelter, education, medical care, and support to at-risk children in Rwanda. The sisters created a YouTube video for the AWIU that explains the mission of Rwanda Children to raise awareness and gain funding for the organization.

Engaging in Health Communication Research

Ashley and Briana Dawson holding their Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society certificates.

The twins' nonprofit work gained attention from Jennifer Warren, assistant professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who taught Ashley and Briana in a health communication course. Warren invited the sisters to work on two research projects. The first examined the effect of Alzheimer's disease on African American communities.

"We were looking for the impact of adversity and how that makes African Americans more susceptible to cognitive dysfunction as they age. Alzheimer's and dementia are more common in African American populations, so we want to discover what is causing this health disparity," said Ashley. "We had already learned that Black communities are less likely to donate their bodies to science. Therefore, there is already less information on their brains. So, we wanted to learn whether it was a predisposing condition, genetic, brought on by stress or racism, and so on."

Continuing their dedication to public health, Ashley and Briana pursued another research opportunity with Warren called the Black Women's Resiliency Project. In this project, Ashley and Briana look at how Black women are labeled resilient when facing adversity.

"A lot of people refer to resilience as bouncing back, but we want to dive even further and not just think of this stereotypical phrase of 'the strong Black woman,'" Briana said. "We want to learn how they cope, how they heal and continue on, what strategies they are using, and determine if resilience is more so a process."

From these projects, Ashley and Briana learned how health communication theories relate to their community health coursework and can strengthen their goals of being public health consultants while opening the doors for new opportunities.

Making an Impact at Mason

From the beginning of their undergraduate careers, the twins pursued new avenues to strengthen themselves as public health professionals, which resulted in the sisters being honored with many awards for their achievements, including the induction into the Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society.

Now that they achieved their undergraduate degrees, the sisters look forward to obtaining Master of Public Health degrees at Mason to prepare themselves to help communities around the globe as public health consultants.

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Jacqueline Clabeaux led an inclusive social media campaign on the value of exercise in the public’s health for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

Uplifting Community Health

Moving Forward

Graduation Spotlight: Twin Sisters Uplift Communities with Public Health Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations

Ashley and Briana Dawson share highlights from their undergraduate experience before becoming Master of Public Health students at Mason.

Gaining Real-World Experience in Public Health

Engaging in Health Communication Research

Making an Impact at Mason

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How have you grown at 911��?

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