MPH - Meet Our Students

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Meet Our MPH Students

2007 - 2008 Students:

Carissa Baker

Hometown: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Where did you earn your previous degree? University of Maryland - College Park, B.A., 2004.
Intended Profession: I am currently a legislative research assistant and public health policy analyst, so this program is a great fit for my current work. I eventually hope to use my research experience to advocate for women's rights.
MPH track? Health Policy, Law, and Ethics
What attracted you to the MPH program? The program has a history of work in two areas of public helath that I have a passion for: women's health and health diparities. I am also excited to dive into the ethics issues in the Health Policy, Law, and Ethics track curriculum.
Please tell us about your family, a few of your personal interests and hobbies, and anything else interesting about you that you wish to share. My sweet heart of a fiance, Matthew, and I will be getting married in June 2008. This means wedding planning has joined my long list of hobbies, whcih also includes dancing (ballet), running and hiking outside, working out at the Y, reading 19th century novels, writing, and trying to learn to cook.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality. It has got to come from one of my favorite authors, Dickens: "A loving heart is the truest of wisdom"

Michelle Bucci

Hometown: Lancdowner, PA (close to Philadelphia)
Where did you earn your previous degrees? B.A. at Ursinus College and MA in Economics at UVA
Intended Profession: I am interested in helth policy and health care reform
MPH track? Health Policy, Law, and Ethics
What attracted you to the MPH program? After finishing my MA in Economics, the MPH program offered me the ooportunity to learn about health care and to integrate my economics background in the public health field.
Please tell us about your family, a few of your personal interests and hobbies, and anything else interesting about you that you wish to share. My parents and sisters live in the same town where I grew up. I have 2 younger sisters - Cailin, 22, and Nicole, 24. I enjoy playing sports, mostly running, soccer, and basketball.

Jennifer Carnahan

Hometown: Northern Virginia
Where did you earn your previous degrees? B.A. at New COllege of FLorida, M.A. in Religious Studies at UVA, am a current medical student at UVA
Intended Profession: Internal Medicine
MPH track? Generalist: Practice & Research
What attracted you to the MPH program? My love of epdemiology and concern for how we're going to manage the healthcare of our aging population.
Please tell us about your family, a few of your personal interests and hobbies, and anything else interesting about you that you wish to share. My folks met when they were both stationed at the White Sands Air Force Base in New Mexico - you know- where they tested the first Atomic bomb. My sister is a writer (unpublished). I started the Medical Student Book Club.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality.

Kristin Lane

Nickname: Kris
Hometown: Keswick, VA
Where did you earn your previous degrees? B.A. in 1988 and M.D. in 2007, both from UVA
Intended Profession: Either combining clinical practice with research or working in public policy reform.
MPH track? Generalist: Practice & Research
What attracted you to the MPH program? I originally was interested in the MPH program before entering medical school, but there was no program closeby. Medicine had always appealed to me and after completing my degree, I thought combining degrees would give me more opportunity to contribute. A doctor can help many people, but someone who is a good public health servant can contribute on a much larger scale.
Please tell us about your family, a few of your personal interests and hobbies, and anything else interesting about you that you wish to share. I'm a single mother of Charles 14, and Elizabeth, 11. I am a very picky eater and a good cook, but appreciated it more when someone else does the excellent cooking for me. My son has me somewhat absorbed with baseball. I enjoy drawing and painting and power-washing houses.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality:
"99% of success is just showing up" Woody Allen

Jequeatta Upton

Nickname: Some people call me JQ for short or if Jequeatta is just to hard to pronounce
Hometown: I was born and and raised in Cleveland, Ohio (yes, I refer to 'soda" as "pop!"), my family moved to Chesterfield, VA when I went to high school (Go LCB Skyhawks!), and now my family resides in Tampa, FL.
Where did you earn your previous degree? B.A. from UVA in 2007
Intended Profession: I intend to use my MPH to address and help alleviate health disparities among both racial and socio-econimic groups.
MPH track? Health Policy, Law, and Ethics
What attracted you to the MPH program? Through volunteer experiences and traveling, I've had the opportunity to observe inqualities and disparities in healthcare among various communities in this country. Therefore I am attracted to the MPH program because I believe it allows me to study this situation through a variety of scopes (theories, policies, etc.) while also searchingfor a solution to help mitigate these disparities. Also, after attending UVA as an undergraduate, where else would I want to go? WAHOOWAH!
Please tell us about your family, a few of your personal interests and hobbies, and anything else interesting about you that you wish to share. I am a big "family person;" so while mine is relatively small, I love traveling home to visit my father, mother, two younger sisters and my "little brother" Rusty - our Pekinese. Also, I enjoy lisening to music, watching movies, traveling (I love France) and cooking for my friends.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality.
I have two personal mantras. 1) My parents always told me, "Never let others expect more of you than you expect from yourself." 2) Luke 12:48 "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required"

Kevin Yves Vilsaint

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Profession: I am a medical doctor who finished my internship year in medicine and will be pursing an Anesthesia residency after my MPH
MPH track? Health Policy, Law, and Ethics
What attracted you to the MPH program? I was attracted to the MPH program because of my AIDS research that I participated i during my fourth year of medical school.
Please tell us about your family, a few of your personal interests and hobbies, and anything else interesting about you that you wish to share.
I am the youngest of four boys whose parent immigrated from Haiti in the 1960's. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, went to parochial schools up until medical school and decided to go to medical school because of my experiences in high school while volunteering at a hospital. Currently I am taking a break from my medical residency to pursue an MPH and will be living with my fiance and our new dog.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality. "Sucess is not final, Failure is not fatal; It is the courage to continue that counts" - Winston Churchill

Continuing Students

Esraa Bani

Hometown: Khartoum, Sudan
Intended Profession: Epidemiologist
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: I have always been interestedi n infectious disease control in third world countries (where I grew up). During my sophmore year in college, I earned an internship with the United Nations where I spent three months in Khartoum, Sudan working with the Sudanese National AIDS prevention program. It was my first exposure to a worldwide health care dilemma. This experience caused me to think about earning a degree that will allow me to combat emerging infectious diseases in third world countries.
Personal interests: Traveling, photography, planning/organing events, learning new languages, reading mystical Arabian poetry, drawing, boating, and interior decor.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality: 'If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It is important to be aware of them every time they come up." Deepak Chopra

Lauren Bateman

Hometown :
Intended MPH track : Generalist: Practice & Research
Entered the Program : Fall 2005

Joy Boissevain

Hometown: Charlottesville
Profession: Program Administrator, UVA Center for Global Health
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: I wanted to gain a better foundation in public health to be able to expand my conributions to UVA's Center for Global Health.
Personal interests: I enjoy gardening.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality:

Tedra M. Claytor

Hometown: Charleston, WV
Profession: ID Physician
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: Desire to understand clinical research better.
Personal interests:
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality:

Woodnard Givens (Woody)

Hometown: Norfolk, VA
Intended Profession:
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2005
What attracted you to the MPH program: The size of the program and its interdisciplinary approach in the study of public health.
Personal interests: Sports (football and basketball), music, and wine collecting.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality: 'Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsucessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world if full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent, the slogan 'press on" has solved and always solves the problems of the human race..." -- Calvin Coolidge

Meri Hamilton

Hometown: Washington D.C./Bethesda, MD
Intended Profession: I want to use the MPH to help elderly people have access to decent housing/end-of-life care, regardless of financial status
Intended MPH track: Health Policy, Law, and Ethics
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: The curriculum and class size. Also, I recently moved to C'ville with my husband who is a psychiatry resident. We were both in LA at USC's Keck School of Medicine together. We went out together after our wedding. Although I finished three years, I had health problems and could not finish. I realized after some ego-healing time that my real interests were better served by an MPH than an MD. So, here I am, excited to start.
Personal interests: I used to be a jock as a kid, but had cancer in my right tibia at 12 and that ended that. But, I've always enjoyed sports, horseback riding, camping, and hiking. I have recently begun to knit again, and got a sewing machine for my birthday; I guess i'll have to re-learn sewing. I love playing with and training my dog, Cali (so named because we got her in California). I love gardening and the bruises I get dragging around massive bags of dirt and mulch. Laughing is my favorite thing to do and sometimes stupid things can get me there. I am pretty extroverted and love to vissit with friends; more of whom I hope to make at school. Reading is a major hobby, as is philosopical discussions with my husband, David. He settled with an MA i philosophy rather than his Ph.D. when he decided he wanted to go to medical school. We met in our post-bac, pre-med courses. We also both went to St. John's College. Not the basketball school but the liberal arts school with the Great Books core curriculum. He went to the Annapolis campus, and I was at the Santa Fe, New Mexico campus so we never met there.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality: "This too shall pass..." -- Unknown

Beth Henry

Hometown: La Plata, Maryland
Intended Profession: Health Education
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: I love the interdisciplinary nature of the program; it quenches my thirst for knowledge on so many different levels. After traveling to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil and witnessing the present disparity that exists within the community, I devoted myself to securing a position in public health that would allow me to influence equality and endeavor to close the existing gap in the quality of healthcare received by less fortunate communities. This program can help me do that because it not only exposes me to theories and ideas circulating in the world of science, but also allows me to incorporate skills learned in law, business, anthropology, and sociology, among others.

Personal interests: I love listening to music, playing the piano, African dance, reading, spending time with my family, and working out.

A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality: "We have to improve life, not just for those who have the most skills and those who know how to manipulate the system. But also for and with those who often have so much to give but never get the opportunity." -Dorothy Height

Benjamin D. Kozower (Benj)

Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Profession: Thoracic Surgery
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: I want to learn about the principles of public health and gain a foundation for performing clincal outcomes research.
Personal interests: Hiking, golf, cooking, and music.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality:

Rebecca McLaughlin

Hometown : Chapel Hill, NC
Profession: Undecided, a JD/MPH candidate
Intended MPH track : Health Policy, Law, & Ethics
Entered the Program : Fall 2005
What attracted you to the MPH program : The Health Policy component an the fact that it was available as a joint degree with the UVA School of Law.
Personal interests: Was a Spanish major - would be potentially interested in volunteering to translate for Spanish-speaking patients at a local clinic.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality:

Samuel Adu Owusu

Hometown: Ghana
Intended Profession:
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program: The opportunities available after completion of the course.
Personal interests: Having a cordial relationship with God. I like working out a lot despite the fact that it has not reflected externally. I like playing tennis and soccer.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality: 'All that glitters is not gold." and "Don't judge a book by its cover." -- proverbs of unknown origin

Michael Smith

Hometown : Pittsburgh, PA
Intended Profession: Attorney, curently JD/MPH student
Intended MPH track : Health Policy, Law, & Ethics
Entered the Program : Fall 2004
Reasons for enrolling in the MPH program : For the past 3 years, I have worked as a marketer in the pharmaceutical industry and have observed many challenges physicians and patients encounter in navigating the current healthcare marketplace. Looking at the current cost structure of the system and the trend of ever rising costs, one can reasonably conclude that the US Health Care System must evolve significantly into a more sustainable model that meets the demands of health care consumers and suppliers. Rather than simply guiding pharmaceutical products through the changing health care environment, I want to be involved in shaping the scope and nature of the evolution. I believe the JD/MPH degree program will help me to be uniquely prepared to contribute.
Personal interests: Choral singing, 20th Century Irish Literature, tennis, ice hockey, golf, and snow skiing.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality: "We cannot yield to the temptation to let someone else perform the job, or to remain aloof from what in a free society is everyone's business." - Robert Kennedy

Katie Tower

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Intended Profession: Laboratory bilologist/ MD
Intended MPH track: Generalist: Practice and Research
Entered the Program: Fall 2006
What attracted you to the MPH program : The closeness and focus available in a small program.
Personal interests: I was on my college's ballroom dance team for three years. I also like to knit and cook.
A quotation or saying that I find inspirational or that expresses my personality:

Brigid Wonderly

Hometown : Charlottesville
Profession: Registered Nurse
Intended MPH track : Generalist: Practice & Research
Entered the Program : Fall 2004
Reasons for enrolling in the MPH program : Largely course content and the ability to allow me to expand my knowledge and abilities within health care and nursing.
Personal interests: Intellectually curious about most things. Hiking, biking, gardening, reading, listening to music, and playing with my dogs.