Eight Students Accepted into 2024 The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Cohort
Eight UTHealth Houston School of Public Health students were recently accepted into the 2024 cohort for The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship (ASF.) This fellowship aims to cultivate young leaders, foster their development through mentorship, and advance their skills to effectively address underserved communities' health needs.
The 2024-2025 Albert Schweitzer fellows representing the School of Public Health include:
- Amber Barrow
- Lindsey DeSplinter
- Meghna Lama
- Brianna Miranda
- Flora Tiffany Quan
- Ammar Siddiqi
- Carlie Stratemann
- Calvin Wong
Supported by this fellowship, each student will develop a service project, designed to uplift their respective communities. Through this experience of planning, researching, and implementation, fellows create initiatives aligned with their passions in the public health field to address the social, economic, and environmental determinants that affect where we work, live, and play.
Amber Barrow, a third-year MPH student studying community health practice, will continue developing Project H.E.A.R.T. (Health, Education, Art, Resilience, and Trust), an initiative originally developed by a 2023 fellow. Barrow's project will expand the adolescent mental health program and add an evidence-based sexual health service line. By amplifying this project, Barrow will leverage the success of past work to continue advancing untapped mental health resources for adolescents in the Houston area.
To further support Houston communities, Barrow will also work alongside the Green 2 Grown project, led by Kim Baker, PhD, assistant dean of practice and assistant professor in the department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Health. Barrow will assist with creating and reinforcing organizational partnerships and developing future programming.
"I want to combine my clinical and public health expertise to bridge the gaps between physicians and public health professionals while working at the forefront of both areas," said Barrow.
This fellowship will support her goals of advancing health equity and community health, emphasizing sexual and reproductive health.
Lindsey DeSplinter has always been inclined to study medicine and the skill sets it offers to train students to become physicians. DeSplinter, a first-year MD/MPH student, opted for an MPH to provide a perspective beyond medicine, and chose to study health policy and global health.
"I like public health because I get the full picture of all factors that influence health. This has allowed me to explore the humanistic side of medicine more than I otherwise would have," DeSplinter said.
Through her service project, DeSplinter will combine her two passions of medicine and public health in a collaborative effort with the Baxter Fellowship at New Hope Housing to connect residents with social and health services as a patient navigator.
Meghna Lama, a first-year MPH student, shifted from dentistry in India to public health, to study equitable access to health care resources and to bridge the gap between underprivileged communities and quality healthcare. She wishes to use her undergraduate training in the medical field with graduate-level public health experience in gathering, analyzing, and interpreting health data. Under the fellowship program, Lama intends to assist immigrant women in Houston by collaborating with Amaanah Refugee Services, a non-profit based in Houston.
Lama’s selection for the ASF is a testament to the determination and effort she has worked for since leaving her home country. Her service project intertwines her passions and the vital work of public health by aiding others and providing the necessary skill sets to lead healthier lives. Through mental health services, employment navigation, and nutrition education, Lama aspires to help participants obtain access to these services.
"Our overarching goal is to empower refugee women by facilitating their integration into American society and navigating the intricacies of the healthcare system," said Lama.
Brianna Miranda plans to collaborate with Finca Tres Robles, a non-profit organization and urban farm, to address food insecurity in the Houston area. As a first-year MD/MPH student at Baylor College of Medicine, Miranda is training to pursue a career as a physician.
Food insecurity, which affects over 17 million households according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a prevalent issue that public health leaders work to counter. For Miranda, this is the area where preventative measures of nutrition and public health meet, improving overall health.
"The synergy of public health and medicine in improving community health encourages me to pursue a career as a public health physician," she said.
With the collaboration amongst local food farm, Finca Tres Robles, she will work to address food insecurity issues through a Neighborhood Produce program that provides fresh, healthy foods to residents.
F. Tiffany Quan, MD, MPH, will work on developing multilingual instructional videos on how to navigate the U.S. healthcare system to support Texas Children's Hospital's Program of Immigrant and Refugee Child Health. Quan, a first-year DrPH student, strives to create pathways to increase access to healthcare services for marginalized communities to improve outcome disparities in her project and amplify this messaging throughout her career.
To increase health literacy for non-English speakers, Quan has devised a set plan of screencast videos to guide families on essential topics such as scheduling medical appointments through MyChart, arranging transportation, and working to translate these barriers into pathways for families to navigate the program with ease.
"I am honored to be part of an organization committed to fostering an extraordinarily collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach emphasizing community integration that resonates with the essence of my clinical public health practice," said Quan. "Their visionary dedication propels them toward evidenced impact and innovation in public health."
Ammar Siddiqi, a first-year healthcare management student, has designed an initiative to support tobacco cessation, aligning with his cancer prevention research efforts.
For Siddiqi, public health provides the framework to develop skills to investigate the impact of social and environmental aspects contributing to cancer-related illnesses. As a physician-scientist aspirant, he hopes to combine public health skills and scientific research to enhance patient health outcomes. This project sets the foundation for his career in achieving these efforts by working with SEARCH Homeless Services to combat tobacco usage with the fellowship's support.
"Words cannot describe how honored, grateful, and humbled I am to be recognized among such passionate individuals. Their enthusiasm and dedication inspire me beyond measure, and I am deeply privileged to share this journey with them," said Siddiqi.
Carlie Stratemann, a first-year MPH student, was driven to pursue public health to empower and equip underserved communities to live healthier lives. During her fellowship, Stratemann plans to utilize the Patent Care Intervention Center database to increase access to social and medical services for those experiencing homelessness.
This project can potentially have an expansive reach to make tangible changes in the health and well-being of those experiencing homelessness in Houston. As a fellow, Stratemann will have access to mentors and leaders to aid this project in expanding services for an underserved population.
"These individuals have been historically marginalized and stigmatized, which is why I believe research and interventions must be carried out to promote health equity in this population," Stratemann said.
Calvin Wong, a 4th year MD/MPH student, plans to increase the availability of low-vision support group meetings for the community through his service project. Seeking a residency in ophthalmology, Wong recognizes there is a wide range of scientific discoveries available in the specialty. One obstacle Wong hopes to address is increasing access to peer support through developing multimodal approaches to support this initiative, such as podcasts and blog posts designed for screen readers. Through this project, Wong along with his co-fellows intend to create an opportunity for visually impaired patients to take part when they may not otherwise have access to attend in-person meetings.
"I chose to study public health because of my interest in people and communities," said Wong. "I hope to one day practice in a way that builds relationships with the places and people around me."