Student Spotlight

Biostatistics MPH alumna Ella Tamayo turned her love of numbers into public health impact—revealing surprising county-level links between food insecurity and child mortality, advancing antimicrobial stewardship in Texas, and championing creative, equity-driven data solutions.

UTMB researchers propose “attentiveness” as a framework to ethically include community partners in qualitative data analysis, challenging norms in public health research and shifting the power dynamic between academics and communities.

Allie Murphy, MPH candidate at SPPH, has received a Fulbright Award to evaluate El Salvador’s national teen pregnancy prevention strategy. Her eight-month project will shape future health programs in the region and inform reproductive health efforts across Texas.

Peyton Swanson, PhD student in bioethics, earned an NSF GRFP Honorable Mention for research on how rural communities engage with biomedical innovation—challenging assumptions about access, technology, and knowledge in public health.

Emily Huynh, MPH, transitioned from psychology to public health, leveraging her analytical strengths to combat infectious diseases. At UTMB, she combined biostatistics with real-world applications, including vaccine data analysis and public health communication.

Nicholas Quansah’s journey from Ghana’s clinical labs to global health research brought him to UTMB’s MPH program. Now, with a Lancet publication and a focus on antimicrobial resistance, he’s combining hands-on expertise with systems thinking to confront a growing global threat.

As Trinity Brigham graduates with her MPH from UTMB SPPH, she reflects on how her public health education reshaped her perspective—and how it will guide her future as a physician. Up next: medical school at the University of Colorado and continued research in epidemiology.

Dr. Johnna Wellesley, recent PhD graduate from UTMB’s Institute for Bioethics & Health Humanities, examines how shame and stigma are produced in medicalized death—and why "endings matter" for patients, families, and clinicians. Her next step: a postdoc in clinical ethics at Cornell.

From paramedic to physician, Chris Connolly's path to earning his MD/MPH at UTMB wasn’t a straight line—but it shaped the emergency doctor he's become. As he begins residency in Austin, he reflects on the road that led him here, the power of public health, and what's next.

SPPH students Faith Adjei-Sarpong and Alexandra Holland have been selected for the prestigious Archer Fellowship, where they’ll spend the summer in Washington, D.C., applying their public health expertise to national policy and advocacy work on sickle cell disease and climate-related health.

Three UTMB MD/MPH students were named 2025–2026 Albert Schweitzer Fellows. Their projects, tackling legal barriers to health and environmental injustice in Galveston, embody the SPPH mission of evidence-informed, community-driven public health practice.