Mapping Stillbirth Trends: A State-by-State Analysis

For me, public health is about ensuring that everyone has the fundamental right to health. Each individual carries unique experiences and stories, and it is our responsibility to amplify their voices. Being able to connect with community members and advocate for safe, healthy communities drives my motivation for this work. I want to ensure that these are places where people can thrive, not just survive.

Targeted screening program for congenital cytomegalovirus in infants who fail newborn hearing screening in Iowa.

My unwavering commitment to improving health outcomes and advocating for vulnerable populations, particularly in maternal and child health, drives my work. This commitment has sustained me through moments of uncertainty, continually reminding me of the deeper purpose behind every step.

Enhancing Patient Education and Support in Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT): Addressing Health-Related Social Needs for Equitable Care

My “why” for pursuing public health and epidemiology comes from growing up in Nepal, where I witnessed how limited access to healthcare, clean water, and education deeply impacted people’s lives. I saw preventable diseases take a heavy toll, especially in rural communities, and I often wondered why some groups were more affected than others. These early observations sparked a desire in me to understand the root causes of health disparities. Public health gave me the framework to explore these questions, and epidemiology offered the tools to turn data into action. I’m motivated by the belief that evidence-based solutions can lead to more equitable and effective health systems.

Utilizing the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data to Monitor Health Trends in Iowa

My why is I believe everyone deserves a chance at a healthy life, and I want to protect communities from infectious disease outbreaks!

Optimization of Legionella Species Recovery from Healthcare Facility Water Samples in Acid and Non-Acid Treated Samples

Ultimately I hope to live a life devoted to the natural world. Through my work in environmental microbiology this coming summer, I hope to protect the public from bacterial water contaminants. Before doing this, my life has always steered me down a path that has grounded me back to the Earth and the people who inhabit it. Whether I’m helping people move better through personal strength training, performing venipuncture at UIHC’s in-patient ICUs, running PCR on antidepressant-digesting enzymes, or trail running around in the woods in my spare time, my life has always been rooted in helping others and being present in the environment around me

Pain Interference, Intensity, and Management of Selected Muscular Dystrophies in the Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance, Tracking, and Research Network (MD STARnet)

I was born with a rare neuromuscular condition, and growing up, I often struggled to find answers to even basic questions about what to expect for my health and future. That uncertainty stayed with me and became part of what drives me. I chose to go into epidemiology because I want to help provide the answers and hope to others that I didn’t always have.

Integrated Wastewater Surveillance for Respiratory Viruses: Monitoring Influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV Trends

My why is rooted in the simple belief that every human in the 21st century should have access to basic necessities which includes access to healthcare. No one should suffer simply because of where they live, who they are, what resources they have or the lack of it. I chose public health because it turns evidence into action – with real, visible outcomes in people’s lives. It is often invisible work- selfless, slow and complex, but it is also deeply human. It asks you to show up for others, even when no one’s watching. I have come to believe that public health isn’t just about protecting life, it’s about honouring it. And if there has been a momentous time to be in public health, it is now. Today’s public health is brave and innovative. Funding can be scarce, but watching those around me meet that challenge with grit and grace taught me that what really carries the work forward is courage. That’s what keeps the fire burning behind my ‘why.’ This science is anchored in compassion, service and the belief that knowledge can be used as a tool for justice, which arguably is the most Libra thing about me.

Three Decades of the Iowa Child Death Review Team: Evaluating Intervention Success and Shaping Future Strategies for Adolescent Suicide Prevention

My “why” lives in the faces of my niece and four nephews, the strength of my sister and brother, the memory of my sister-in-law, and all the memories that should be.

Beyond the Positive Test: Individuals’ Experiences with Support Programs and Child Protective Services After a Positive Drug Screening Test During the Perinatal Period

Working in a health care setting has opened my eyes to the vast disparities people face before, during, and after receiving care. Whether the problem is government policy designed to work against a person seeking help, team members stigmatizing the ones they should be helping, or a lack of access to care, together, these things drive me forward in the pursuit of ensuring anyone who walks through the doors of a hospital is treated with dignity and receives the care they deserve without fear of recourse. When the world seems to be working against this mission, I have to remember that the work I and those on the same path in public health are doing is right, and we will prevail!

Impact of Physical Punishment on Injury Outcomes in U.S. Military Veterans: A Cross-Sectional Survey

My “why” is defined by my belief that the call of agency drives progress and stability. Through our decisions and the actions we take every day we can impart a little bit of good on the world around us. The way I choose to express that is through the work we do in public health.

Creating a Reportable Disease Dashboard for Johnson County

I was always interested in infectious diseases: how they spread, why people got sick, how to prevent illness, etc. As I’ve learned more about public health though, it is now so important to me that everyone deserves and gets the same opportunities for good health. Continuing to make that stance clear and work towards providing those opportunities for a better change is something I’m really excited to do as a public health professional.

Enhancing Iowa Cancer Awareness: Assessing and Improving Public Resources at the Iowa Cancer Registry

This exerpt from The Book of Khalid by Ameen Rihani has countiniously grounded me in both academics and life since it was assigned to me in my lit gen ed freshman year of college: “There is an infinite possibility of soul-power in every one of us, if it can be developed freely, spontaneously, without discipline or restraint. There is, too, an infinite possibility of beauty in every soul, if it can be evoked at an auspicious moment by the proper word, the proper voice, the proper touch. That is why I say, Go thy way, O my Brother… Indulge thy fancy, follow the bent of thy mind; for in so doing thou canst not possibly do thyself more harm than the disciplinarians can do thee. Live thine own life; think thine own thoughts; keep developing and changing until thou arrive at the truth thyself…. Go thy way, O my Brother. Go thy way, therefore; be not afraid. And no matter how many tears thou sheddest on this side, thou wilt surely be poked in the ribs on the other.”

Understanding Differences in Rural versus Urban Time to Diagnosis and Time to Treatment among Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Cancer has impacted so many of my loved ones. It is a disease that touches everyone at some point- whether that be our own diagnosis, or that of a family member or friend. We all know someone who has had or has died from cancer. In my own family, the impact of these cancer diagnoses have been massive. It is terrible to watch your loved ones succumb to cancer, and it is even worse to watch the rest of your family respond to losing a husband, a dad, a mom, a sister. My “why” is that I want to alleviate this burden. I want to understand why certain populations have more cancer/ more severe cancer/ more cancer mortality. If my research can help even one person to have a better cancer-related outcome, or maybe even prevent them from getting cancer at all, then I will count that as a win.

The Precipitating Circumstances of Adult Suicide Deaths: Patterns, Context, and the State of Prevention Research

Suicide and mental health are growing problems, reflective of the complex environmental, social and psychological systems in which we live. I just hope that my work can contribute to an evidence base that improves our understanding of how to best change these systems for the better.