Milken Institute School of Public Health Launches New Public Health Scholars Program


October 30, 2023

WASHINGTON (Oct. 30, 2023) — The Public Health Scholars Program (PHSP) at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) is delighted to announce a new incoming cohort of PHSP Scholars. 

In 2022, Milken Institute SPH was awarded nearly $1.5 million through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to strengthen the public health workforce. The funding supports a Public Health Scholars Program that provides full scholarships to students who are pursuing training in and a career in public health at local and state health departments. The award is for a total of three years with a robust plan for continued sustainability thereafter. 

Each year of the program full scholarships are awarded to ten students pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) at Milken Institute SPH. Through academic and supplemental programming, the program provides public health training and skill building to prevent, prepare for, and respond to recovery activities related to COVID-19, as well as other public health emergencies.   

Milken Institute SPH has partnered with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to connect  scholars with practice sites and career opportunities at local and state health departments that align closely with the scholars’ academic and professional goals and interests. Throughout the scholarship program, scholars will have access to advising and mentoring, tailored electives; supplemental training in the areas of preparedness, policy and the social determinants of health and equity; monthly cohort forums, practice and career services support; and connectivity with NACCHO and its network of nearly 3,000 local health departments across the country. 

“The HRSA grant enables Milken Institute SPH, the only school of public health in the District of Columbia, to make even more of an impact in training the next generation of public health leaders. Our ability to reach and support the growth of the public health workforce in medically underserved areas across the country is unparalleled,” Jane Hyatt Thorpe, the Senior Associate Dean for Academic, Student & Faculty Affairs and Principal Investigator for the program, said. “With the implementation of this program, scholarship recipients are able to complete specific coursework that addresses novel but critical areas of public health and develop relationships with the school’s sizable network of community partners.”

The 2023 Milken Institute School of Public Health HRSA Public Health Scholars:

Maria Camila Acevedo Valencia
MPH@GW 

Hailey Wilson
MPH@GW 

Lauren Chatfield
Health Promotion
Department of Prevention and Community Health

John McClure
Health Promotion
Department of Prevention and Community Health

David Michael Hernandez
Public Health Communication & Marketing
Department of Prevention and Community Health

Sonja Moore
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management

Adeline Rosales
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management

Leticia Nketiah
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management

Christiana Chittenden
Environmental Health Sciences & Policy
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health

- GW-