WASHINGTON (Dec. 5, 2022) — The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH), in partnership with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), 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 will support a new Public Health Scholars Program (PHSP) that will provide 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 will be awarded to ten students pursuing a Masters of Public Health (MPH) at Milken Institute SPH. Through academic and supplemental programming, the program will provide 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. The program recently welcomed its first cohort of scholars after a competitive selection process.
Milken Institute SPH and NACCHO will provide scholars with strong support to identify 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 will enable Milken Institute SPH to make even more of an impact in training the next generation of public health leaders. As the only school of public health in the District of Columbia and home to the largest MPH degree program across the country and globally, 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 new program, scholarship recipients will be able to complete specific coursework that addresses novel but critical areas of public health and develop relationships with the school’s sizeable network of community partners.”
The 2022 Milken Institute School of Public Health HRSA Public Health Scholars:
Alisa Bannerjee
MPH@GW
Griffin Barriss
Global Health Policy
Department of Global Health
Carolyn Brown-Kaiser
Maternal & Child Health
Department of Prevention and Community Health
Dayna de Montagnac
Environmental Health Sciences & Policy
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Cara Dufresne
Maternal & Child Health
Department of Prevention and Community Health
Kathryn Ghougasian
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management
Rikiyah Mixson
Community-Oriented Primary Care
Department of Prevention and Community Health
Angel Oteghile
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management
Laura Perez
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management
Claire Summa
Health Policy
Department of Health Policy and Management
-GW-