SPH Etiquette Dinner

Eboni Taylor, Sirin Yaemsiri, Jenny Lund, Pam Klein

JULIUS ATASHILI
PhD Student
atashili@email.unc.edu
Home Country: Cameroon
Prior Degrees: MD, MPH
Research Interests: Infectious diseases with focus on HIV
Comments: Coming from a country greatly afflicted by the HIV pandemic,
with the aim of acquiring competence in research, the school actually is the
place to be. The environment made of an experienced faculty, dedicated
staff and friendly student body constitute a combination geared at both
individual and collective capacity build-up.

CHRISTY AVERY
PhD Student
christy_avery@unc.edu
Hometown: Eaton Rapids, MI
Prior Degrees: BS - Human Biology, Michigan State University, MPH -
Epidemiology, the University of Michigan
Research Interests: Genetic epidemiology of complex chronic diseases,
especially cardiovascular diseases, statiscal genetics, and epidemiological
methods
Comments: UNC has a strong methods curriculum and is located in a great
area, both of which were integral parts of my decision to attend the school.
I also was very impressed with the Cardiovascular Disease group and the
extensive course offerings.

LIANA DesHARNAIS CASTEL
PhD Student
liana@email.unc.edu
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Prior Degrees: BA in Psychology 1998; MSPH in Health Policy and
Administration, 2000
Research Interests: Cancer epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, patient
decision making
Comments: I came to UNC's Epidemiology program to develop my critical
thinking, quantitative, methods, scientific writing, and leadership skills. I
am interested in producing research that answers questions beyond simple
determination of efficacy, by incorporating quality of life, economic,
effectiveness, or psychological considerations into the analyses. I hope to
collaborate with leaders in the field to form innovative new approaches to
address current limitations in clinical trials research, especially in the fields of
cancer and pharmacoepidemiology, and to integrate ethical and population-based
perspectives into these projects. During my career, I would like to teach and
have the opportunity to be principal investigator on NIH studies.

THERESA CRUZ
PhD Student
tcruz@email.unc.edu
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Prior Degrees: MPH
Research Interests: Injury Epi (Surveillance/Motor Vehicle/Firearm)
Comments: The program supports collaboration and has a good balance of
theory and application.

AMANDA "Mandy" GOLEMBESKY
PhD Student
amandag@email.unc.edu
Hometown: Wyomissing, PA
Prior Degrees: M.S. in Epidemiology from University of California, Berkeley (2003)
B.A. in Political Science, Duke (1999)
Research Interests: Cancer Epidemiology
Comments: As a peace corps volunteer in Mali, West Africa, I began my
Master's program with an interest in infectious disease epidemiology. I realized
quickly, however, that my niche was in cancer epidemiology. UNC-CH has a large
range of coursework available in cancer epidemiology and many research opportunities.
They encourage students to take classes outside the department, including courses
offered through the medical school and the biostatistics department, so that students
can have a multi-disciplinary approach to public health.

KELLY KLINE
PhD Student
kkline@email.unc.edu
Hometown: Fayetteville, GA
Prior Degrees: BS (biology) from Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL; MPH
(epidemiology) from UAB in Birmingham, AL
Research Interests: injury and occupational epidemiology particularly violence
prevention research
Comments: My main reasons for coming to Carolina were the department's
reputation and the emphasis on training doctoral level researchers. I have not
been disappointed. The faculty and staff have been both helpful and attentive in
meeting my individual needs as a student. In addition, the caliber and quantity
of research conducted here has afforded me ample opportunities for both
professional development and funding, even in the relatively small field of injury
epidemiology.

ALYSSA MANSFIELD
PhD Student
mansfield@unc.edu
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Prior Degrees: B.S. Psychology (Eckerd College);
MPH Health Behavior & Health Education (UNC-Chapel Hill)
Research Interests: Syndromic surveillance for bioterroism and outbreak
detection; Sensitivity and specificity of surveillance systems; Behavioral
risk factors of cardiovascular disease, mainly nutrition and physical activity;
Possible infectious etiology in inflammatory response for cardiovasulcar disease.
Comments: Epidemiology represents to me the perfect bridge between medicine
and public health, and in truth, allows us to be "non-invasive" clinicians. I was
drawn to the rigorous methodology training and variety of substantive courses
offered. The best thing about the program by far are the faculty. They are experts
in their respective fields and unrelenting in their motivation to develop us as students
to not only have a thorough knowledge of epidemiology, but to not be afraid to
challenge the status quo.

DANIEL WESTREICH
MSPH/PhD Student
djw@unc.edu
Hometown: Basking Ridge, NJ
Prior Degrees: BS, Computer Science
Research Interests: HIV/AIDS, mathematical and statistical modeling of
outbreaks
Comments: I came to UNC because the students and faculty I talked to
here were by far the most energetic and committed bunch I encountered in
an arduous school search. The students I talked to on my visit, and those
who I have met since, are excited about their work at a level I just
haven't seen at other schools; and the faculty are equally as excited
about the students.