The Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care Scholarship was established in 2006 to support an outstanding master’s or doctoral student with potential for leadership in mother/child health, especially related to infant and young child feeding and care.  The Center is dedicated to enabling women to make the best health choices for themselves and their children through policy and program, transdisciplinary research and intervention, with the goal of creating change that most benefit the mother/child unit.  The Scholarship is granted to outstanding masters and doctoral students with a demonstrated commitment to the study of the mother/child dyad domestically or internationally.  

Recipients of the Scholarship

2006: Sheryl Wallin Abrahams

Sheryl earned bachelors degrees in biology, anthropology, and policy studies from Rice University, and then went on to serve in the US Peace Corps in Turkmenistan.  There she worked on a children’s nutrition coloring book and a breastfeeding education program.  In addition to her excellent academic performance during the first year of our master’s program, Sheryl has assumed leadership positions with the Student Global Health Committee and the Graduate and Professional Student Forum.  She intends to use this award to expand upon projects that she will be conducting during her upcoming summer internship with the Agency for Educational Development’s Linkages Project, which provides technical information and training on infant feeding and maternal nutrition.

2007: Amy Gedal

Amy first became interested in public health through a course called “Maternal and Child Nutrition” that she attended as a biology and society major at Cornell University.  In her own words, “As I learned about the health issues facing mothers and children in developing countries, I was captivated by the prospect of enhancing quality of life through improved health practices.  I found international MCH to be a perfect synthesis of longstanding interests in health, community-based work, travel and culture, and women’s and children’s issues.” 

Following graduation, Amy worked in DC for a year on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation policy project evaluating healthcare coverage options for low-income women and children.  She then served as a clinical research coordinator in New York City before moving to Shenyang, China as a Princeton-in-Asia Fellow. Though the challenges were great, she was able to accomplish much, from implementing college-level health courses and orphanage caregiver trainings to establishing a university volunteer program that continues to serve disadvantaged children in Shenyang today. 

After two years in China, Amy came to UNC to pursue an MPH, with the hope of future work on projects that strengthen the link between child health and maternal health/family planning programs through research and evaluation.  In the MPH program, Amy has excelled academically -- receiving an “H” in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Foundations of MCH, and an independent study related to international perspectives on public health.  She also serves as co-chair for the student global health committee and on the evaluation committee for the new core course Foundations in MCH.