Top International Research Awards go to Grads, Students

The Fulbright and Boren grants encourage the pursuit of research, education and teaching opportunities overseas.

Two May graduates and two current students have received prestigious grants to further their education and research abroad.

Elena Broaddus and Hannah Coakley, who earned MSPH degrees in International Health, received Fulbright U.S. Student awards, making it possible for the recent graduates to live and work in Nepal and Malaysia, respectively.

Presently enrolled in MSPH programs in International Health, Caitlin Milder and Victoria Ryan received Boren fellowships—sponsored by the National Security Education Program—for language study and research in Japan and Ethiopia, respectively.

Broaddus will travel to Western Nepal to work with Helen Keller International’s Homestead Food Production programs for women.

Coakley will work as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in an elementary school.

Milder is headed to Japan to study the effects of radiation on public health as she improves her Japanese language skills through regular interactions with health officials and by taking university-level classes in Japanese.

Ryan will conduct qualitative research to determine how NGOs use specific interventions to support the work of female community health volunteers in rural areas. She will also study Amharic, one of the major languages in Ethiopia.

Congress created the Fulbright Program in 1946 to “foster mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchanges.” www.jhsph.edu/SFR/fulbright.html

The Boren Awards were established in 1994 to help students develop language skills and professional experience in countries and fields of study critical to U.S. interests. www.borenawards.org/