Alumni Updates

Read about what our alumni have been doing over the past academic year!

Academic Accomplishments

• Kavya Anchuri, MHS ’18 is currently a second-year medical student at University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, Class of 2022.
• Lingsheng Li, MD '17, MHS ‘11 is a fellow in Geriatrics and Palliative Care at UCSF. Dr. Li received an MD from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.
• Jelena Macleod, MD '18, MHS ‘11 is a clinical fellow at Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Macleod received an MD from University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
• Linda Maguire, MHS '14 received her PhD in Health Communication from Georgetown University.
• Lingsheng Li, MHS '11 graduated the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in 2017. She is starting a fellowship in Geriatrics and Palliative Care at University of California at San Francisco.
• Yasmin Rosshandler, MHS '13 graduated from medical school and will be starting residency in Internal Medicine in Atlanta.
• Maha Haqqani, MHS '15 will be a General Surgery Resident (PGY-2), Boston Medical Center
• Kate Hein, MHS '16 will be starting the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Oklahoma State University this Fall.
• Dana Lee, MHS '19 has been accepted into a program called the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2), which is a 2-year program to become a Medical Officer in the U.S. Air Force. Only a total of 24 members are selected from the entire Air Force, Marines, Navy, and the Army. https://www.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2224264/reserve-citizen-airman-selected-for-air-force-enlisted-to-medical-program/).
• Chloe Walker, MHS '20 was accepted to a dermatology postdoctoral research position at Mass General Hospital. She will be joining her Hair Academic Innovative Research Program in September.
• Rhea Mehta, MHS '20 will be starting the University of Maryland Gerontology PhD program this Fall.

New Positions

• Elizabeth Seeman, MHS '13 is now a Project Manager at the CDC Foundation. She is working on a new initiative, Monitoring E-cigarette Use Among Youth in Select Cities and States.
• Hannah Allen, MHS '14 will be starting as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Mississippi, Department of Health, Exercise Science, & Recreation Management.
• Heather (Mattson) O'Connell, MHS '15 is now a Senior Product Manager, Medtronic Atrial Fibrillation Solutions. She is also now a new mom to Coralaine Mackenzie O'Connell, born 2/23/2020!
• Elise Planchet, MHS '19 is currently a federal affairs specialist at Children's Hospital Association in Washington, DC.

Awards

• Angie L. Cruz, MHS '19 was chosen as a Centennial Scholar at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health.

COVID Related Activities

• Joshua T. Barnett, MHS '16 has been working as a volunteer epidemiologist to the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County in response to COVID-19, providing COVID-specific epidemiologic analysis and policy recommendations to the County and Municipal Governments of Manatee County, FL. He also developed a "Wellness Outreach & Engagement Initiative" to socially engage those at increased risks for loneliness, depression or anxiety, contacting over 700 individuals who were elderly, reside in skilled nursing homes (SNFs) or adult living facilities (ALFs), with special needs or veterans in partnership with out-of-work library customer service personnel. He also was part of a team that provided wellness and mindfulness outreach to First Responders, Law Enforcement Officers and their families who were providing response to COVID-19 within Manatee County.
• Kavya Anchuri, MHS '18 wrote an article for the CBC (Canada's main public news broadcaster) on the trials of medical education during a pandemic. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/covid-19-medical-student-calgary-1.5526460.
• She also contributed to compiling and curating a database of all non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented across Canada to curtail COVID-19 transmission https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/05/27/we-in-ontario-are-flying-blind-how-top-minds-teamed-up-to-give-us-the-covid-19-data-the-province-couldnt.html

General Updates

• Neesha Hussain-Shamsy, MHS '11 completed her second year of PhD in Health Informatics at the University of Toronto, looking at eHealth tools to support mental health in pregnancy and postpartum. Of note, she is co-investigator on a study to understand common sources of concern for individuals who are pregnant during the pandemic. The results of this study will be used to inform the delivery of content on @PandemicPregnancyGuide which is an Instagram account run by colleagues who are maternal health specialists at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
• Yen-Feng Lin MD, MHS '13, ScD is an Assistant Investigator Attending Physician, Center for Neuropsychiatric Research, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan.
• Yale Kim, MHS '13 is a Senior Regulatory Analyst at the City of Hope National Medical Center in the Clinical Trials Office.
• Christine Truong, MHS '16 recently published a paper with Dr. Gallo and Dr. Spira https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2020/persistent-and-worsening-insomnia-may-predict-persistent-depression-in-older-adults.html.
• Kate Hein, MHS '16 was accepted this spring to the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Oklahoma State University. Kate has been working for the last few years doing research on borderline personality disorder at McLean Hospital and is planning to continue researching BPD while perusing her PhD.
• Joshua T. Barnett (2015-2016)

1. In July of 2019, Josh entered into doctoral candidacy for the PhD degree in behavioral and community sciences at the University of South Florida
2. On December 10, 2019, he authored and developed an Ordinance for syringe exchange services, leading Manatee County to became the 3rd County and 1st in the Tampa Bay Region, to legalize Syringe Exchange Services (Following Palm Beach and Broward Counties)
   Ordinance is here: https://www.mymanatee.org/published/December%2010,%202019%20-%20Regular%20Meeting%20on%20Tuesday,%20December%2010,%202019/4F2260B2-EAC2-48D3-9840-0FE2FCE75AA0.pdf
   Some of our exceptional local news coverage can be found here:
   https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/12/10/manatee-county-approves-syringe-exchange-program-
   https://www.mysuncoast.com/2019/12/11/manatee-county-commissioners-approve-syringe-exchange-program/
3. In March 24, 2020, Josh successfully defended my dissertation prospectus and was approved to pursue my dissertation research topic of: "Florida County Indigent Health Study: Safety Net Health Services Provided to the Low Income and Uninsured"
4. Co-authored a book chapter entitled "Florida Mental Health Institute" in partnership with Drexel University
   Moore, K., Barnett, J., McPherson, M., Christy, A., & Carlson, M. (2020). 'Florida Mental Health Institute', in Heilbrun, K. et al. University and Public Behavioral Health Organization Collaboration in Justice Contexts: Models for Success. Oxford University Press. New Yor, pp. Current in print.
5. Co-authored a qualitative manuscript, accepted by the Journal of Drug Issues for publication:
   a. Sharp, A., Barnett, J., & Vroom, E. (2020). Community Perceptions of Harm Reduction and its Implications for Syringe Exchange Policy. Journal of Drug Issues. (forthcoming). Ref#932289.
6. In June of 2020, he accepted an Adjunct Instructor position in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida
7. As of March, 2020, Josh became a volunteer epidemiologist to the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County in response to COVID-19, providing Covid-specific epidemiologic analysis and policy recommendations to the County and Municipal Governments of Manatee County, FL
8. In April 2020, in response to COVID-19 and the social distancing practices, Josh developed a "Wellness Outreach & Engagement Initiative" to socially engage those at increased risks for loneliness, depression or anxiety, contacting over 700 individuals who were elderly, reside in skilled nursing homes (SNFs) or adult living facilities (ALFs), were special needs or veterans in partnership with out-of-work library customer service personnel
9. In May 2020, based upon the early success of the Wellness Outreach & Engagement Initiative, 21 graduate students and faculty from the Harvard University Extension School in partnership with the Brain Health Initiative, were provided training to provide wellness and mindfulness outreach to First Responders, Law Enforcement Officers and their families who were providing response to COVID-19 within Manatee County
10. On July 24, 2020, Luke and Josh will close on a new home, to remain in Sarasota, FL (celebrating our 6th year anniversary on August 2nd by unpacking boxes)

• Catherine Clair, MHS '17 is currently a Health Care Analyst, Research, National Committee for Quality Assurance. She will begin the PhD program in HBS at JHSPH this fall!
• Elise Planchet, MHS '19 is currently a federal affairs specialist at Children's Hospital Association in Washington, DC.
• Dana Lee, MHS '19 is currently a Medical Preparatory Student for the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2), Active Duty, U.S. Air Force. She has been accepted into a program called the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2), which is a 2-year program which will lead me to become a Medical Officer in the U.S. Air Force. An article on my achievement has been published on the Air Force Reserve Command! (Link: https://www.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2224264/reserve-citizen-airman-selected-for-air-force-enlisted-to-medical-program/). Only a total of 24 members are selected from the entire Air Force, Marines, Navy, and the Army.
• Christie Okoye, MHS '19 is in the Post Bacc Program (MEDPATH) at Ohio State that will transition to M1 Fall 2021.
• Chichun (Wally) Lin, Psy.D., MHS, '19 is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Stigma and Resilience Among Vulnerable Youth Centre (SARAVYC) and Men's Health Research (MHR) at School of Nursing, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver

Peer-reviewed Publications:

1. Lin, C., Moore, D. D., Nylund, D., & Espinoza, S. A. (2020). Clinical issues among Chinese gay men in counseling. Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 14(1), 18-37.
2. Moore, D. D., Martin, R. H., & Lin, C. (2019). Police chiefs’ perspectives regarding obesity among law enforcement officers. Law Enforcement Executive Forum, 19(1), 6-20.
3. Moore, D. D., Lin, C., Kamboj, S., Tam, R., & Pasicel, L. (2018). MFT students’ recount experiences of attending phone and online overeaters anonymous meetings. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 40(4), 357–371.
4. Lin, C. (2018). Reinforcing behaviors of Chinese gay male users on Facebook. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 7(3), 289-296.
5. Lin, C. (2018). Chinese college students’ experiences in the encounter group. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 68(2), 215–228.
6. Lin, C. (2016). The dominant value system of Chinese gay males in family, couple, and community relationships: A qualitative study. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 27(4), 288–301.
7. Lin, C. (2014). Chinese gay bear men. Culture, Society and Masculinities, 6(2), 183–193.

• Mythili Sanikommu, MHS '19 has a pending publication on which she is first author coming out later this year. It's a chapter in a book on Evidence-Based Treatment for Juveniles with Sex Offenses that she wrote with Assistant Professor Rebecca Fix. She also presented a poster on her thesis paper (on racial disparities in mental health in juveniles with sex versus violent offenses) at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference in New Orleans this spring. Here is the citation for the publication:

Sanikommu, M. & Fix, R. L. (Forthcoming 2020).

Disparate Treatment in the Juvenile Justice System. A. Alexander, H. Morais, & R. L. Fix. Adolescents Who Sexually Offend - Moving Toward Evidence-Based Policy. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan (Springer Nature).

• Angie L. Cruz, MHS '19 is a PhD Student | Department of Health Services Research & Health Policy | Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. Angie just finished her first year of my PhD in Health Policy at Emory. She was chosen as a Centennial Scholar at Emory. She co-authored a book chapter, pending publication. She is also conducting research with local government in order to change policy around child abuse reporting in Latinx communities in addition to various other research projects including work on gentrification and policing
• Paula Zaremba, MHS '20 is currently a part-time Bilingual Field Interviewer (Contact Tracer) with NORC at the University of Chicago.
• Chloe Walker, MHS '20 has been accepted to a dermatology postdoctoral research position at Mass General Hospital with Dr. Maryanne Senna. She will be joining her Hair Academic Innovative Research Program in September.
• Francesca Silvestri, MHS '20 had an abstract from her thesis paper ecently accepted to present at the 2020 CDC STD Prevention Conference. The abstract was titled: Enacted Stigma, Psychological Distress, and Sex Exchange among Urban Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM).
• Rhea Mehta, MHS '20 will be starting the University of Maryland Gerontology PhD program at the end of August. She is hoping to complete the dual degree program which is an MS in Epidemiology, along with the PhD. Rhea will be in the Epidemiology of Aging specialization track!