Fall 2022 Class Acts
Celebrating the achievements of students, alumni, faculty and staff Heading link
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David Ansell, MD, MPH '91
David received UIC’s Alumni Achievement Award for his contributions to public health locally and nationally.
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Todd Brown, MPH '07
Todd was named the Race and Gender in the Built Environment Fellow at the University of Texas Austin School of Architecture.
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Pramod Dwivedi, DrPH '21
Pramod was elected the new president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
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Theresa Chapple-McGruder, PhD '09
As director of the Oak Park Department of Public Health, Theresa was named the Villager of the Year by the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest.
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Col. Gwendolyn Foster, DrPH student
Gwendolyn recently ended her command of the U.S. Air Force’s 60th Medical Group, moving on to a new position as Director of Staff for the Air Force Surgeon General.
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Sasha Kravets, PhD in Biostatistics student
Sasha earned the 2022 American Statistical Association Biopharmaceutical Section Scholarship Award.
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Melissa L. Gilliam, MD, MPH '95
Melissa, The Ohio State University’s Executive Vice President and Provost, was honored by The King Arts Complex at its 15th Annual Legends and Legacies Award Ceremony and Reception.
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Andres Giradlo Ledesma, EMHA student
Andres, assistant director of clinical support operations at the UIC College of Dentistry, earned the College’s Sparky Award in recognition of excellence in care, concern and support for patients, students, faculty and alumni.
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Jeni Hebert-Beirne, PhD '08, MPH '95
As associate professor of community health sciences, Jeni was the recipient the 2022 Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health Practice Excellence Award.
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Yadira Herrera, MPH '20, BA '18
Yadira was named a Fulbright finalist and is teaching English to elementary-aged students while based in Spain’s Canary Islands.
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Elizabeth Jarpe-Ratner, PhD '19
Elizabeth, core faculty in the DrPH program, and Booker Marshall, (MPH ’17), authored new research on strategies to support LGBTQ+ students, based on experiences in Chicago Public Schools.
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Ramandeep Kaur, EMHA student
Ramandeep was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
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Cynthia Klein-Banai, PhD '10
Cynthia was named a Notable Leader in Sustainability for 2022, as honored by Crain’s Chicago Business.
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Tamara Kozyckyj, MPH '14
Tamara was named a Fulbright Fellow to work with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health.
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Noel Chávez, PhD
A professor emerita of community health sciences, Noel was presented with the Catherine Cowell Award at the 2020 virtual APHA conference. The award recognizes excellence and achievement in administration, planning, mentoring and team building in public health nutrition, including meeting the special needs of urban populations and young children.
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Natalia Lopez-Yanez, MPH '21
Natalia was named the new director of the UIC COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Epidemiology Program.
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Regina Meza, MPH '14
Regina was named to the de Beaumont Foundation 40 Under 40 in Public Health list.
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Yamilé Molina, PhD, MPH ’05
Yamilé, associate professor of community health sciences, was named associate director for community outreach and engagement at the University of Illinois Cancer Center.
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Kenneth Schoenig, MHA '22
Kenneth earned an administrative fellowship with Franciscan Alliance Health System based out of Indianapolis.
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Olusegun Ogunleye, MHA '09
Olusegun was named an emerging leader by the Chicago Urban League as a member of the 2022 cohort of its IMPACT Leadership Development Program.
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Peter Orris, MD
As professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, Peter earned a 2021 Health and Medicine Award from the Health and Medicine Policy Research Group.
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Jennifer Plascenia Lopez, MPH in CHS student
Jennifer earned a Schweitzer Fellowship to implement a high school mentorship program for first-generation, underserved youth in Chicago.
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Heather Prendergast, MD, '19, '14, '07
Heather (EMHA ’19, MS ’14, MPH ’07), is co-leading UIC’s new long-haul COVID research project, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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Mark Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, EMHA '19
As Dean of UIC’s College of Medicine, Mark was named one of Chicago’s top doctors by Chicago Magazine.
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Soumya Sahu, PhD in Biostatistics student
Soumya presented research at the National Delta Omega Poster Session at this year’s American Public Health Association conference in Boston.
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Linda Rae Murray, MD, MPH '80
Linda earned UIC’s Silver Circle Award recognizing the campus’ best teachers.
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Tanner Shull, MPH in Epidemiology student
Tanner earned a Schweitzer Fellowship to establish a group of mothers and community leaders within Little Village churches and organizations to act as health promoters.
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Todd Stankewicz, MPH/MBA '01
Todd earned UIC’s Humanitarian Award for his contributions to public health.
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Thasarat Vajaranant, MD, EMHA '20
As professor of ophthalmology at UI Health, Thasarat was named one of Chicago’s top doctors by Chicago Magazine.
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Shannon Wilson, DrPH student
Shannon was named the inaugural vice president of population health and health equity at Priority Health in Grand Rapids, MI.
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Jaime Slaughter-Acey, PhD '10
Jaime earned a new NIH grant on “Looking Back to Look Forward: Social Environment Across the Life Course, Epigenetics, and Birth Outcomes in Black Families.”