Winter 2025 Class Acts

Celebrating the achievements of students, alumni, faculty and staff

  • Bella Aguayo, MHA '26 student

    Received an Administrative Fellowship, Academic Medical Center track, with Northwestern Medicine. The fellowship is an 18-month immersive experience that develops future healthcare leaders through hands-on learning in clinical operations, business development, and hospital finance, guided by executive and medical leadership.

  • Veronica Castillo LeMaitre, MD, MPH ‘25

    Won the Alan W. Donaldson award. Named for a founding father of SPH and its first Associate Dean, this award honors one graduating student for significant academic excellence, qualities of leadership, and community service. It is the most prestigious award granted by the UIC School of Public Health.

  • Mervin Dino, MPH ‘20

    Named a 40 Under 40 honoree by the deBeaumont Foundation.

  • Elizabeth Froelich, BSPH ‘25

    Co-won the Public Health Promise Award, which recognizes outstanding graduating baccalaureate students who are deemed by faculty and peers to show the greatest potential for future contributions to public health. She was also recognized as a UIC Inspiring Graduate.

  • Arvind K. Goyal, MD, MPH ‘75, MBA, FAAFP, FACPM

    Won the 2025 American Academy of Family Physicians Public Health Award, which recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the health of the American public.

  • Ashley V. Hill, DrPH, MPH, Assistant Professor in CHS

    Won seed funding for her research exploring the effects of displacement, evacuation, and exposure to environmental hazards due to disasters on pregnancy and birth outcomes.

  • Maleyah Johnson, MHA ‘26 student

    Received a fellowship with the Administrative Fellowship Program at UI Health. It is an innovative, year-long experience that offers exposure to the complex operations of an academic health system committed to high-value, patient-centered care and addressing health disparities.

  • John Kaleekal, MPH ‘20, MBA ‘20

    Named a 40 Under 40 honoree by the deBeaumont Foundation.

  • Susan Kaplan, JD, Research Assistant Professor in EOHS

    Published a book titled “A Healthy Union: How States Can Lead on Environmental Health,” which explores the erosion of federal environmental health protections and how states and local advocates can make build new protections to protect community health.

  • Lauren LaPine-Ray, MPH, DrPH Candidate

    Named a 40 Under 40 honoree by the deBeaumont Foundation.

  • Kristen Malecki, MPH, PhD, Professor and Division Director in EOHS

    Co-won a Team Science Award from the UI Health Cancer Center to support a collaborative research project to understand the causes and racial and ethnic disparities in early-onset cancers.

  • Karen Mancera-Cuevas, DrPH, MS, MPH ‘15, CHES

    Won the Judith R. Miller Award from the APHA Public Health Education and Health Promotion section. This award honors her outstanding service and dedication to the PHEHP section.

  • Justin Markowski, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor in HPA

    Won seed funding to understand the factors influencing the geographic expansion of Community Health Centers in the U.S.

  • W. Howard McAlister, OD, MPH ’82

    Won the APHA Vision Care Section’s Distinguished Service Award marking his outstanding contribution and continual high-quality service in public health eye and vision care.

  • Michele L. McCay, MPH ‘00, DrPH ‘11

    Received SPH’s Bernard H. Baum Golden Apple Award recognizing outstanding graduate-level teaching and service. This is her second time winning this award.

  • Suzette McKinney, DrPH ’09, former adjunct assistant professor

    Joined the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

  • Yamilé Molina, MS, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor in CHS

    Co-won a Team Science Award from the UI Health Cancer Center to support a collaborative research project to understand the causes and racial and ethnic disparities in early-onset cancers.

  • Rhonda Mundhenk, JD, MPH ‘99

    Named President and CEO of Haven for Hope, a Texas nonprofit that supports local people experiencing homelessness.

  • Naoko Muramatsu, PhD, MHSA, FGSA, Professor in CHS and Founding Co-Director of CHECA

    Won the Piergiorgio L.E. Uslenghi Global Engagement Faculty Award. Presented by the UIC International Advisory Council’s Research & Scholarship Committee, this prestigious honor recognizes faculty whose internationalization efforts far exceed expectations.

  • Linda Rae Murray, BS '73, MD '77, MPH '80, Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in HPA

    Honored with the National Conference on Worker Safety and Health Lifetime Impact Award during their annual COSHCON2025 meeting in Chicago.

  • John O’Keefe, Data Management Analyst at IHRP

    Won the UIC Award of Merit, which recognizes outstanding employees who exhibit service, commitment, and dedication.

  • Monica Padilla, BSPH ‘25

    Won the Public Health Promise Award, which recognizes outstanding graduating baccalaureate students who are deemed by faculty and peers to show the greatest potential for future contributions to public health.

  • Keith Partyka, MSW

    Won the Outstanding Registered Student Organization Advisor award at the Chancellor’s Student Service and Leadership Awards for his work with the Global Health Student Interest Group.

  • Aryn Phillips, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor in HPA

    Won seed funding to address the under-detection and intervention of unhealthy use of alcohol and other drugs in primary care.

  • Elizabeth (Betsy) Porter, JD, Clinical Assistant Professor in HPA

    Received UIC’s Teaching Recognition Program Award.

  • Amelia Poulin, MPH, PMP, CPH, DrPH Candidate

    Named a 40 Under 40 honoree by the deBeaumont Foundation.

  • Joshua Prudowsky, MPH, lecturer and fieldwork developer

    Won the Silver Circle Award, which honors UIC faculty members chosen by the Senior class for their excellence in teaching undergraduate courses.

  • Garth Rauscher, MPH, PhD, Associate Professor in Epi- Bio

    Won seed funding to investigate how residential proximity to healthy and unhealthy food sources impacts colon cancer progression and survival.

  • Mark I. Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA, MHA ‘17

    Named the Vice Chancellor of Human Health Sciences at the University of California Davis. In this role, he will oversee UC Davis Health, which includes three hospitals, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, and 17 primary care clinics.

  • Jessica Rothstein, PhD, Assistant Professor in CHS

    Named a UIC Student Affairs Faculty Research Fellow. She will conduct research on campus lactation spaces for student-parents.

  • Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH, Adjunct Assistant Professor

    Won the Alice Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award from APHA’s Occupational Safety and Health Section. This award recognizes her life-long contributions and a career of hard work and dedication to improve the lives of workers.

  • Apostolis (Paul) Sambanis, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor in HPA and Program Director of the EMRP Program

    Named to the UIC Chancellor’s Committee on Sustainability and Energy.

  • Rishi Sood, MPH, DrPH Candidate

    Named a 40 Under 40 honoree by the deBeaumont Foundation.

  • Nathaniel Tran, PhD, Assistant Professor in HPA

    Named a 2025 NIH Matilda White Riley Honoree. The honor recognizes early-career scientists and established leaders whose work transforms our understanding of how social forces impact health. Dr. Tran also won seed funding to understand the factors that increase sexual and gender minority identity disclosure to health institutions and clinicians, particularly among midlife and older adults.

  • Crissy Turnio, MPH ‘16

    Named a recipient of the UIC Rising Star Leadership Award, recognizing her exceptional leadership, dedication to public health, and commitment to advancing equity in healthcare.

  • • Cherie Weinewuth, Associate Director of Strategy and Communication in HPA

    Won the UIC Award of Merit, which recognizes outstanding employees who exhibit service, commitment, and dedication.

  • Christina R. Welter, DrPH, MPH, Director of the DrPH Program and Clinical Associate Professor in HPA

    Co-authored the Learning Agenda for Systems Change, which offers a practical framework for reimagining workforce development and using transformative learning as a driver for lasting change.

  • Sarah C. Woodrum, DrPH '02

    Named as Dean for the West Virginia University School of Public Health.