Student Spotlight

From collecting bugs to coordinating clinical research, Betty Hernandez, MPH '25, has carved a path from entomology to health policy advocacy—shaped by pandemic response, fieldwork in El Salvador, and a deep commitment to health literacy and equity.

MPH student Allie Murphy reflects on her summer in Cambodia, where she helped evaluate a school-based health curriculum and visited three partner schools through her Global Health Practicum.

Dr. Yejin Kang, PhD ’25, MPH, is launching her career as a health services researcher focused on healthcare disparities. Her dissertation challenged diabetes stereotypes among Asian Americans, using data to drive more inclusive public health strategies.

Sandra Kum, MPH ’22, bridges data and advocacy in maternal health, public service, and mental health equity. Her work spans the CDC to startups—and now back to UTMB as a Delta Omega alumni inductee—with sights set on public health change in Cameroon.

After learning she was born at UTMB, Niki Razavi, MPH '25, found new purpose in public health. Now bound for law school, she reflects on how SPPH shaped her advocacy, research, and career goals.

After starting out as a pharmacy technician, Ebube Nwabuko, MPH, found her niche in pharmacoepidemiology. From navigating drug shortages to exploring prescription trends, she’s now using public health research to reimagine pharmaceutical systems—and shape a more just future.

Ejike Nwabueze, PhD, MS, MS, merges microbiology, epidemiology, and biostatistics to drive data-informed public health solutions. At UTMB, he built an R package to simplify NHANES analysis—saving researchers hours of work in just one line of code.

Biostatistics MPH alumna Ella Tamayo turned her love of numbers into public health impact—revealing surprising county-level links between food insecurity and child mortality, advancing antimicrobial stewardship in Texas, and championing creative, equity-driven data solutions.

UTMB researchers propose “attentiveness” as a framework to ethically include community partners in qualitative data analysis, challenging norms in public health research and shifting the power dynamic between academics and communities.

Allie Murphy, MPH candidate at SPPH, has received a Fulbright Award to evaluate El Salvador’s national teen pregnancy prevention strategy. Her eight-month project will shape future health programs in the region and inform reproductive health efforts across Texas.

Peyton Swanson, PhD student in bioethics, earned an NSF GRFP Honorable Mention for research on how rural communities engage with biomedical innovation—challenging assumptions about access, technology, and knowledge in public health.

Emily Huynh, MPH, transitioned from psychology to public health, leveraging her analytical strengths to combat infectious diseases. At UTMB, she combined biostatistics with real-world applications, including vaccine data analysis and public health communication.