The prospect of solving the multitude of global health issues may seem daunting. But a new corps of scholars committed to global health are staking their areas, and are confident that their individual, local work – wherever in this big world – can have impact, even globally.
Every year, UC graduates hundreds of students with an interest in the burgeoning field of global health. They have diverse interests, from disease prevention and climate change to immigrant and human rights to reproductive health. They will work all over the world, from Africa to the Middle East to the streets of San Francisco.
Here are the stories of students from each of the 10 UC campuses.
John Auld
UC Berkeley
MPH, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology
How did you become interested in global health?
I became interested following a study abroad program in Amman, Jordan in 2015. I witnessed the devastation caused by the Syrian conflict firsthand in refugee camps afflicted with slum-like conditions and disease in Jordan. My interest in global health grew after conducting epidemiological research concerning antimicrobial resistance in refugee communities in Beirut. After seeing how underserved the Middle East was in terms of global health programs and interventions, even following one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in human history in Syria, my resolve was galvanized to change this paradigm.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
I hope to pursue a career in infectious disease epidemiology, specifically in surveillance and prevention and eventually, in disease modeling. I hope to study re-emerging diseases (e.g. Leishmania) that have surfaced in the Middle East as a result of armed conflict. More broadly, I hope to increase focus on the Middle East as a region of global health interest and mobilize global efforts to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance there.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
Dr. Lee Riley at UC Berkeley was the single largest influence in my decision to pursue a career in global health. His research focuses on the unique ecology and epidemiology of slums around the world, and greatly inspired me to extend this type of research to refugee communities in the Middle East. Under his tutelage, I was able to design a study that sought to address health issues disproportionately affecting some of the most vulnerable populations in the Middle East.
Jake Pry
UC Davis
PhD, Epidemiology
How did you become interested in global health?
I first became interested in global health in high school when I had the opportunity to travel to Rwanda and Burundi where I saw not only the beautiful country and culture but the potential for public health progress.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
I will continue to work in Zambia to improve public health, especially HIV care and non-communicable disease risk reduction with the Centre for Infectious Disease Research Zambia (CIDRZ).
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
Dr. Woutrina Smith and Dr. Brad Pollock at UC Davis encouraged me and gave me the opportunity to focus my study and practice epidemiology in the developing world.
Melissa Matlock
UC Irvine
PhD, Public Health
How did you become interested in global health?
I first became interested while getting my master’s degree from Columbia University, when I became aware of how large climate change can impact public health on the global scale. After, I worked for a non-profit called GRID Alternatives, which provides solar electric systems to low-income homeowners at little-to-no cost. I had my boots on the ground speaking with the community. I heard members’ struggles with paying their electric bill in 110+ degree F climate while being on breathing machines. They described how they needed these machines to survive but couldn’t afford to run their machines and their air conditioner. They chose their machines and still ended up in the hospital due to the heat. I was so inspired by the individuals that I decided to go back to school and focus on public health and climate with a concentration in global health.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
While getting my PhD, I have been working as an analyst in the water sector. I hope to start my own non-profit focused on global health and climate change, where we will focus on the scientific research and working with the community and policymakers to influence change and prevention.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
In my first year as a PhD student, I participated in a research team called Water UCI. We were working with Anza-Borrego Springs about their water supply and holding stakeholder engagement sessions. During the first session, I introduced myself to the community and mentioned that I was getting my degree in public health. After the session, community members told me about a disease that had hit their community hard after the drought in 2014-15. The disease is valley fever, which impacts southwest United States, Mexico and South America, and is also common among tourists to these areas. I started researching valley fever and it became my dissertation topic.
Jet Harbeck
UCLA
BA, Political Science, Public Affairs/Policy (minor)
How did you become interested in global health?
Working in the UCLA Campus Assault Resource & Education Program as an intern for the past two years allowed me to understand the importance of having a holistic and trauma-informed approach to healing and health, specifically for survivors of gender-based and sexual violence. Likewise, being a student ambassador with the UCGHI Center of Expertise on Women's Health, Gender and Empowerment exposed me to researchers and policymakers working to expand health access both domestically and internationally. My academic focus on women’s reproductive health access on a domestic level helped me to further expand on my interest in health policy for women on a global scale, with my Public Policy research capstone project focusing on the future of telemedicine. As a current legislative intern in the Office of Congressman Ted Lieu (CA-33), I’ve been able to further explore my interest in researching current legislation on both global and domestic policy issues related to health, gender equality, LGBTQ+ civil rights and resource access for survivors of gender-based violence.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
I hope to continue working in policy and advocacy work for civil rights and human rights, with an emphasis in reproductive health access and LGBTQ+ rights, both on a domestic and on a global scale. I am planning to continue working on policy and advocacy in this area, and then hopefully go on to law school to eventually work in the field of civil and human rights law.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
My experience at UCLA reporting through the Title IX system helped me to understand the direct impact of policy on the lives of people like myself. This has further shaped the way I understand how policy implementation on local, state, federal and global scale can directly impact individuals and communities far removed from the political systems drafting legislation. With this understanding in mind, I hope to help craft and advocate for policy that both addresses, and helps to lower, barriers to accessing essential reproductive health resources for women and trauma-informed resources for survivors of gender-based violence, domestically and globally.
Ya Yang
UC Merced
BA, Public Health, Psychology (double major)
How did you become interested in global health?
I became interested in global health because of my experience growing up in a developing country. I was born in the Wat Thamkrabok Refugee Camp in Thailand, where my family fled from Laos to escape ethnic cleansing of the Hmong. In the camp, there was no medical facility. I was born with normal hearing, but due to a severe illness and no access to medical care, my ear nerves got damaged and I ended up with partial hearing loss. This inspired me to pursue a career where I can enrich the health and well-being of others globally.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
Upon graduation, I’m taking a year off and hoping to find opportunities to gain more experience in public health. Afterwards, I would like to pursue a PhD in public health with an emphasis on policy. I hope to conduct research on developing countries and implement programs to improve health globally.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
When I took the Global Health course during my first year of college, I was so passionate in learning the materials. I felt like I could relate to what the people in developing countries were experiencing. The course allowed me to explore various health concerns in different geographic areas. It definitely had a huge impact on my decision to pursue a career in global health.
Annie Le, MPH
UC Riverside
MD
How did you become interested in global health?
As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, I witnessed how mutual aid in our community buoyed my family against trauma, poverty and discrimination. This sparked my desire to learn about and advocate for others facing strife and inequity. I’ve been influenced by community organizing around immigration, labor, incarceration, education, environmental justice, LGBTQ health and health care access through a lens of global solidarity and anti-oppression.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
I’m heading to the UCSF Family and Community Medicine Residency Program at San Francisco General Hospital. I look forward to growing my capacity to partner with marginalized communities, thinking and acting structurally to extend my work beyond the clinic walls.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
I was inspired by the work of the Tijuana Wound Clinic and Refugee Health Alliance, which I joined to support the migrant caravan in 2018. Applying their model, I’m currently working with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice to address medical needs for asylum seekers in San Bernardino, CA.
Emily Behar
UCSF
PhD, Global Health Sciences
How did you become interested in global health?
To me, being interested in global health means being interested in the intersection of health and all the exogenous factors that influence population-level health outcomes. I first became interested in global health when I took a medical anthropology course as an undergrad that put into perspective the ways health was conceptualized differently in different environments, not just internationally, but also within different communities here in the US.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
I plan to continue to work as a researcher in the Substance Use Research Unit at the San Francisco Department of Public Health where I conduct qualitative research on opioid use and overdose in the US.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
It’s been really valuable to be part of the conversation as the field of global health works to define/redefine itself as a discipline distinct from international/public health. Because I conduct domestic research, I have often been asked how my work fits within the domain of global health. During my time in global health sciences, I was able to confront the assumption that global health must be conducted in low and middle-income countries, and own the fact that global health is about applying a transdisciplinary approach to problem solving. Our work doesn’t have to be conducted in some far away country to be considered global health, rather, global health can take place right here on the streets of San Francisco.
Gabriela Ochoa-Estrada
UC Santa Barbara
BA, Global Studies, Feminist Studies (minor)
How did you become interested in global health?
My interest in global health stemmed from my passion for women’s rights for adequate reproductive health care. It initially began through my local community work focused on sexual and reproductive health that I did with Planned Parenthood when I lived in South Central Los Angeles. Growing up in a community that lacked adequate health services led me to easily become connected to this issue, which I first thought of as just a local issue. But after beginning my research experience in college, I realized that it was also a global issue that needs solutions.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
This summer, I will participate in a study abroad program in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I will volunteer at a local health center, alongside classes touching on global health inequality. I was recently granted the UCGHI’s Planetary Health Summer Research Field Experience Fellowship to support a service project in Oaxaca, Mexico. I will develop a workshop that will consist of information on sexual and reproductive health, as well as a discussion about community-led ideas on solutions for the health inequality issue there. I hope to shed light on individual experiences of those in marginalized communities in order to better understand their needs and to propose solutions.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
I worked with my mentor, Laury Oaks, on issues specific to my interests in reproductive health care. While I focused on local issues and discussed my ultimate goals with her, she suggested that I apply for a UCGHI Center of Expertise on Women's Health, Gender and Empowerment summer research grant, which introduced me to one of my first research projects on women’s health abroad. After doing this project, I was able to become a delegate for the NGO Women's International League for Peace and Freedom at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women this year. I became aware of the career I wanted/needed to pursue because of the lack of people in these spaces who are the most affected by the decisions being made, especially in regard to reproductive health care around the world.
Daisy Lucia Orellana
UC Santa Cruz
BA, Feminist Studies, Community Studies (double major)
How did you become interested in global health?
I took a class in my third year called “Gender, Migration, and Health,” which introduced me to the concept of binational health issues. We had the opportunity to participate in Binational Health Week in Santa Cruz County and learned about the health care issues migrants face and the interventions community organizations and the City of Santa Cruz took to support folks living in migrant camps. This class reinforced what I was already seeing at home and in my community as real public health issues – from the impact of checkpoints and accessing health care to occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
I currently work full-time at Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Health (TEACH) as their abortion training coordinator. Through this position, I have the exciting opportunity to build up advanced abortion training opportunities in Mexico City for our medical residents. My hope is that in any work I do in the future, I continue to remember that the “local is global” and seek out what larger forces are at play that affect people’s health.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
During my fourth year, I transferred to UC Davis to study abroad through a program, Latino/a Health Internship in Oaxaca. This program has a two-week stay in Puerto Escondido, a beach town in the coastal region of Oaxaca that drew me to apply. Those two weeks focused on reproductive health, and we had the opportunity to learn from local partners. This exposure led to begin working as a community doula in Santa Cruz. Now, I am working on completing perquisites for midwifery school.
Joanna Chen
UC San Diego
BA, International Studies-Anthropology, Global Health (double major)
How did you become interested in global health?
I have always had a passion toward international and global issues. From a young age, health care and services were part of my everyday life as I accompanied my grandparents to multiple doctor's appointments as a translator. Learning about how to make a connection between what I saw through my personal experiences with the experiences shared across the world was what really moved me to pursue global health.
What will you do next and how do you hope to impact global health?
My research, as well as career opportunities, have revolved around supporting immigrant and refugee populations in the United States and Thailand. I hope to continue my commitment to these communities through a career that provides either health or legal services.
Was there an event or individual that/who influenced your career path in global health?
The sacrifices and struggles my family have undergone as foreigners in the American healthcare system influenced me to better understand why health is not always a linear pathway. A specific time I vividly remember, was when my grandmother needed to go to physical therapy but ultimately stopped because of misunderstandings between my family and the therapist. The therapist insisted on exercising and training certain muscles to build better posture and muscle to alleviate my grandmother's back pain, but my mother was appalled that someone would expect an elder to engage in strenuous activity. The therapist was frustrated at my grandmother for not engaging in the set treatment plan but ultimately caved and gave my grandmother ultrasound treatments for the next several sessions after I told her my family was very opposed and did not support "physical" physical therapy. As a mediator between formal healthcare providers and my family, I saw firsthand how small misunderstandings like this affect how health treatments are executed and whether individuals feel like they are actually healing.