On Friday afternoon, June 10, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice celebrated the academic accomplishments of 102 of its MPH and MS graduates during its annual Class Day ceremony.
The joyous, and at times emotional event, held this year on Dartmouth’s Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center lawn, gave the graduates—and the many families, friends, and faculty in attendance—a chance to reflect on their educational journeys and the special relationships they have formed as members of the Dartmouth community.
Dartmouth Institute Director of Education Craig Westling, DrPH, MPH ’09, MS, welcomed everyone to the ceremony, which featured keynote speaker Greg McKelvey, MED ’13, MPH, and student speakers Melissa LeBrun and Umayr Shaikh.
“You now have the professional capacity to access essentially anywhere, which is an interesting fact but not nearly as interesting as the question that this invites, perhaps the most consequential that you will face in your professional lives—what will you do with this access?” asked McKelvy, who serves in the White House as assistant director for biosecurity in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President.
“There are quite literally billions of lives waiting to be impacted by the decisions that you make after today,” he said. “You will have that impact if you are as intentional and rigorous about the choice of problems that you attempt to solve as the methods by which you’ve now been trained to solve them.”
LeBrun, the student speaker for the Institute’s Hybrid MPH Program, acknowledged the challenges that many have had to endure through devastating events such as the pandemic, natural disasters, and the loss of loved ones.
“Today I say to all of you, we’ve started a new journey in public health to improve communities,” she said. “We must stay determined despite the obstacles, despite the heartbreak, and despite adversity. I know all of you will and I applaud my MPH cohort and all of your hard work.”
Shaikh, the student speaker for the Institute’s On-Campus Programs, shared how inspired he has felt in learning about many of his classmates’ achievements and their desire to be advocates for change.
“My fellow TDI classmates, the world is calling upon you to be its hero,” he said. “My dream is for all of you to see yourselves the way I, your mentors, and loved ones all see you, as heroes—heroes of justice, equity, stewardship, advocacy, public health, and so much more.”
Photos by Mark Washburn
The Class Day ceremony also recognized student accomplishments, including:
Henry Masters Awards
Emily Barre (Residential)
Zev Allen (Hybrid)
Karen Ashley Leadership Awards
Caleb Curry (Residential)
Gabriela Fowler (Hybrid)
Social Justice Awards
Residential: Sophia Allen, Laila Akallal, Maggie Altergott Coleman, Jeya Anandakumar, Monica Attia, Laura Baumann, Kedryn Berrian, Emily Bohmbach, Cameron Casella, Melissa Chau, Albert Chen, Katie Connolly, Caleb Curry, Bekah Davis, Meghan Egan, Kelechi Eluchie, Gunnar Esiason, Eleni Fanouraki, Sarah Geller, Ganiat Giwa, Shefali Gladson, Linda Haller, Waylon Henggeler, Hannah Leavitt, Sri Maganti, Anais Ovalle, Ishani Patel, Ritwika Petluri, Courtney Pfeifer, Umayr Shaikh, Whitney Simmons, Alexandra Singh, Nicole Tanda, Claire Thomas, Kaavya Venkat, Max Wang, Mahlet Yared
Hybrid: Hashir Abdi, Daniel Aldrete, Zev Allen, Morgan Bailie, Victoria Boudiette, K. Chandler Rosemont, Kaveer Chatoorgoon, Nahshon Deering, Alicia DelVento, Heidi Helgeson, Melissa LeBrun, Julianna Maisano, Kristina Malzbender, Jun Pei Lim, Benjamin Radford, Aimee Roderick, Julia Sabrick, Rachel Smith, Sasha Yanes
Independent Internship Awards (and their projects)
Sophia Allen – Evaluating the Scope and Impact of WISE’s Gender-based Violence Prevention Services Specific to the LGBTQIA+ Community
Divya Avula – National Estimates of Frequency and Costs of Hospitalizations for Children with Medical Complexity: a Comparison of Algorithms
Caleb Curry – COVID-19 Testing, Vaccination, and Psychosocial Impacts Among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth and Young Adults Ages 14 to 24 Years, 2021-2022
Emerson Frizzell – American Board for Family Medicine Center for Professionalism and Value: Written Tool Development
Ganiat Giwa – Environmental Injustice in Underserved Communities
Ishani Patel – Pregnant and Postpartum Women’s Perspectives on Screening, Referral, and Linkage to Services for Food Insecurity
Integrative Learning Experience Awards (and their projects)
Jeya Anandakumar – Telehealth Interventions for Stroke Management and Rehabilitation in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review
Emily Barre – Assessing the Operational Impact of a Hospital Wide Point-of-Care Ultrasound Standardization Initiative
Kathryn Connolly – Reducing 30-day Medicare Readmission Rates in Rural America: A Policy Portfolio
Shefali Gladson – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Internal Medicine Residencies: The Current State and a Path Forward
Hanah Leavitt – The Impact of Systemic Bias on the Diagnosis of Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases
Nicole Tanda – Policy White Paper: Drug Purity Testing as a Harm Reduction Tool
Practicum Awards (and their project and field sites)
Nahshon Deering – Maintaining an Active and Engaged Workforce to Achieve Optimal Career Satisfaction: An Analysis of Atrium Health’s Engagement Strategies and Recommendations for Healthcare Systems | Atrium Health
Heidi Helgeson – The Changing Face of rural Medicine: A Qualitative Exploration of Factors Affecting the Retention of Women Physicians in Rural Colorado | Eugene S. Farley Jr. Health Policy Center at the Univ. of Colorado School of Medicine
Joellen Huebner (two projects) – 1) (APE) Building Community Engaged Research at Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center Through the Community Engagement Studio Model | Norris Cotton Cancer Center, 2) (ILE) Women’s Responses to Experiencing Medical Gaslighting During Diagnosis and Treatment of Endometriosis
Jun Pei Lim – Project Charter-Quality Improvement Project to Improve Delirium Detection and Management Amongst Hospitalized Older Adults | Institute of Geriatrics & Active Aging at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore
Juliana Maisano – From Evidence to Practice: Expanding Integrated Specialty Care and Determining Value | Geisinger Health
Julia Sabrick – Characteristics and Behavioral Risk Factors of Adolescents with a History of Sexual Abuse and Assault in an Urban Emergency Department | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Delta Omega Honorary Public Health Society Inductees
Residential: Sophia Allen, Ahmad AlSalman, Divya Avula, Emily Barre, Fiona Coleman, Margaret Altergott Coleman, Caleb Curry, Ganiat Giwa, Shefali Gladson, Nicole Tanda, Hailey Voyer
Hybrid: Zev Allen, Gabriela Fowler, Heidi Helgeson, Joellen Huebner, Jun Pei Lim, Juliano Maisano, Benjamin Radford, Aimee Roderick, Julia Sabrick, Sasha Yanes
Class Day Student Speakers
Melissa LeBrun (Hybrid)
Umayr Shaikh (Residential)
Class Day Student Marshals
Ganiat Giwa (Residential)
Julianna Maisano (Hybrid)
Commencement Student Marshal
Suraj Patel (Residential)
