At events held throughout April, the UGA College of Public Health and its various units recognized more than 28 amazing students, five dedicated faculty members, seven remarkable alumni, three outstanding preceptors, and an accomplished writer, editor and public health communicator.
Bagwell Adams receives CPH teaching honor
Grace Bagwell Adams, assistant professor in health policy and management, received the College’s 2019 Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award. Nominations for this award are solicited from CPH faculty, students, and alumni. Bagwell Adams, who joined the CPH faculty in 2007, is a well-respected mentor and teacher who challenges her students to tackle real world health policy issues by bringing her own research into the classroom.
Most recently, students in her courses have been able to gain first-hand experience in public policy analysis with data provided by the Athens Wellbeing Project. Bagwell Adams leads the AWP, a collaborative effort among community stakeholders to collect and use data to guide local public policy in Athens, Ga. Over the past year, she guided her health policy students in analyses that have explored issues that include asthma and housing quality, mental health treatment access, smoking prevalence, women’s health, and food insecurity in Athens Clarke County.
College celebrates student mentors, agency partnerships
The UGA College of Public Health students and faculty came together to recognize exceptional preceptors and their agencies at the Practice Advisory Group Spring Luncheon held April 12 on the UGA Health Sciences Campus.
Two individuals were honored with the College’s “Preceptor of the Year” Award. They were Danielle Lambert, Portal and Communications Director for the Emory Gilead COMPASS Initiative® Coordinating Center, and Mahwish Javed, Injury Prevention Program Coordinator at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Only UGA public health students submit nominations for these awards, which recognizes individual site supervisors for their exceptional work as mentors and teachers.
Eliana Forsythe, administrative assistant for St. Mary’s Health Care System Emergency Department, received the Practice Advisory Award for Service Recognition, in recognition in her many years mentoring CPH students and supporting their development as public health professionals.
In addition, the College invited its preceptors to nominate their top public health students for the “Intern of the Year” award. The award winners were Lauren Bineau (MPH ‘19), who was nominated by Danielle Lambert from the Emory Gilead COMPASS Initiative; and Rebecca Corley (MPH ‘19), who was nominated by Alex Lundy, Community Benefits Manager at St. Mary’s Healthcare System.
Delta Omega Honor Society welcomes new members
The College’s Beta Chi chapter of the Delta Omega Honor Society held its annual induction ceremony on April 19 at the Foundry in downtown Athens, Ga. Current members came together to welcome a select group of graduate students, alumni, and faculty into this national organization which recognizes and encourages excellence in the field of public health. The event’s honorary inductee was Anne D. Mather, co-author of “Adventure of a Female Medical Detective” and the managing editor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention newsletter, the MMWR, during the years when smallpox was eradicated and AIDS was discovered, as well as the CDC’s Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
This year’s faculty inductees were Katie Darby Hein and Heather Padilla, assistant professors in health promotion and behavior; Andrea Swartzendruber, assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, and Anne Marie Zimeri, associate professor of environmental health science. Alumni inductees were Florence Kanu (PhD ’18, epidemiology), LaTisha Marshall (DrPH ‘15), Jane Namangolwa Mutanga (MPH ’12, PhD ‘17), Erica L. Odom (DrPH ‘15), Bismark Sarfo (MPH ‘12), Raybun Spelts (PharmD/MPH ‘16), and Kelly Truesdell (BSHP ’12, MPH ‘14). MPH candidates inducted were Nicholas Mallis and Alexis Whitmire. DrPH candidate inductees were Leticia Bligh and Bertram Thomas, Jr. Maria Eugenia Castellanos Reynosa and Stephanie Eick, Ph.D. candidates in epidemiology, were inducted as well.
Complete List of CPH Student Awards Winners for 2019
College-wide Student Awards
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Foundation MPH Student Support Fund:
Victoria Marie Jackson and Shade Olowookere
Student Inductees in Delta Omega Honor Society (Beta Chi Chapter):
Leticia Bligh
Maria Eugenia Castellanos Reynosa
Stephanie Eick
Nicholas Mallis
Bertram Thomas, Jr.
Alexis Whitmire
Spring MPH Capstone Exceptional E-Presentations Awards:
Lauren Bineau
Victoria Jackson
Alexis Whitmire
Intern of the Year Awards:
Lauren Bineau
Rebecca Corley
Departmental/Institute Student Awards
Environmental Health Science
Rowe Environmental Health Award – Matthew Sutherland
Environmental Health Science Scholarship – Chelsea Cary
John J. Sheuring Award – Amanda Glatter
Harold & Mary Barnhart Scholarship – Baqar Husain
The Randy Manning Award – Christen Holbrook
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Outstanding Epidemiology Ph.D. Student – Stephanie Eick and Maria Eugenia Castellanos Reynosa
Outstanding Biostatistics M.S. Student – Yilu Jin
Outstanding Ph.D. Student – Henok Woldu
Health Policy and Management
Outstanding Health Policy Student – Nicole Katapodis
Outstanding Management Student – Shade Olowookere
Health Promotion and Behavior
Bernard Ramsey Outstanding Major – Varsha Kottamasu and Ashley Makala
Undergraduate Recognition Awards – Apoora Kommjosula and Joy Tu
Undergraduate Service Award – Anne Marcinkowski and Megan Williamson
Outstanding Achievement, Graduate – Alexis Whitmire
Excellence in Research, Graduate – Rebecca Corley
Institute for Gerontology
Mary Ann Johnson Aging and Health Graduate Scholarship – Valerie Kimbrough and Rachel Salyer
Congratulations to all of the College of Public Health award winners for 2019!
For photo galleries of our recent Spring recognition events, please visit the College of Public Health Facebook page.
Public health faculty, students honored across campus
CPH students and faculty members also received honors from various units at the University of Georgia during the 2018-19 academic year. Some of these achievements are highlighted below:
- Joy Tu (BSHP ’19) was recognized with a UGA Presidential Award of Excellence, which is awarded to undergraduate students in their final year of study who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, strong extracurricular involvement, and/or service to and involvement in their respective school or college.
- Marcus Dumas (PhD-HPB ’21) and Laura Rush (BSHP ’19) were inducted in the Blue Key Honor Society, a national organization that recognizes upperclassmen for all-around excellence in scholarship, leadership, and service.
– Rebecca Ayer
Posted May 9, 2019.
