Graduates of the eighth annual UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows Program spent ten weeks working side-by-side with global health professionals at IntraHealth International this summer, taking on projects that ranged from HIV-related stigma to sexual harassment and discrimination in the health workforce.

Since 2010, IntraHealth and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health have teamed up to offer this fellowship program, through which graduate and doctoral students get hands-on experience in the field of global health at an international nongovernmental organization.

Thirty-four fellows have now completed the program. Each one worked directly with IntraHealth’s programs around the world. Some of their past projects have focused on:

• digital health
• HIV
• gender
• family planning
• health systems strengthening
• health communications
• monitoring and evaluation
• respectful maternity care
• health workforce data
• noncommunicable diseases

All graduate students enrolled at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health are eligible to apply to this highly competitive program. Applications become available each year in the fall.

Meet the 2017 UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows:

Saja Al-Falahi

Saja Al-Falahi is a physician and Fulbright Scholar from Iraq. During her fellowship at IntraHealth, she worked with Allison Foster and others on the Afghanistan Health Resiliency project, interviewing women who are taking part in a women’s leadership program there led by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health. Saja earned degrees in surgery and medicine from Al-Mustansiriya University College of Medicine in Iraq, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in public health at UNC, focusing on maternal and child health.

Read more from Saja on VITAL: To Empower Women Is to Empower Nations: Stories from Iraq and Afghanistan

Alexandra Dest

During her fellowship at IntraHealth, Alex Dest worked with Constance Newman on a health workforce sexual harassment and discrimination study in Uganda. Alex earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies and in women’s and gender studies from UNC, and is now pursuing a master’s degree in public health, focusing on health behavior.

Read more from Alexandra on VITAL: It’s Time to End Sexual Harassment

Yutaka Endo

Yutaka Endo, a physician from Japan, is pursuing a master’s degree in public health at UNC, focusing on health policy and management. At IntraHealth, he worked with Kate Stratten and Nadia Leveque to delve into the complex and multifaceted structures of HIV-related stigma and discrimination, conducting a systematic review of HIV-stigma reduction interventions specifically for health workers. Yutaka earned a medical degree from the School of Medicine, Niigata University in Japan.

Read more from Yutaka on VITAL: To End HIV Stigma, We Must Fight a Long History

Kathryn Jackson

Kathryn Jackson is pursuing master’s degrees in business and public health at UNC, focusing on health policy and management. At IntraHealth, Kati worked with David Nelson and Barbara Stilwell to document IntraHealth’s decade of investment in human resources for health in Kenya. Kati earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UNC.

Read more from Kathryn on VITAL: For Better Health Outcomes for Moms and Babies, Quality Tops Resources

Meet more past UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows:

2016 UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows

2015 UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows  

2014 UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows

2013 UNC-IntraHealth Summer Fellows

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