The graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH) are an extraordinary group of people who are dedicating their lives to improving the lives of people around the world. This web page showcases the awards, honors and recognition that MEZCOPH students have received:
2009 Marshall Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
Rachel Wilhite, right, a MEZCOPH Epidemiology doctoral student, was awarded the prestigious Marshall Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for final-phase dissertation support. In addition to a $10,788 stipend beginning in the spring semester of 2009, Rachel will receive a tuition scholarship for two semesters. Rachel's dissertation title is Chlamydia pnuemoniae: A novel approach to the etiological processes of inflammation in lung function and subclinical cardiovascular disease in African-Americans: The Jackson Heart Study. More...
University of Arizona Centennial Award - Fall, 2008
Omar Contreras, a Master's of Public Health (MPH) student in the Epidemiology concentration area at the University of Arizona's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH), received the prestigious Centennial Award at the University of Arizona Commencement Ceremony in December of 2008. The Centennial Award was established in 1984 to recognize outstanding achievement and contributions of minority graduate students at the University of Arizona. More...
The First Arizona Rural Health Association Scholarship
The Arizona Rural Health Association has awarded its first scholarship to Hannah Carlson, an MPH student at MEZCOPH, to support her efforts to enhance collaboration among health and social services agencies in Arizona's rural Santa Cruz County. As a Peace Corps Fellow with the UA Graduate College, she works at the University of Arizona (UA) Cooperative Extension in Santa Cruz County, focusing on health advocacy and nutrition education activities. A second-year Master's of Public Health (MPH) student, Hannah's emphasis is in Health Behavior Health Promotion. She is also a Canyon Ranch Institute Fellow, and Nichol's Initiative Scholar. In the photo (above left) she receives her scholarship check from Alison Hughes, MEZCOPH faculty member. Link to AzRHA Story...
2008 APHA Epidemiology Section Award
October 25, 2008: Tomas Nuño received an Epidemiology Section Student Award at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting for 2008, which was held from October 25-29, 2008, in San Diego, California. The award was given for his work on Assessment of a promotora-administered educational program to promote breast and cervical cancer screening in a rural community along the U.S.-Mexico border. The object of the study was to assess the effectiveness of a promotora-administered educational program to promote breast and cervical cancer screening compliance among post-reproductive age, medically-underserved Hispanic women living in a predominantly rural county along the U.S.-Mexico border. More...
MPH Student Receives National Safety Council Award
October 22, 2008: Katherine A. (“Kate”) McInnis, a Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH) student pursuing her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, has been awarded the 2008 Billy D. Young Scholarship from the National Safety Council (NSC), a national honor. Kate is a second-year student in Environmental and Occupational Health. The scholarship is for $1,500, and only one is awarded nationally per year. The Billy D. Young Scholarship is awarded annually from the Utilities Division of the National Safety Council to a student studying safety or industrial hygiene. When applying for the scholarship, Ms. McInnis wrote about her future goals in improving the working environment for employees. More...
Epidemiology Students Attend NIH Graduate Student Festival
September, 2008: Two MEZCOPH doctoral students in epidemiology were selected to present their research at the Third Annual National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Graduate Student Research Festival in Bethesda, Maryland in September, 2008.
Mary Clouser, above right,from Peoria, Arizona, presented her poster entitled, “Effect of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs on Non-melanoma Skin Cancer Incidence in the SKICAP-AK Trial.” Christopher Wendel, above left, from Kensington, Maryland, presented his poster entitled, “Barriers to Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose in Southwestern Hispanic and non-Hispanic White Insulin-Treated Type 2 Diabetics.”
Student's Image is Photo of the Month for Association of Schools of Public Health
July 18, 2008: Courtnee Benford, an undergraduate MEZCOPH student in community health education, submited a photo which was selected as the July 2008 Photo of the Month for the ASPH Friday Letter. Ms. Benford took this image on a Support for International Change trip to Tanzania, where she and other students from several universities volunteered and taught HIV education in the summer of 2007. Young students curious about and coming to see the wazungu (white people) wound up also learning about HIV. Her picture illustrates the broad impact of public health. More...
MEZCOPH Master's Degree Student Wins Miss Arizona 2009 Crown
June 26, 2008: Erin Nurss, who holds a bachelor's degree in nutrition from The University of Arizona (UA) and who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health at MEZCOPH, was crowned as the winner of the Miss Arizona pageant on Saturday, June 21, 2008. A Tucson resident, she represented Arizona at the Miss America 2009 pageant on January 24, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Katie Stam, Miss Indiana, won the Miss America crown for 2009.) More about Erin...
Jennifer Currie and Delayne Caseman with their poster at the AIHce.
May 31 through June 5, 2008: The MEZCOPH student chapter of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) received the Student Local Section of the Year Award at the 2008 American Industrial Hygiene conference and expo (AIHce) in Minneapolis. MEZCOPH was well represented at the AIHce by students Delayne Caseman, David Campos, and Jennifer Currie at this premiere conference for members of the field of industrial hygiene. “It provides some great chances to network with people from all across the country as well as to take professional development classes, attend resume building seminars, take part in a career fair, and present research,” said Delayne. The three students presented their public-health research and results. David Campos holds the MEZCOPH student chapter award in the photo on the upper left.
MEZCOPH Students Receive Outstanding Hispanic Awards
May, 2008: Nicolas Meza as selected as the 2008 Outstanding Hispanic Graduate Student by the University of Arizona’s Hispanic Alumni Club (UAHA). Nicolas graduated from MEZCOPH in May, 2008, completing a Master's of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Public Health Policy and Management. He received recognition for his leadership and academic achievement during his graduate and undergraduate programs, both completed at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health. Nick was hired as a patient navigator for the Center’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Program at Mountain Park Health Center in Phoenix and will be taking the LSAT examination in December, with plans of pursuing a law degree with an emphasis in health law or international human rights.
The University of Arizona's Hispanic Alumni Club's Outstanding Senior Award for 2008 was presented to Rachel Zenuk, left, who entered the epidemiology concentration in the MEZCOPH Master's of Public Health (MPH) Program in the fall of 2008.
The UAHA Club was founded in 1982 to promote academic excellence among Hispanic students at the University, to provide financial and mentoring support to qualified and deserving students, and to develop linkages with alumni and supporters in the professional and business community.
MPH Student Wins National Industrial Hygiene Award
Delayne Caseman, right, was awarded the 3M Industrial Hygiene Scholarship in April, 2008. A national award, this scholarship is the most prestigious in the industrial hygiene field and recognizes and rewards high levels of scholarship, contributions to the profession of worker safety, and intent to pursue industrial careers in the discipline. Given to 70 industrial hygiene students over the past 21 years, past recipients now hold a variety of professional health and safety positions in industry, research, government, academia, and the U.S. military. In June, 2008, Ms. Caseman traveled to Minneapolis and attended the American Industrial Hygiene conference and expo (AIHce), including a special reception and recognition dinner. Delayne completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in environmental and occupational health with a focus on industrial hygiene in the Fall 2008 semester.