UC Davis Public Health Alumni Association

There's still time to contribute to our food drive with Loaves & Fishes. You can drop off in Davis, Sacramento, or at our social this Friday.

Join us this Wednesday, May 19th at 6 PM for our Spring Quarter Alumni Panel! Click through to read more about our five panelists ➡️

Register at tinyurl.com/PHAAPanel.

Come join us for a conversation with our board panels on their career in public health!
Register here: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/93316497078?pwd=M2pza2lzenVTSW8vK2tvMHNrRHlaQT09

Alumni spotlight!
Melissa Pighin, MPH Class of 2016

Melissa has an MPH with an emphasis in Epidemiology (2016) and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Washington (2012). She is a first-year PhD in Public Health Sciences at UC Davis, a proud MPH Alumni Board member and a Quality Control Analyst at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Her work focuses on the standardization of patient data collection and quality control processes in compliance with regulatory agencies. She is passionate about using biomedical informatics to improve data quality and to facilitate the real-time dissemination of quality-of-care findings to stakeholders for clinical practice improvement. Her background emphasizes neurological disorders and diseases with additional exposure to cardiovascular disease and oncology.

Her advice to MPH students: Ask questions, fully utilize academic resources and use electives and the practicum project to focus on professional interests. She also recommends using LinkedIn to maintain connection to your cohort, professors, board members and advisors after graduation. Forming long-term, professional relationships is a valuable benefit of graduate school.

Can we feature you in our next alumni spotlight? Send us a message for more information!

Alumni spotlight!
CJ Calabrese, MPH Class of 2015

Christopher (CJ) Calabrese, MPH, CHES is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Davis. CJ is primarily working in health and science communication, where his dissertation research focuses on leveraging online networks for the adoption of HIV PrEP among YMSM. His research interests generally include health promotion, HIV prevention, online misinformation, social networks, and persuasive technologies.

His advice to MPH students: In general, I'd say to just enjoy the time you have with your cohort and take advantage of the opportunities that UC Davis offers. Sometimes you have to search for it, but there are many opportunities to collaborate and be involved with the university and CDPH.

Can we feature you in our next alumni spotlight? Send us a message for more information!

Alumni spotlight!
Yi Lor, MPH Class of 2019

Alumni Board Events Committee Member

Yi is a current PhD student in Epidemiology at UC Davis and he will be working with his local health department in their COVID-19 effort. His research interest is in cognitive health particularly in underserved groups.

His advice for MPH students: Spending some time your own physical and mental health goes a long way in making your graduate experiences much more enjoyable.

Can we feature you in our next alumni spotlight? Send us a message for more information!

Alumni spotlight!
Catherine Dizon, MPH Class of 2012

Catherine is currently the Project Director of the UC Davis To***co Control Evaluation Center. She also serves on the Alumni Board's Events subcommittee.

Catherine works collaboratively with her team to deliver quality trainings, webinars, tutorials, and resources on public health evaluation for to***co control advocates. She is trained in public health, health informatics, cultural diversity and ethics, project management, and the use of mobile technology for data collection. Other professional interests include training development, facilitation and presentation techniques, e-learning, culturally responsive evaluation, participatory data analysis and interpretation, and making evaluation accessible for all to use.

Her advice for MPH students: Don’t be afraid to ask for help! All the professors, your fellow classmates, mentors, and alumni are here to answer your questions and support you. Your time in the program will fly by, so try to find your balance to maintain your own health as you work to improve the health of our communities.

Can we feature you in our next alumni spotlight? Send us a message for more information!

Alumni spotlight!
George Yang, MPH Class of 2020

George is a Mentorship Subcommittee Board Member and is currently working as a Covid-19 Case Investigator Lead for the Hmong Youth and Parent United along with The Sierra Health Foundation.

George loves working with community members along with data analysis and collection. "In the field of public health, every day I get to make an impact on people's lives and be part of the effort to fight this pandemic."

A word of advice to all of the MPH students is for you to keep an open mind in the field of public health. Every bit of work you do in this field carries out to impact other people.
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Can we feature you in our next alumni spotlight? Send us a message for more information!