Alumni News

Please keep your updates coming through the School’s Web site.

Harriet Dumba

Harriet Dumba (’07, M.P.H., International Health), co-founder of the Southern Sudanese Women’s Association, was honored by the Seattle Storm at a special half-time ceremony in August. The Storm’s annual “Women of Inspiration” event honors four women who make a difference in their communities through their leadership and dedication.

Chris Elias

Also in August, Christopher Elias (’90, M.P.H., Health Services), CEO of PATH and clinical associate professor of Global Health, accepted the world’s largest humanitarian award: the $1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. Hilton Foundation CEO Steven Hilton said PATH’s work to develop 85 effective health technologies for the developing world, its commitment to sharing ideas, and its efforts to ensure that products are sold at affordable prices have helped to alleviate human suffering. PATH plans to use the prize money to expand its partnerships around the world by seeding an innovation fund aimed at investing in new technology for health interventions.

Sean Griffiths (’03, M.P.H., Health Services) is joining the Office of the Chief Science Officer, Office of Public Health Research, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as the science policy adviser. Sean is a public health analyst with more than 20 years of experience in managing staff, coordinating public health advisory bodies, managing projects, and developing plans related to public health policy and practice. He has worked at CDC headquarters and with CDC overseas; most recently, he was responsible for coordinating a team to roll out CDC’s new estimates of HIV incidence in the U.S., a highly anticipated domestic story.

Linnet Masese

This year’s recipient of the International AIDS Society Young Investigator Prize: Women, Girls, and HIV is Linnet Masese, M.D. (’08, M.P.H., Epidemiology). The prize recognizes female investigators from a low- or middle-income country whose abstracts demonstrate excellence in research or practice that addresses issues related to women, girls, and gender issues and HIV/AIDS. Linnet’s abstract is titled, A Prospective Cohort Study of the Effect of Antiretroviral Therapy on Sexual Risk Behaviour in a High-Risk Cohort of Kenyan Women. Supported through the Fogarty International Center and an Advanced In-country Scholar appointment awarded by the UW’s International AIDS Research and Training Program, Linnet currently serves as the clinic section head at the University of Nairobi/UW Mombasa Field Site.

Shannon Turner

Shannon Turner (’88, M.P.H., Nutritional Sciences) has been working for the American Cancer Society as a patient navigator at Virginia Mason Medical Center (Seattle) since March 2008. Patient Navigation is an innovative program designed to assist cancer patients with medical decision-making, quality of life services and use of complementary care. As a registered dietitian, Shannon also regularly provides patients with nutrition education materials.