May 14, 2020
Initiative announces summer 2020 Applied Research Fellows
The Population Health Initiative today announced the award of six Population Health Applied Research Fellowships to four graduate and two undergraduate students.
The Applied Research Fellowship program was launched in 2019 in partnership with the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology to equip students with data analysis, critical thinking and team science skills that will enable them to effectively tackle complex population health challenges and become future leaders in the field.
The cohort of students selected for this year’s fellowship program are:
| Name | Degree Program | School |
| Steven Bao | Undergraduate, Geography and Germanics Major | College of Arts & Sciences |
| Eileen Kazura | Master of Public Health | School of Public Health |
| Jessica Lapham | PhD | School of Social Work |
| Neal Marquez | PhD, Sociology | College of Arts & Sciences |
| Priya Sarma | Undergraduate, Biochemistry Major | College of Arts & Sciences |
| Crystal Yu | PhD, Sociology | College of Arts & Sciences |
The Population Health Applied Research Fellowships will support these students to spend 10 weeks over the summer working as a team with King County’s demographer and Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Assessment, Policy Development and Evaluation Unit to provide new population projections and insights into how King County will change in the next five to 25 years. Being able to anticipate population changes is an important tool for policymakers who need to ensure that residents will have access to the resources and services that they need, now and in the future.
By working on a real-world, client-driven project as part of a multidisciplinary team, students will understand how to integrate their disciplinary expertise into a team-oriented, problem-solving approach that develops multi-pronged solutions to population health challenges.
“The success of last year’s inaugural cohort of fellows proved this type of a multidisciplinary program offers a tremendous, hands-on learning experience to students and is incredibly valuable to our project partners,” said Sara R. Curran, faculty director for the program and professor of International Studies, Sociology, and Public Policy & Governance. “We are delighted to welcome another outstanding cohort of fellows to this summer’s project, and are looking forward to another successful collaboration with King County.”
Learn more about this fellowship program by visiting its web page.