I have spent the last 12 years in pursuit of health equity. I started my global health career in Ethiopia’s southern highlands as a practicing archaeologist. After spending months with the Wolaita community and seeing (and experiencing) health disparities firsthand, I switched careers and returned to the US for my Masters in Public Health. After receiving my Masters, I pursued a PhD in Public Health focusing on Environmental and Global Health/One Health, and had the opportunity gh to work on various projects about animal health, human health and nutrition and their environmental determinants. I have worked on WASH disparities in Kenya and child growth outcomes in East Africa and the Caribbean.

During my career, I have worked with individual researchers, hospitals, clinical research organizations, international health organizations, and US government agencies. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was appointed as an Epidemiologist Lead with the Texas Department of State Health Services, managing hundreds of case investigators and contact tracers for the state.