Spring 2024 Alumni Spotlight -Anabeel Sen, MPH
Anabeel Sen (Virginia Commonwealth University P.h.D. Candidate ‘27, UNC MPH ’23) is a physician, epidemiologist, and public health professional from Dhaka, Bangladesh- a city the size of St. Louis with more than 10 million residents. Anabeel began his academic journey completing his medical degree under the University of Dhaka. Afterward, he pursued further education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a Master of Public Health in Leadership in Practice. His time at the Gillings School’s Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice equipped him to mobilize change at the community level to advance equity and social justice and innovate to improve the social determinants of health. While completing his degree, Anabeel led an interdisciplinary team at UNC to develop a social determinants of health screening toolkit for patients at healthcare providers in Brunswick County, North Carolina and supported courses on cost-effectiveness in health and medicine and public health leadership principles. This summer, he will be continuing his Doctoral Program in the Department of Epidemiology and work with the Center on Society and Health at the Virginia Commonwealth University. Anabeel’s research interests are in the areas of the social determinants of health, health disparities, structural violence prevention, and community engagement. His work with the Center provides an ideal platform to explore relevant research questions and engage with community members in working to connect the dots between social factors and health.
PHLP Alumni, Anabeel Sen, and his team just published a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association. It highlights the alarming racial and ethnic disparities in U.S. youth mortality rates. Black and American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth experience significantly higher death rates than White youth, with Black youth facing a homicide rate ten times higher and AI/AN youth having a suicide rate 2.6 times higher. These disparities are largely driven by firearm injuries, including homicides and suicides, as well as higher mortality from asthma and circulatory diseases among Black youth. The study reveals that while overall child death rates worsened around 2020, the increase for Black, Native American, and Hispanic children began as early as 2014. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted policy changes and further research to address systemic inequities in healthcare and prevent injuries in marginalized communities. Read the full study here or coverage of the study by the New York Times here.
Spring 2023 Alumni Spotlight –
Monica Schmidt, MT(ASCP), MPH, PhD
I am a three time graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Needless to say the sky is always Carolina Blue! I began my career in healthcare as an undergraduate. To help offset the cost of college I worked as a phlebotomist and part time on weekends in microbiology at UNC Healthcare. After graduation with my B.A. in Biology, I went to work in clinical laboratories (UNC Healthcare and LabCorp). After many years at the bedside and in clinical labs, I decided to return to the PHLP program for a masters in public health leadership. It was an amazing experience. I focused on field epidemiology and found the skills I obtained transformational. I graduated from the PHLP program in May of 2011. I was passionate about reducing waste in healthcare and improving patient outcomes. I continued on to receive my PhD in health policy and management. My dissertation was focused on design of two predictive models to serve as clinical decision tools for surgeons.
Monica Schmidt
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated? (You can also discuss your latest work or community project).
Today, I serve as the executive director of Health Economics at Cone Health. We are also known as the Insights team and are called on often to help move Cone Health from a fee for service model to value based care. With a team of dedicated economists and analytics experts, we help Cone Health realize value by improving patient outcomes and reducing cost of care. As we move to value based care models, I have found you cannot be successful at this new model unless you are successful at delivering equitable care. I am passionate about value based care and health equity. We have managed to improve outcomes and reduce cost of care through several focused initiatives at Cone Health. First we have driven down acute kidney injury in the inpatient setting by de-escalating nephrotoxic medications before AKI occurs. We have improve pneumonia mortality for our patients of color through nudges in the inpatient setting and vaccination campaigns in the ambulatory setting.
There are so many opportunities to use clinical decision tools to drive change in healthcare. My focus is on how these tools can move us faster to value. My focus is on delivering the right piece of actionable information to the right provider or patient at the right time to achieve our goals. Healthcare is finally changing and moving to value. I remain excited to be part of this transformation.
I own a consulting company that assists other health systems improve outcomes for patients while driving down cost of care. Transformation to Value (T2V) is a new endeavor. I work in close partnership with Elsevier’s clinical decision team to find these opportunities and build tools to address unwarranted care variation. If you would like more information on how T2V can help your practice or health system, please call 336-684-3701.
Spring 2023 Alumni Spotlight –
Anna Dodson Gilleskie, MPH, MD
Anna Dodson Gilleskie
Anna Dodson Gilleskie (UNC BSPH ’18, MPH ’22, MD ’23) is originally from Bunn, North Carolina, a rural town with fewer than 350 residents. She attended the University of North Carolina as a Morehead-Cain Scholar and completed her undergraduate studies in Health Policy and Management. While completing her degree, she volunteered alongside diverse organizations such as the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC), North Carolina Congress of Latino Organizations (NCCLO), and Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC). Throughout college, she felt torn between a career in public health advocacy and medicine, unsure of which path to pursue. Eventually, while interning at the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) in Washington, DC, she decided “why not both?”
Subsequently, she pursued her Doctorate of Medicine and Masters of Public Health from the University of North Carolina. Throughout her training, she served North Carolina as a Kenan Rural Scholar and Schweitzer Fellow, led COVID-19 response efforts alongside the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers, and researched food insecurity reduction strategies. This summer, she will begin her medical residency in Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina, making her a quadruple Tar Heel. She chose to stay at UNC for residency training because of the program’s shared commitment to underserved communities across the state. She will train in the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) track, which will place her in a rural clinic for the majority of her outpatient experiences. This clinic serves patients who face substantial financial, social, and language-related barriers to care.
After finishing her residency training, Anna’s dream is to return to her rural hometown. Her goal is to work in an FQHC, or similarly modeled practice, to increased access to affordable, high-quality care in and around Franklin County, North Carolina. She hopes to provide full-spectrum primary care, including preventative care, mental health support, and maternal health services. Moreover, she plans to integrate team-based public health interventions and advocacy into the routine care that she provides her future patients. In all, she intends to carry her broad skillset back home to those who need it most.
Spring 2021 Alumni Spotlight – Khadijia Tribié Reid
Khadijia Tribié Reid, MD, MPH, is the alum spotlight for Spring 2021. Dr. Tribié Reid is a mother, wife, pediatrician and public health advocate. She currently serves as the pediatric medical director of MedNorth Health Center, New Hanover County’s only Federally Qualified Community Health Center. Dr. Tribié Reid engages in multiple community activities including serving on the New Hanover County Endowment Board and serving as Vice Chair of New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Department of Pediatrics. She also serves as the Governor’s appointee on the North Carolina Partnership for Children’s Board of Directors which advocates for and oversees high-quality early childhood education. Dr. Tribié Reid received a Bachelor of Arts in French Studies at Duke University, her Medical Degree at Morehouse School of Medicine, completed her pediatrics residency at Tulane University School of Medicine and attained her Masters of Public Health from Gillings School of Public Health in December 2020.
Dr. Khadijia Tribié Reid
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated? (You can also discuss your latest work or community project).
Since graduating from Gillings School of Public Health, I have continued established community projects and embarked on new ones. I continue work initiated during my practicum which entailed improving my Health Center’s capacity to care for families impacted by Intellectual and Developmental Delay (IDD). This has been really exciting work that utilized many of the skills learned as a Gillings Leadership concentration student: leading a team, creating interdisciplinary teams, and creating an interagency coalition. As a result of our intentional efforts to meet the needs of our IDD patients, impacted families receive more interventions to address academic and work performance, increased resources and caseworker services to meet the medical and mental health needs common in this patient population.
I have also assumed a leadership role in our regional hospital’s Department of Pediatrics during a time of hospital transition and merger. I have been engaged in pediatric advocacy efforts as a member of the North Carolina Partnership for Children’s Board and as a member of NC Peds, the North Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. These roles have allowed me to flex some of the skills learned from my GSPH policy classes. I’ve also written several op-eds and completed podcast pieces to bring attention to issues such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), health equity during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the value of integrated medical-behavioral health care. The most exciting new project has been joining the New Hanover County Endowment Board.
You have recently joined the New Hanover County Endowment Board. Could you talk a little about that?
The New Hanover County Endowment Board (NHCEB) will govern the investment, utilization, and dissemination of 1.25 billion dollars of the proceeds from the sale of our regional hospital to Novant Health Systems and the University of North Carolina Health Systems. The money is intended to address the needs of New Hanover County in the areas of public health, education, and equity. I applied for a seat on the board after NC Attorney General Josh Stein mandated that the Board add 2 additional members with experience in public health, experience serving the underserved or a specific interest in equity. As a public health advocate, the endowment is a dream opportunity. It is an awesome gift to our community that can have a life-changing impact on our community for generations. As a member of the NHCEB, I am proud to utilize my public health skills and knowledge to work towards creating a space where all community members have access to optimal health.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work?
When I am not at work, I spend lots of time with my family. I have two daughters, ages 8 and 12 years old. We enjoy swimming, hiking, watching movies and shopping. I especially treasure Friday pizza and movie nights when my husband makes homemade grilled pizza. We also love playing with our newest family member, our 6-month-old puppy – Nathan. For fitness, I like to swim, practice yoga and do strengthening exercises.
If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?
If I had one superpower, it would be to be present in more than one place at a time. Honestly, I’m sure every working mom would want that power. While I love my work and community engagement, I never want to miss a moment with my growing girls. It’s a careful balance to be fully present personally and professionally, but I enjoy the versatility that being a working mom brings to my life. In fact, my intimate experience with this phase of life helps me understand the demands placed on the families I serve.
What is a fictional character from a book or movie that you identify with?
There is a TV show that I watch with my family called Blackish. The show centers around an upper-income African American family in which the parents of 4 children wrestle with their “Blackness” and ensuring their children have an “authentic” African American experience. Since neither parent experienced a traditional upper-middle-class upbringing, their current surroundings of majority White planned communities and private schools contrast greatly with their own childhood communities. The mother is a physician. The tight rope she walks to balance her career with motherhood as well as her constant struggle with ensuring her kids understand history and justice resonate with me.
What is something that you are looking forward to? (this can be professional or personal)
Personally, I am looking forward to traveling more broadly with my family. My family and I just completed a road trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. This really wet my palate for more distant travel once the threat of Covid spread decreases.
Professionally, I really look forward to seeing positive outcomes from the New Hanover County Endowment Board’s work. The thought of the positive impact these funds could have brought me great promise and joy.
Fall 2020 Alumni Spotlight – Manish Kumar
Manish Kumar, MPH, MS, is the alumni spotlight for the Fall 2020 issue. He graduated from PHLP with an MPH in the Leadership track in 2015. Manish has over 17 years of global and country-level experience in public health informatics, health information systems, digital health and health systems. Manish was one of the technical reviewers for the Digital Implementation Investment Guide (DIIG) which was launched by the World Health Organization on October 14, 2020.
Manish Kumar
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated?
I have been working with the Carolina Population Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As the Senior Technical Specialist-Health System Strengthening in the USAID-MEASURE Evaluation project (June 2015-May 2020), I provided strategic technical assistance to strengthen HIS, and both developed and implemented maturity models in collaboration with the Digital Health Interoperability Working Group of the Health Data Collaborative (HDC) and the United States (US) Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC). I served as an expert for the development of the WHO SCORE and Global Digital Health Index tools. I planned and conducted trainings, established and led data exchange communities of practice, and supported a PEPFAR-Ministry of Health data alignment initiative in 23 countries while working closely with CDC country teams.
What is your latest research/project?
Since June 1, 2020, I am the principal investigator and Senior Technical Specialist-Health Systems Strengthening for the PATH, a global non-profit organization based in Seattle, funded DATIM Support and Maturity Model project. The Data for Accountability, Transparency and Impact Monitoring (DATIM) system is the health information system of the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The DATIM system is used to collect, report, analyze and use data to drive program, policy and clinical care decisions in more than 50 countries. I am also leading global digital health maturity model research efforts involving WHO, PEPFAR and USAID, and across various disease domains such as HIV and TB besides contributing to PATH-led research aimed at supporting Microsoft’s digital health initiatives in low-resource settings. I am also the co-chair of the policy sub-group of the Health Information Exchange Task Force, established by the Africa Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
I like to do fun activities and play with my son. Also, I enjoy watching movies based on real-life stories.
If you could only have three apps on your smartphone, which would you pick and why?
I would pick What’s Up, LinkedIn, and Calendar. These three apps together enable me to organize my routine tasks, connect and communicate with family members, friends and colleagues.
What is your favorite snack or dessert?
Trail-mix is my favorite snack and pecan pie is my favorite dessert.
What is something that you’re looking forward to?
I am really looking forward to seeing my friends and colleagues in my home whenever that happens.
Fall 2019 Alumni Spotlight – Marie Lina Excellent
Marie Lina Excellent, MD, MPH, is the alumni spotlight for the Fall 2019 issue. Marie Lina is a Fulbright Alumna from Haiti who graduated from PHLP with an MPH in the Leadership track along with three graduate certificates in Global Health, Non-Profit Leadership, Community Preparedness and Disaster Management in May 2016. Dr. Excellent is committed to improving HIV/AIDS prevention care and treatment in Haiti and is a champion in continuous quality improvement approaches. Upon her return to Haiti in June 2017, she serves as technical advisor for HIV Testing Services (HTS) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) for the EQUIP project.
Marie Lina Excellent
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated?
I served as a postdoctoral research associate in PHLP at UNC-Gillings after graduating. Since June 2017, I have worked as a technical advisor to help the National AIDS Control Program revise policies, standardized operational procedures, HIV Testing Services (HTS) data collection and reporting tools. I also provide training and mentoring on HTS best practices to front line providers from 65 health facilities supported by USAID to help improve the quality and cost efficiency of HTS in Haiti. I played an instrumental role in developing the index-based contact testing [ICT] guidelines and launching the implementation at USAID funded sites. Recently, my teamwork abstract entitled “Improvement of index-based contact testing at USAID funded sites in Haiti in the context of HIV disclosure fear and stigma” got accepted for poster presentation at the 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Rwanda (ICASA 2019). The conference will take place in December 2019. I have also held an adjunct associate faculty position in PHLP since June 2017.
What is your latest research/project?
In collaboration with the National AIDS Control Program and other partners of the Ministry of Health I am involved in the development of guidelines, training materials and data reporting tools for the implementation of HIV Self-Testing (HIVST) nationwide. HIVST aims to deliver HIV self-test kits to the hard to reach individuals among others who are at high risk for HIV so that they can be tested for HIV and be linked to HIV care and prevention such as PrEP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) when indicated and following informed consent. I enjoy my job currently at the EQUIP project funded by USAID and currently implemented by Institut, Pour la Santé, la Population et le Développement (ISPD) located in Pétion-Ville, Haiti; and UNC-Gillings has prepared me very well to exceed the expectations at work.
What was your favorite part about being a student in PHLP?
Coming to PHLP and UNC-Gillings was a dream comes true and was an amazing experience! I had countless successful achievements as a dedicated student, PHLSA co-president and GPSF Senator of PHLP, which makes it hard to identify a favorite part. Nevertheless, I will have to mention that I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to customize my coursework while meeting both UNC-PHLP and Fulbright academic expectations. To build more skills, I took courses from the School of Social Work, the School of Government and the Business School. In PHLP, students are treated like peers by faculty and staff whose flexibility and availability to meet with me as student were impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed the safe environment and leadership style that drive
PHLP and makes it the department in charge of training the future generations of global leaders!
What’s one hobby you’d love to start?
I would love to start painting because of the freedom it would give me to express and share my creativity and emotions without societal restrictions. Furthermore, arts is highly prevalent in Haiti where I am from. But for years I thought that I could not paint at all, until I attended a required field trip for one of my classes on health disparities, where as part of a group activities students had to do paintings on walls at a school and I have enjoyed that experience.
What’s the strangest food that you’ve ever eaten and why?
While attending a HealthQual International Conference in Windhoek, Namibia in 2011 along with Haiti National delegation, the host country organized a special dinner. I was encouraged by the Chef in a foreign language to try a Namibian national dish which I did without question. But it is only after I ate it that I realized that I had eaten fried insects. It was my first time eating insects and so far it is the strangest food I have eaten. No offense to the Namibian people but in my culture we do not consume insects so it was a culture shock for me and remains an interesting experience.
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be and why?
I would choose without a doubt, “Equity”. I would use my gift to provide equity to communities on Earth to end health disparities, which are heartbreaking especially for public health professionals. Wherever I go, my simple presence would release equity to fill the gaps of the social determinants of health that led to disparities in order to empower communities with what they need to succeed and live healthier forever.
Spring 2019 Alumni Spotlight – Yuriko de la Cruz
Yuriko de la Cruz, MPH, is this issue’s Alumni Spotlight. Yuriko graduated from PHLP with an MPH in the leadership track in 2015, with a focus on public health practice. She is currently a Practice Facilitator/Coach at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Yuriko de la Cruz, MPH
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated? Since graduation, I have been working with Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), which consists of eight hospital campuses, over 160 physician practices, health centers, and other clinical settings in the area. My work focuses on physician practice transformation to improve patient health outcomes by focusing on operations and clinical quality metrics, and a lot of our work uses the Patient Center Medical Home (PCMH) framework. The goal of practices adopting PCMH principles is really to create a setting where the patient is at the center of their care and that their healthcare team supports them in their self-management. This is a big shift for healthcare professionals and it takes a lot of time for this cultural change to occur. As a public health professional, I often find myself bringing a very different perspective to our work and it’s rewarding to do so. We also use the Triple Aim framework by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement which essentially focuses on the three following areas: quality care for individual patients, improving population health, and lower cost for healthcare. In the past couple of years, there has been focus on the Quadruple Aim, which adds the care and support of healthcare professionals, which is critical given the high rates of burnout and turnover. My work has also focused quite a bit on this as well.
What is your latest research/project? One project that I am extremely proud to be working on is the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, which is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The goal of the grant is to improve the care of older adults and their caregivers, with a special focus on patients with Alzheimer’s dementia and related cognitive disorders. There are so many aspects of the program that I truly love: helping physician practices identify gaps they want to address to improve care of older adults as well as having an interdisciplinary team of nurse care managers, community health workers, and pharmacists conduct home visits to our older adults to get a better sense of what the patients and their families are experiencing. I have learned so much about end-of-life care and how important it is to become better prepared as health care professionals and communities to care for our older adults, which includes the development of advance care directives, regular screenings for older adults, and creating an infrastructure to better support caregivers who many times neglect their own health to care for their loved ones. I attended a conference a couple years ago and a speaker made a powerful statement: “We have the power and the ability to create a health care system that will impact a future version of ourselves…it’s time we take ownership of this to change the trajectory.”
When I’m not at work I like to: I sing in a local community-based choir, which is directed by my high school choral director. It’s non-audition, but we do perform challenging musical pieces. I am also a board member for two local organizations in Allentown: Resurrected Community Development Corporation and Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley. Both organizations have an element of community organizing with the goal of engaging and empowering community residents, especially youth, through skills development and resources to lead secure, healthy, and safe lifestyles. Some of the areas we focus on are education, violence prevention, entrepreneurship, housing, and leadership development. Every focus area approaches the work through the lenses of upending racial, gender, and socio-economic inequalities. I also enjoy traveling when I can. Fortunately, I have family and friends in many places, so I get to see different places both in the U.S. and internationally.
What was your favorite aspect from the program when you were a student? I would have to say my campus visits and the programs’ efforts to make me feel as connected to Gillings as possible. As a distance student, I was concerned that I would feel disconnected and that I would not have as many opportunities as students who were on campus. I enjoyed coming to campus for the leadership workshops and interacting with other students in my cohort. I think this model also prepared me for my current position where I sometimes have to contact and maintain relationships with colleagues who I do not see in person regularly.
What is the last movie you watched or last book you read? The last book that I read was “The Drama of the Gifted Child” by Alice Miller. It’s a psychology book that focuses on the effects of childhood trauma. It was a fascinating book and is definitely relevant to my work in healthcare and community organizing. Oftentimes, we assume that someone is “acting out” when in actuality, they are simply using a coping strategy due to past or current trauma. Instead of asking “what’s wrong with you?” the book challenges us instead to ask, “what happened to you?” This type of mindset has shaped my work when I am working with patients or community members. The other key learnings are that it is better to assume everyone has experienced a traumatic event (some more than others) and that every single one of us have to take care of ourselves to heal any previous traumatic events and care for ourselves if we’re feeling triggered.
What is something you look forward to? This may be a little vague, but I look forward to empowering others to be the best versions of themselves. We each have the gifts, talents, and solutions to contribute. I take pride in creating an environment where individuals can explore their strengths and share them with their community. Also, I am extremely passionate about making health more equitable through my work. I am especially motivated to continue working with youth to ensure that they have a fair chance for different opportunities.
Fall 2018 Alumni Spotlight – Vanessa Miller
Vanessa Miller, PhD, is this issue’s alumni spotlight. Vanessa graduated from PHLP with an MPH in the leadership track in 2009. This semester, she returns to PHLP as an adjunct professor to co-teach PUBH 741, which focuses on biostatistics for health care professionals. Vanessa is a also completing a postdoctoral fellowship. Her research focuses on chronic pain, nutrition epidemiology, and quality of life.
Vanessa Miller, PhD, MPH
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated? I didn’t go too far. I was working on my PhD through the epidemiology department at Gillings. My graduation date was actually in August and I started my postdoctoral fellowship on the day my degree was conferred. My background is in chronic pain conditions, so my research primarily focuses on that.
Latest research/project: I have starting working on an exciting research project in my capacity as a postdoctoral fellow supported by UNC’s NIH funded T-32 Fellowship Training Grant for Research in Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine. Working with the Program on Integrative Medicine https://www.med.unc.edu/phyrehab/pim/ has provided a wonderful opportunity for me to continue to explore factors that influence pain. I am working on a study that aimed to see if a dietary intervention involving omega-3 and omega-6 could be a natural method to prevent or reduce migraines. The research team and I want to see if dietary changes such as adding salmon or flaxseed oil to the diet can reduce migraines. This research has promise to help patients living with migraine by providing another tool (diet) to reduce pain. Because migraines are very common and many people struggle with side effects from pain medication, it would be wonderful to offer dietary suggestions that could help people living with migraine headaches.
What you do at UNC Gillings (and why you love it): In addition to my research with the Program on Integrative Medicine, I will be serving as an adjunct professor. In the fall semester, I am co-teaching PUBH 741 with Kim Faurot. The course focuses on quantitative methods for health care professionals. I love what I do and am personally connected with public health in general because of the public service aspect. As far as Gillings specifically, I am drawn to students and colleagues’ drive to make a positive change in the world. Recognizing faculty members like Vic Schoenbach and the late Steve Wing who dedicated so much effort to improve public health equity is really aspiring. The faculty and student commitment to improving lives and providing a voice to overlooked populations really speaks to why this field (public health) and why this area (North Carolina).
When I’m not at work: I am a big horror movie fan. I’ve found that not a lot of people at the School are interested in horror films, so I usually keep this particular pastime to myself. I have an extensive collection of horror movies at home and even have a top 100 list of horror films. My favorite horror movie is the Exorcist.
I think innovation in teaching means: To me, it means real interaction in the classroom as opposed to just your typical lecture hall. I think it also means the ability to take knowledge and skillsets out to change the world.
If I could wake up tomorrow having mastered one new ability: I started studying French on my own using language acquisition software about 2 years ago. I love the language but the progress is slow, so if I could wake up tomorrow fluent in French I would love that. I aspire to travel more both for pleasure and professional development. I had the opportunity to travel to Montreal several years ago and I hope to return at some point.
Spring 2018 Alumni Spotlight – Diego Garza
Diego Garza, MD, MPH is the Alumni Spotlight for the Spring 2018 issue. Diego graduated from the public health leadership track in 2017. He is a physician and currently serves as the Director of Telehealth at Carolina Partners in Mental HealthCare PLLC. Diego is already making a large impact in the field as a recent graduate. On March 9th, he was honored as one of the winners of the Triangle Business Journal’s 2018 Health Care Heroes Award.
Diego Garza, MD, MPH
What have you been up to since you’ve graduated? I’m a medical doctor and the director of the telehealth program at Carolina Partners in Mental HealthCare. I work specifically with the Direct Care program which aims to increase access to mental health services throughout the state of North Carolina. Since Direct Care offers online appointments, we are able to reach a wide range of people. We see anywhere from 400-500 patients each month. In addition to that, I work as an adjunct professor with PHLP and serve on the program’s leadership admissions committee.
What attracted you to Gillings? Gillings is ranked as one the best schools in the nation, so that was a significant factor for me when I was considering public health master’s programs. I was also attracted to Chapel Hill’s rich history. The environment seemed very welcoming. I also appreciated the diversity of people in the Triangle area.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work? I practice Tae Kwon Do. I’ve been training for 18 years. Since I’ve moved to Durham, it hasn’t been as easy to go but I try to go to the Academy at least three to four times a week. Right now, I am a 2nd Dan Black Belt.
If you could wake up tomorrow having mastered one new ability, what would it be? I would want to be more knowledgeable about how to improve the landscape surrounding immigration-related issues and healthcare. Immigration laws in the United States are often a barrier for some patients when they are seeking healthcare especially when it comes to mental health. I want to better serve those populations. I think that having more knowledge about immigration laws and how to navigate some of the barriers associated with them would allow me to do that.
What is something that you’re looking forward to? I’m looking forward to further advancing telehealth through my work and hopefully becoming a leader in the field. Telehealth is relatively new, so I look forward to it becoming more widespread so that healthcare providers can reach more people, especially more vulnerable populations. I also look forward to growing as a professor. It’s always interesting leading discussions because I have the opportunity to also learn from my students and see how their own experiences influence their ideas.
