Anh is a public health researcher interested in structural drivers and interventions addressing of gender-based violence and HIV. She holds an MSPH in International Health with a focus on Social Behavioral Interventions from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As part of her work with UC San Diego, Anh collaborated with the University of Eswatini to co-create and coordinated a pilot of an online dialogic anti-harassment intervention tailored for students at the. Anh contributed to a number of projects working with The Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP) through the JHU Center for Global Health, where she conducted research on topics such as intimate partner violence within transactional sex relationships and HIV treatment (dis)engagement among people living with HIV who are not virally suppressed.

Anne Jean Baptiste is a first year Master’s in Development Practice (MDP) student at Emory University. Anne obtained a B.S. in Public Health and B.A. in International Relations at the University of Miami. Prior to her graduate studies, Anne was a certified HIV/STD counselor and outreach coordinator with the Florida Department of Health while serving as a youth representative at the AIDS Institute. Anne is passionate about sexual health and reproductive justice which led her working in HIV prevention and treatment programs in marginalized communities. Upon the completion of the MDP and STAR program, Anne hopes to apply her expertise to international development interventions.

Dahiany Zayas is an early-career nutrition public health professional interested in food equity, community health and international, multisectoral collaboration. She recently completed a MSPH from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Human Nutrition with a focus on food systems. Her master’s capstone focused on identifying barriers and solutions to increasing Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) enrollment, usage and retention in Native American communities. During her time as a master’s student, Dahiany was involved in Baltimore research-led digital food justice initiatives and student engagement.

George is a Honors Masters Graduate of Gallaudet University, May 2023, and has earned a Masters Degree in Social Work, specializing in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Populations. (MSW-S). While he was in his graduate school, he interned with USAID for a few months in the Orphans and Vulernable Children Branch. Prior to that, he earned his Bachelor's degree in Social Work. George has worked as a residential program administrator prior to his return to school as an adult student. George is a proud parent of two teenage boys. George and his children are deaf and they communicate natively in American Sign Language.

Kristen Pollick is a recent graduate of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she earned a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH). Her academic focus revolved around international health, with a particular interest in social and behavioral interventions. During her time at Hopkins, Kristen worked as a research assistant for the Center for Public Health and Human Rights with the Key Populations Team. In this role, she actively contributed to the implementation of a cluster randomized trial funded by the NIH. The trial aimed to identify effective approaches to empower young women at high risk of HIV in South Africa, specifically focusing on their utilization of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention.

Lemlem is a recent MPH graduate with a specialization in Epidemiology from SUNY Downstate. Prior to this, she obtained her BA in Psychology with a concentration in Sustainable Development from Columbia University. While at Downstate, Lemlem contributed to a retrospective cohort study for the Department of OB/GYN that investigated maternal health risk factors in association with demographic factors. Her passion for maternal health issues led her to complete her master’s thesis on the association between marital status and adverse pregnancy outcomes and healthcare utilization in the Brooklyn community.

Mitchell Yep is the new VMMC Intern in the Biomedical Prevention Branch at USAID. He is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to joining our team, he worked on data collection for the Innovation Fund for Community Safety in Baltimore, Maryland and clinical trials for the early detection of cancer in Portland, Oregon. During his 6-month internship, he is excited to learn as much as he can about USAID’s work and is most interested in understanding the data collection and program evaluation procedures. After graduation, he would like to work on public health surveillance, intervention assessment, or data analytics.

Olivia is a recent Master of Public Health graduate from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health and is passionate about reproductive equity, health behavior, and supporting prevention, particularly among adolescents. Olivia joins the STAR Team from Charlotte, North Carolina where she worked on STD/HIV prevention and a pilot antiretroviral therapy program for Mecklenburg County Health Department. As a graduate student, she worked full-time as a trauma nurse at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin where she cared for a disproportionate number of gun violence victims, prompting her to intern with 414 Life, the City of Milwaukee’s violence prevention organization.

Orlane Destin is a second-year graduate student at Columbia University’s School of Social Work. Prior to pursuing her graduate degree, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies and Social Impact from Gordon College and spent a year in Washington, DC as a Capital Fellow, a leadership and development program. There she worked with Project Belong, a nonprofit initiative aimed at equipping communities with the tools needed to care for foster children. One of Orlane’s most memorable experiences was living and working in Kampala, Uganda, with an organization focused on rehabilitating abandoned youth.

Mr. Hussien is a happily married father of four who enjoys raising his children, camping, hiking, intellectual development, and endeavors of craftmanship. He previously worked in a health leadership capacity for the last twelve years within the United States Army. His extensive public health experience at the frontlines of health have been in both domestic and international settings with a focus on austere medicine, population targeted programming and community-based interventions. He holds a B.S. Sociology with a Pre-Professional Health Minor from Austin Peay State University and is completing his Master of Public Health with a concentration in Global Health from Southern New Hampshire University during his S.

Tenzin is a recent Master of Public Health graduate in Community Health Promotion from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Before starting graduate school, Tenzin interned at the Central Tibetan Administration’s Department of Health in India and volunteered on a medical brigades trip to Panama. She has also engaged with MN's local immigrant and refugee communities of MN through research and work. In the last two years, Tenzin has been a student worker at the MN Department of Health working with COVID-19 and RSV surveillance, and later became an Evaluation Intern with Second Harvest Heartland.