The Voice of Emerging World Leaders at BU School of Public Health
In late fall 2024, I came across a Nature Careers article titled “I had three children during my PhD: here’s what I learnt.” I had never met the author, but reading it felt like talking to a friend who finally saw me for who I was in that moment - a mom, a student, and […]
As a global health practitioner, I am champion of community-led, locally driven, research and programming. My doctoral dissertation challenges this notion, as I complete research in a new context as an outsider. Prior to September 2025, I had never visited Zambia. Naturally, as I write this reflection, I recall my very first trip to Africa […]
Reflecting on my 1.5 years in the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program, I realize it did more than develop my critical thinking about programs, policies, and leadership. It also taught me to approach life as a project, balancing scope, time, and budget. I learned this the hard way, mostly through survival. I survived managing […]
My palms were sweaty. My heart was racing so fast it felt like it might outrun me. My throat was dry, and I kept rehearsing and re-rehearsing my opening line, as if saying it one more time would make the fear disappear. That’s what happens to me every time I am asked to speak in […]
This year has brought challenges for me and for many others in public health. Toward the end of the Summer, I learned that the Training Grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which had been the funding source supporting my education and research, would be ending due to the nationwide budget cuts […]
I was naïve when I started my PhD. I still remember my first-round interview: someone asked, “Do you know the challenges you may face during the PhD?” I said yes. I knew it would be tough, and I was ready. I’d worked with faculty for years and supported doctoral students. Now, I’ve lived through reverse […]
Walking into my first Emerging Women Leaders meeting (now Emerging World Leaders), I felt every inch of my difference. I was the only man in the room and a member of a historically underrepresented minority navigating a new professional landscape. I didn’t come to challenge the space — I came to learn. My goals were […]
Starting new things is challenging because it involves uncertainties. Change and the process of adapting to it are difficult as they require leaving the familiar for the unfamiliar and transitioning from the known to the unknown. This could be beginning graduate school, starting a new family or job, or moving to another city or country. […]