Feven Lencha

Feven Alena Lencha, a 2026 Graduate Summer Fellow at the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS), is an MPH candidate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with a focus on Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health. She holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Hawassa University in Ethiopia and has clinical experience in both rural and tertiary healthcare settings. Her research interests center on infectious disease epidemiology, health equity, and the intersection of environmental and structural determinants of health.

As an IGS Graduate Student Summer Fellow, she will examine the relationship between energy poverty, household biomass fuel use, and respiratory health in Ethiopia. Her project investigates how reliance on solid fuels contributes to respiratory health inequities, conceptualizing household energy systems as structural determinants of health within a planetary health framework. The study aims to quantify the association between biomass fuel exposure and respiratory outcomes and generate evidence to inform clean cooking initiatives, sustainable energy transitions, and climate-health policy in low-income settings.

Her faculty advisor is Dr. Jennifer Beard, PhD, MA, MPH (Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Global Health at Boston University School of Public Health) and her project is titled “Energy Poverty, Household Biomass Fuel Use, and Respiratory Health in Ethiopia: Implications for Planetary Health and Sustainable Energy Transitions.”

Pronouns: She/Her