Maternal and Child Health in Action.
What is MCHiA?
A collaborative leadership initiative to engage and connect Maternal and Child Health (MCH) students, non-MCH students with a passion for MCH, and alumni from across the nation through education, service, and advocacy.
Our Vision
- Establish an action-oriented, informal network of leaders, initiated by and for students and alumni of MCH Centers of Excellence and catalyst programs.
- Engage emerging and early MCH professionals in a collective effort to share information, experiences, and opportunities.
The 7 Pillars of MCHiA
- Advocacy
- Service
- Career Development
- MCH Leadership
- Alumni and Faculty Relations
- Education
- Fun
Meet Our 2025-2026 E-Board Members
Co-President: Julia Heller (she/her)
Julia
Julia Heller (she/her) is a second year Master of Public Health (MPH) student at Boston University School of Public Health. She is currently pursuing her MPH with a functional certificate in Epidemiology/Biostatistics with a context certificate in Maternal and Child Health. Originally from Northern Illinois, she attended the University of Kentucky for her Bachelors of Public Health (BPH), with a certificate in Family Science and Economics. Her research interests and experience are most relevant to early childhood development and children with special needs. She is additionally a practice fellow through the BU Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health. For the past year, she worked with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the Division for Children and Youth with Special Health Needs working on building a collaborative client management database to bring accessibility to specialized care. For fun, Julia enjoys spending time with her friends, hiking/outdoors, painting and other arts.
Co-President: Ruth Seyoum (she/her)
Ruth
Ruth Seyoum (she/her) is a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student at Boston University School of Public Health, pursuing a functional certificate in Global Health Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation and a context certificate in Maternal and Child Health. Originally from Northern Virginia, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health with minors in Data and Decisions, Medicine and Society, and Global Business Practices from Virginia Tech. Ruth’s professional interests center on advancing maternal and reproductive health for immigrant, refugee, and underserved communities, promoting racial and health equity, and strengthening global health systems. She currently serves as a Program Coordinator at the BUSPH Maternal and Child Health Center, a CLAS Intern at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and a Resource and Engagement Coordinator with Vital Village Network. In her free time, Ruth enjoys photography, yoga, traveling, and painting.
Treasurer: Bryn Rediger (she/her)
Bryn
Bryn Rediger (she/her) is a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) dual-degree student at Boston University, pursuing a context certificate in Pharmaceutical Development, Delivery, and Access. Originally from Plainfield, Indiana, she earned her BA in Psychology from Kenyon College before joining Mass General Hospital’s Center for Women’s Mental Health, where she served as Center Manager. In this role, she oversaw pharmaceutical contracts investigating reproductive safety data and supported maternal health research initiatives. She also contributed as Assistant Producer of the postpartum depression documentary, More Than Blue. Most recently, Bryn worked as a Maternal Health Strategy Intern at Origyn Solutions, a women’s health venture studio, where she led a preterm birth innovation project. She is passionate about evidence-based, interdisciplinary solutions that advance maternal health equity and ensure innovations reach the families who need them most. In her free time, she enjoys reading and experimenting with new recipes.
Secretary: Athira Suresh (she/her)
Athira
Athira Suresh is a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student in Epidemiology/Biostatistics and Maternal and Child Health at the Boston University School of Public Health.Her academic journey reflects her deep passion for health equity and social advocacy, driven by a commitment to improving community well-being and advancing reproductive justice. She strives to address health disparities, amplify marginalized voices, and create meaningful change in the lives of women and children. During her time at Boston University, Athira has been actively involved as the Communications Officer for Emerging World Leaders (EWL) program and is currently a research fellow for the PRESTO (Pregnancy Study Online) research group at Boston University School of Public Health and Yale School of Public Health. She worked at Boston Medical Center’s Center of Health Equity, Education, and Research as a graduate intern for the Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternal Practices (CHAMPS) program. Outside of her academics, Athira enjoys writing, reading, and visiting her friends and family back in Texas. In 2023, she published her debut poetry book, Dead Girl’s Summer.
Social Media Coordinator: Mehkhala Rao (she/her)
Mehkhala
Mekhala Rao (she/her) is a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student at Boston University School of Public Health. She is pursuing a functional certificate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. She is from Germantown, Maryland (30 minutes outside of Washington, DC) and completed her undergraduate degree with a Bachelor of Science in General Biology at Penn State University in 2020. From 2020-2024, she worked as a Research Assistant at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, conducting research on the virology and immunology of HIV and Coronaviruses. Her research interests align with her past experiences in Infectious Disease research, but hopes to take those experiences and translate them into data analytics to help industries like biopharmaceuticals advance. Outside of school, Mekhala loves to keep in touch with fitness, especially HIIT workouts. She also enjoys cooking and spending time with her friends, and has recently dipped her toes into audiobooks.
Community & Education Coordinator: Chidinma Enweremadu (she/her)
Chidinma
Chidinma Enweremadu, fondly called Chi-Chi, is a first-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student at Boston University School of Public Health, pursuing a functional certificate in Health Policy and Law and a context certificate in Maternal and Child Health. Originally from Nigeria, where she earned her medical degree and began pediatric residency training, she transitioned to public health after witnessing firsthand the systemic gaps contributing to preventable maternal and infant deaths. Her interests center on maternal and child health equity, policy reform, and strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Chidinma is passionate about leveraging data, history, and storytelling to drive systemic change and improve health outcomes. She recently volunteered as a research assistant with the Evidence Foundation, contributing to a systematic review on equity in autism spectrum disorder care and supporting updates to the American Academy of Pediatrics clinical report. In her free time, Chi-Chi enjoys spending time with her friends, cooking, and listening to Christian sermons.
Event Coordinator: Uma Subramanian (she/her)
Uma
Uma Subramanian (she/her) is a first-year Master of Science student in Applied Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health. Originally from Wisconsin, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences. Her academic and professional interests lie at the intersection of biostatistics, maternal and child health, and clinical trial methodology. Uma is particularly passionate about addressing gender bias in symptom assessment and management, improving the inclusion of South Asian populations in clinical research, and examining geographic and socioeconomic disparities in maternal health outcomes. She looks forward to pursuing research opportunities that combine rigorous quantitative methods with advancing health equity for women and children.. In addition to her role as Event Coordinator for MCH in Action, Uma is an engaged member of the BUSPH community and enjoys building collaboration across public health disciplines. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, discovering new coffee shops around Boston, and exploring the city with friends.
Interested in joining us? We would love to have you! Please fill out this quick form: MCHiA Interest Form
For more information, please contact us at mchia@bu.edu and don’t forget to connect with us on social media for more updates and events!
Instagram: @busph_mchinaction
