News

In July 2023, we welcomed Dr. Sabrina Boyce into our department as a new Assistant Professor. Now, we introduce her to you all as an inspiring educator, dedicated researcher, compassionate mentor, and a wholehearted advocate for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH).

This past fall semester, I have been partaking in a community public health study abroad program in Gaborone, Botswana. Through the program, I visited local clinics and health posts once a week to observe the functioning of health systems in Botswana, and I enrolled in coursework at the University of Botswana studying public health topics in the context of Botswana and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

During the summer between my junior and senior years, I completed an internship with Beyond the Pill, a program of the Bixby Center at the University of California, San Francisco. It was exciting to have this opportunity to spend my summer at this esteemed research department dedicated to Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH), with the goal of promoting access and equity in contraceptive healthcare and the mission of addressing social determinants of health for underserved populations. 

Current MCAH graduate student, Joel Rubio (MPH, expected 2024) is one of five interns working at Blue Shield this summer as part of their Health Equity Fellowship. As a teen, Joel Rubio’s parents were deported, and he was forced to fend for himself. Now, he is turning his trauma into a career through our Health Equity Fellowship at UC Berkeley School of Public Health, a program focused on increasing the diversity of professionals in healthcare and building a pipeline of leaders with racially diverse experiences to reduce disparities in health outcomes.

Cheri A. Pies is a Clinical Professor Emerita at the School of Public Health, at the University of California, Berkeley. Cheri A. Pies also served as the principal investigator of the Best Babies Zone Initiative, a place-based multi-sector approach to reducing infant mortality through community-driven transformation.

Congratulations to our Program Manager, Tina Lu, who has been awarded a Berkeley Public Health Staff Special Award for the 22/23 year. Tina received the Abby Rincón Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging Award. Tina Lu provides support with the Center of Excellence in MCAH activities, student support, and administrative tasks.

See Aliza's poster here.