Alumni Profiles

“When I came to Heller, my understanding and perspective on health was limited to diagnosing and treating human ailments,” Okunogbe says. “After I graduated, I had the framework and paradigms for thinking about health policy, global health and social justice.”

He credits his mentor, Associate Professor Diana Bowser, as well as faculty members like MS Program Director Allyala Nandakumar and Professor Donald Shepard, for serving as role models and giving him opportunities to conduct research.

Learn more about Yemi's work. 

"Heller was there for me and for many other Peace Corps volunteers when we really needed it. It has gotten me to exactly where I wanted to go."

Learn more about Nicole's work.

"I did my first year of residency at Aleppo University Hospital during the conflict [in Syria]. Mentally and physically I’m already prepared for working in a crisis.

I’m seeing 100% corona patients right now. I’m working 12-hours shifts, six days a week. The type of management we do, the encounters we see, it’s all changed. You really need to wear PPE. That process takes so long: you have to put the gown on, gloves, face masks and a shield as well.

The skills we learned during MS classes about health systems strengthening and some of the elements that make this health system fragile—you think about those things all the time during a pandemic."

Read more about Ihsan's work. 

"Heller was absolutely formative. I’m so grateful for it, to have that year of being around folks who are absolutely committed to fighting injustice. It fueled so much of my continued advocacy for health equity. The skills I learned from Heller about sustainable development and policy analysis have been absolutely crucial, not only in my global health fellowship but also thinking about how to plan and implement projects within resource-denied settings. Global health funding tends to be prioritized for babies and maternal health, and adolescent and young adult health is often neglected. So it takes a lot of multidisciplinary thinking to support those folks the way they deserve to be supported."

Learn more about Leah's work. 

“Every country needs to have a very strong pandemic preparedness plan. We need to understand that we as human being as are really vulnerable when we think about infectious diseases and treatment models. ”

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the importance of global public health practitioners, Qadar says, as he draws on tools from his MS in Global Health Policy and Management degree. Heller is “on top of the game in knowing the demand of the market.” For example, GIS, or geographic information systems, part of the curriculum at Heller, now plays a huge role in identifying coronavirus hot spots locally and globally.

Read more about Zeeshan's work.

"I went back to graduate school to work in disaster response and public health preparedness. I enjoy feeling like I’m making a difference. In a situation like [the COVID-19 pandemic], I’m seeing the value of my dual degrees in conflict resolution and coexistence, and global health policy and management. If you’re watching the news on a daily basis, you see the importance of good public health policy, but you also see the conflicts that arise among competing states, health departments, and more. There are so many competing needs, and it’s important to figure out how they can work well together." 

Learn more about Sarah's work. 

"Brandeis provided me with a point of departure for my career trajectory. It provided me with the ability to critically think and reason, a set of skills that is used daily. It also helped me to become a good citizen and to appreciate the value of public service in all of its manifestations.”

Read more about Lewis' work.

Before Heller, “My career had reached a brick wall,” she says. As a pharmacist in Tanzania, her home country, and Namibia for more than a decade, she had peaked in what she could do with her existing skills. “I wanted more knowledge on policy change, systems strengthening. I saw gaps in areas like maternal mortality and reproductive health, and felt like something more could be done. That’s why I thought global health policy could equip me to go in that direction.”

Read more about Farida's work. 

“I am confident being in positions that require you to lead. It’s very unusual for a physician like myself to come do a master’s degree in the United States. But because of my experience at Heller I can look at ambitious projects and say, ‘It’s not easy, but I can do it.’”

Read more about Bulat's work. 

Heller “offered unique insight about global health: It has a specific point of view in terms of addressing access, especially in developing nations. This was important because I wanted to go back to my country and apply what I learned.”

When Joseph returned to Haiti, he worked with colleagues to start a mobile clinic. “Most dentists have their clinics in the capital of Port-au-Prince, leaving a lot of the population without access to dental care. I thought if we can create a mobile dental clinic, going from community to community, city to city, we can address this gap.”

Read more about Lesly's work.

She’s worked at Reebok since 2014, starting with the kids’ fitness program BOKS, an initiative of the Reebok Foundation that provides a before-school physical activity curriculum for kids in all 50 states as well as Canada, South Korea and Japan. Now, she’s expanding her role with Reebok community impact, including the daunting task of helping the company reshape its social purpose strategy: to tackle the fitness gap.  

Read more about Brooke's work. 

“A Heller MS degree gives you flexibility. You can work in any part of the world, in developing or developed countries, and still make an impact. You can practically do anything you want to do and achieve the same goal of preventing diseases, protecting communities and helping people lead healthy lifestyles.”

Read more about Linda's work. 

“I lead and support various project and program teams in applying improvement tools and approaches. Currently I’m leading a health equity campaign and a diabetes collaborative within Counties Manukau-Auckland. I provide advice, practical help and coaching and deliver teaching sessions in the application of quality improvement tools for internal and external customers. I’m also part of the change management team, whose mission is to affect an organizational culture change that is committed to continuous, deliberate improvement of patient experience, organizational performance and culture.”

Read more about Sreeraj's work. 

She represents USAID Bangladesh in the government technical forum of quality improvement of health services and monitors the implementation of quality related activities of USAID funded projects. In her current role, her knowledge of health systems strengthening, health economics and financing is critical to providing technical support related to universal healthcare in Bangladesh.

Read more about Pushpita's work. 

“Once the opportunity arose to serve in the Ebola response, I took it. I had been the moderator for the Ebola response community at Global Health Delivery Online, answering questions and facilitating discussion between health practitioners and researchers in 77 countries. My years as an HIV care nurse would be put to good use, and the presence of volunteers from prominent NGOs would likely bring much needed supplies and funding into the Ebola-afflicted countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.”

Read more about Elizabeth's work. 

“I’ve worked with different populations in Nepal, different communities,” says Bhatt. His work has ranged from administering HIV programs for Bhutanese refugees to malaria monitoring for the Nepalese government to studying malnutrition in children and pregnant women in rural Nepal.

“I realized, if you don’t have proper policy, if you don’t have appropriate systems in place, working in any activity or any project is not enough,” says Bhatt, who also holds a master’s degree in public health. “You have to work with policy. I wanted to learn how policy impacts the change in our communities.”

“I didn’t want a master’s in public health—I don’t want to be a public health specialist. I want to be a systems specialist. At Heller, the program is very skills-based, and it’s like a light bulb has gone off. I think all the time, ‘I wish I knew this back then,’ which would have enhanced the way I managed a project.”

During her time at Heller, Falade aims to strengthen her skills in health systems financing, data utilization and evidence-based policy development. After completing her degree, Falade will return to her husband and two young children waiting for her back in Abuja. She plans to focus on health systems strengthening and reform initiatives in her home country and throughout the sub-Saharan region.  

Pamela Titi was originally trained as a lawyer in her home country of Uganda, but her career trajectory changed sharply after the birth of her daughter, Gabby, who was born with severe brain damage. After seeking specialized health care for Gabby in the United States that was unavailable in Uganda, Titi decided to found the Tunaweza Children’s Centre for children with special needs in Kampala. It is the first therapy center of its kind in East Africa. She then enrolled in the Heller School’s MS in Global Health Policy and Management program to gain the skills she needed for Tunaweza to succeed.