Education

Faculty, Staff, and Students to Be Honored with 2024 SPH Awards

Anushka Reddy Marri, Trish Elliott, Pat Hibberd, Melanie Gilreath Chaisson, Elaine Nsoesie, and Madeleine Scammell will receive awards at Convocation.

Congratulations to the members of the School of Public Health community who will be honored the 2024 SPH Convocation on Saturday, May 18.

2024 Podium Awardees

Anushka Reddy Marri, an MPH graduate, is the winner of the 2023 Leonard H. Glantz Award for Academic Excellence.

The Glantz Award is the highest award granted to a graduating MPH student at SPH. The award is named in honor of Leonard H. Glantz, emeritus professor of health law, bioethics & human rights, who served for 30 years as academic dean and demanded rigorous standards in curriculum and teaching throughout the academic program.

Glantz Award winners are nominated by faculty, and demonstrate exceptional academic performance, seriousness, and professionalism in public health.

An international student, Marri earned a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree back home in India before to moving to Boston to pursue her passion for public health at SPH. The aspiring epidemiologist quickly became a well-known presence on campus for her engagement in the classroom, in student organizations, in research, and more.

Marri completed a functional certificate in epidemiology and biostatistics as well as a context certificate in infectious disease, and she has maintained an exemplary academic record despite taking on myriad responsibilities in addition to her coursework. In her final semester alone, she has served as a teaching assistant to Leonard Martinez, assistant professor of epidemiology, for his Concepts and Methods in Epidemiology (EP770) course; volunteered as a research assistant to Kayoko Shioda, assistant professor of global health; and undertaken a practicum in tuberculosis research under Pranay Sinha, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center and an assistant professor at the BU Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine.

Marri is communications director for SPH’s Student Senate and the events coordinator in the School’s International Students Organization, and also runs a popular “bookstagram” account, @marridtobooks, in her free time. She has even collaborated with Graduate Student Life and the Office of Marketing and Communications to produce social media content specifically for the SPH community, collaborating on an LGBTQIA+ reading list and sharing advice with her peers based on her experience as an international student.

Ashley Leonard, assistant director of GSL, describes Marri as “an exceptional leader” and “exemplary role model,” who is enthusiastic about building community and passionate about fostering inclusivity. Leonard witnessed Marri’s “remarkable ability” to engage her peers firsthand, she says, when Marri led this year’s International Showcase, an evening of performances celebrating the diverse cultures of people in the SPH community.

“Whether she is gathering peers to engage in student socials and fundraisers or spearheading a signature event, Anushka has become an influential and highly valued member of the BUSPH community,” says Leonard.

Patricia (Trish) Elliott (SPH’06,’13), clinical associate professor and associate chair in the Department of Community Health Sciences, is the winner of the 2024 Norman A. Scotch Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Named after SPH’s founding dean who worked to make education a hallmark of the School, the Scotch Award is presented annually to an individual who has made outstanding and sustained contributions to the education program at SPH.

Elliott earned both her MPH and her DrPH from SPH, concentrating her studies in maternal and child health. She began teaching at the School in an adjunct capacity before joining the Department of Community Health Sciences in 2013. During her more than 10 years as a member of the SPH faculty, she has taught a range of courses, including two core courses and numerous introductory and advanced departmental offerings. Her pioneering approach to teaching, particularly practice-based education, has previously earned her educational innovation awards from SPH and the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health.

“The considerable promise [Elliott] showed as a doctoral student has been manifested in her stellar career as a faculty member,” writes one of her nominators. “It is critical that the Scotch Award recognizes the contributions of faculty like Dr. Elliott who blend exceptional classroom teaching with schoolwide educational leadership. It is the work of such faculty that allows this exceptional school to operate at the high level we have become accustomed to.”

Elliott has also taken on several major leadership roles in the School’s academic administration, most notably as director of the DrPH program, a demanding role involving considerable day-to-day operations to manage more than 40 students at different stages in their studies scattered throughout the world. Nonetheless, Elliott has been “exceptionally successful,” according to her predecessor, Eugene Declercq. He notes that during her tenure directing the program’s admission, she has recruited a series of strong classes in the face of numerous challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Trish brings her keen intelligence, both emotional and intellectual; her creative and critical thinking; and a particularly deep commitment to assuring classrooms and programs that are equally attentive to student well-being, rigor, and readiness for real-world professional practice,” writes a colleague, summarizing what several nomination letters describe as the outstanding qualities Elliott contributes to the classroom and beyond.

Patricia (Pat) Hibberd, professor and chair in the Department of Global Health, is the winner of the 2024 Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship.

This honor is given annually to recognize a faculty member for a distinguished body of scholarly or scientific work on a specific topic or within a general area of expertise.

Hibberd, who also holds an appointment as a professor of infectious disease medicine at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, is a global leader in the treatment and prevention of childhood pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, and diarrhea—the leading causes of death among children under 5 worldwide. Her clinical and translational research portfolio, built over several decades in the field, has become increasingly diverse in recent years but has always focused broadly on improving patient care in underserved communities in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Hibberd has recently obtained funding to study the efficacy of probiotics to enhance influenza vaccine responses, to assess a novel point-of-care imaging technology in pulmonary infections, and to investigate the effects of COVID-19 and influenza on pregnancy.

Over the course of her career, Hibberd has secured nearly 70 grants (including several from the National Institutes of Health) and published nearly 300 peer-reviewed articles (many in high impact journals). She has been recognized as one of the country’s foremost global health experts who fight diseases that disproportionately affect the world’s poorest nations, receiving the Paul G. Roger’s Social Global Ambassador Award in 2009.

Trained as an epidemiologist in Great Britain in the late 1970s, Hibberd came to the United States in 1980 to conduct research. She went on to study medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and completed residencies in internal medicine and infectious disease at Mass General Hospital (MGH). She served as a professor of pediatrics at HMS, a professor of global health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and as director of the Division of Global Health in the Department of Pediatrics at MGH before crossing town to join the faculty at SPH, where she continues to churn out impactful research while mentoring the next generation of public health leaders.

“[Hibberd] excels as a mentor, team member, and leader,” writes one of her nominators and mentees. “I have had excellent mentors throughout my career […] but none of them has topped Prof. Hibberd. She is constantly suggesting and helping to strategize the next steps in my career directions. She is always available to discuss logistic challenges in studies or scientific study directions.”

According to the nomination letter, Hibberd has attracted numerous promising junior faculty to the department and during her tenure as chair, the number of research awards received by department faculty has increased substantially, as has the number of publications.

“With abundant energy, [Hibberd] has been a driving force to further elevate the department to a position of research excellence,” reads the letter.

Melanie Gilreath Chaisson (MET’16), director of people services in the Office of Finance and Administration, is the winner of the 2024 Dzidra J. Knecht Staff Award for Distinguished Service.

The highest award for school service that can be given to a staff member at SPH, the Knecht Award recognizes staff who have made outstanding and sustained contributions to the administrative functioning of their departments and therefore the School. It is named in honor of Dzidra J. Knecht, the School’s first associate dean for administration, who spent 30 years working for the University, 20 of them at SPH.

Many consider Chaisson to be the cornerstone of leadership and service at SPH. One of her nomination letters even reads, “In all honesty, I was surprised to find out [Chaisson] had not previously been awarded in this category. I have never heard anything but praise and positive feedback about [her] knowledge, responsiveness, professionalism, and commitment to the School.”

Over more than decade working at SPH, Chaisson has set benchmarks for what it means to engage and develop community. Her relentless dedication to helping others has served her well in her position as director of people services, and over the years, she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to administrative excellence.

From streamlining administrative processes to improve efficiency to fostering an inclusive environment to enhance employee retention and engagement, Chaisson has consistently contributed to improving SPH operations. The staff mentorship program and the Think.Teach.Do Awards are just two examples of programs she has championed in recent years.

Described as “funny, kind, and well-liked” by one nominator, Chaisson is known for her open-door policy and dependable smile. Her resourcefulness and positive attitude have positioned her as a go-to person for questions and advice, and she has proven herself an “invaluable asset” to the School with her aptitude for boosting team productivity and morale, writes another nominator.

“Whether it is mentoring new team members, assisting colleagues with challenging tasks, or volunteering for community projects, Melanie is always ready to lend a hand,” reads their nomination letter. “Her genuine concern for the wellbeing of others and her willingness to go above and beyond to help is a clear indication of her altruistic nature. This selflessness has earned her the respect and admiration of everyone she works with.”

Elaine Nsoesie, associate professor in the Department of Global Health, is the winner of the 2024 Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice.

This honor is presented annually to a faculty or staff member who has made outstanding and sustained contributions to the health of populations through advocacy work, community engagement, and/or public policy endeavors.

Born and raised in Cameroon, Nsoesie went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of Maryland College Park and a master’s in statistics and a doctorate in computational epidemiology at Virginia Tech. She completed post-doctoral research at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School before securing her first faculty position with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. She ultimately returned to Boston to join the Department of Global Health at BUSPH in 2018.

Nsoesie has dedicated her career to the advancement of global health equity through data science and technology, particularly through efforts to engage underrepresented communities in the field. Writes her nominator of her work, “By virtue of Elaine’s extensive and truly global efforts at improving the scientific and practice aptitude of scores of junior public health learners and professionals, she has had an outsize and lasting influence the health of large populations.”

Nsoesie has taught or served as a guest lecturer not only at SPH but also at MIT and Harvard Medical School. She has designed trainings and offered webinars for a variety of other audiences as well, such as a workshop on data science methods for staff at the Directorate of Science, Technology, and Innovation in the President’s Office in Sierra Leone. Additionally, Nsoesie has mentored Black PhD student through the organization Black in AI, founded a research mentoring program for BIPOC students, and runs a racial data science internship program at the BU Center for Antiracist Research, where she led the development of a Racial Data Tracker.

Nsoesie has advised both local departments of health and international organizations, such as UNICEF and the UN Development Program, on how to improve disease surveillance systems and she was recently recruited to be the program lead in the NIH’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity program. Nsoesie also recently earned a Practice Innovation Award from SPH’s idea hub to support Rethe 2.0, a new model of a program she launched in Tanzania in 2019 to provide scientific writing resources to students in Africa.

Madeleine Scammell (SPH’08), associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health, received the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Award.

Now in its second year, this award honors a faculty or staff member who has done extraordinary work promoting diversity, equity, and justice (DEIJ) and cultivating a culture of inclusion throughout the School.

Scammell led the Department of Environmental Health’s DEI Committee for three years, from its inception during the tumultuous summer of 2020 through 2023, but her commitment to DEIJ through her own research, teaching, and practice began decades earlier and is still ongoing.

Scammell has received multiple research grants for community-engaged projects that encompass elements of DEIJ, such as the Chelsea & East Boston Heat Study, which examines exposures to heat and poor air quality in the highly diverse neighborhood where Scammell lives; and the Mesoamerican Nephropathy Occupational Study, a longitudinal study of Central American agricultural workers that Scammell established to investigate exposures linked to an epidemic of chronic kidney disease. In addition to her research, she also serves on the boards of directors for two nonprofits, GreenRoots, a community-based environmental justice organization, and the Science & Environmental Health Network, a virtual organization focused on leveraging law, ethics, and science to promote health. The Boston Public Health Commission and Boston Housing Authority also number among Scammell’s many community partners.

As the EH DEI Committee leader, Scammell made significant contributions to her department’s education and growth; some of the highlights include helping to initiate a syllabus review process, piloting an evidenced-based teaching tool called “Ouch Oops Whoa” to address bias and microaggressions in the classroom, organizing a year-long seminar series on race and racism in environmental health, and compiling a comprehensive assessment of department culture around DEI. Not one to talk the talk without also walking the walk, Scammell’s review of her own course offerings led her to create a new course on environmental justice that will debut in fall 2024.

“While [Scammell’s] work just in the past few years would be more than enough to earn her this accolade, she has been engaged in community-based research and grappling with DEIJ challenges for more than 25 years,” reads one nomination letter. “It is difficult to find some aspect of her work at BUSPH that does not center DEIJ issues, and [she] continues to push the frontier and try to improve systems and structures to create a more equitable and inclusive school and world.”

Additional 2024 Awardees

Congratulations also to the following faculty, staff, and students who will be honored at a school-wide Awards Ceremony on Friday, May 17.

Faculty

Excellence in Teaching Award for Teaching in the Core
Junenette Peters

Excellence in Teaching Award for Student Engagement
Kiersten Strombotne

Excellence in Teaching Award for Dedication to Student Learning
Catharine Wang

Excellence in Teaching Award for Outstanding New Instructor
Salma Abdalla

Excellence in Research Early Career Award
Sarah Gordon

Excellence in Research Innovation Award
Matt Motta

Excellence in Research Mentoring Award
Martha Werler

Staff

Staff Excellence Award in Collaboration
Jillian McKoy

Staff Excellence Award in Mentorship or Training
Tom Dauria

Staff Excellence Award in Leadership
Elaine Bertolini

The Karen Smith Award
Sarah Lawrence

Students

Excellence in Student Services & Leadership Award
Kyla Botsian

Student Award for Excellence in Public Health Practice
Riley Smith

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Student Award
Zana Wangari Kiragu

Eugene Declercq Award for Excellence in a Public Health Practice Dissertation
Maha Alattas
Rebecca Rudel

Community Health Sciences “Rising Star” Award
Samia Ismail

Restuccia Award for Achievement in Social Justice in Community Health
Cecilia Jarquin Tapia

James F. Burgess Award for the Best Student Paper in Health Services Research
Nicole McCann

Katherine M. Skinner Memorial Prize for Commitment to the Study of Women’s Health Issues
Arpita Khanna

Allan R. Meyers Memorial Award for Excellence in Health Policy & Management
Caroline Dignard
Kristen Scopino

David K Jones Award for Commitment to Health Policy and Social Justice
Flor Villaneuva

Dr. William B. Patterson Memorial Prize for Excellence in Environmental and Occupational Health
Audrey Garcia

Dr. Theodore Colton Prize for Excellence in Epidemiology
Toshiaki Komura

Epidemiology Academic Excellence Award
Lee Hughes

Center for Health Law, Ethics and Human Rights Award
Hannah Jacobson
Gayathri Krishna
Sean Hagan

The John Snow, Inc. Award in Global Health
Miya Abboud

Herb Kayne Prize for Excellence in Biostatistics
Krystal Kuan

Biostatistics Academic Excellence Award
Ryan Zukowski

Biostatistics Excellence in Research Award
Lauren Delp

Biostatistics Doctoral Applied Research Paper Award
Xiaoyu Zhang

The Sherri Oliver Stuver Award
Julia Bond
Nedghie Adrien