START Center Welcomes New Research Assistants

As the start of Autumn Quarter approaches at the University of Washington, The Strategic Analysis, Research, & Training (START) Center will have some new faces joining our team. We would like to take a moment to introduce and welcome the newest student START Center members.

Kennedy Maring Muni
Research Assistant, Epidemiology

Kennedy Maring Muni graduated with a BA in Biology from Macalester College in Minnesota and an MPH from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. After graduating from UNC, he returned home to South Sudan and for the past five years has worked as the M&E lead person for IntraHealth International in South Sudan. As the M&E Manager for IntraHealth, he was responsible for managing data, report writing, and conducting project assessments and evaluation. His research interests include: HIV, cervical cancer, and injury prevention.

Luwam Kidane
Research Assistant, Epidemiology

Luwam Kidane is a Master’s student in the Epidemiology Department at the University of Washington. Luwam received her BA in Anthropology from Columbia University. Before joining UW, Luwam worked as a research assistant in the University of California School Of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and Public Health. As a member of the Murray Lab her research focused on developing culturally competent and accessible health programs for under-served refugee communities. Luwam also joined the University of California of San Diego Health Services Research Center whose research focuses on understanding how clinical and treatment services affect health outcomes. Her interests include health disparities, syndemics, refugee health, and the intersections of environmental and social epidemiology.

Aakanksha Veenapani
Research Assistant, Global Innovation Fellows Program

Aakanksha graduated from Whitman College with a degree in Economics and English. She began her career in data analytics in the technology industry. After four years of working with enterprise sales and licensing, she moved to India to work on a political campaign. Post-campaign victory, she began work in the education sector in India. She firmly believes that education will be the most impactful driver of change in our time. Aakanksha is in her second year of the full time MBA program at the Foster School of Business. As an MBA student, she recently consulted with a Seattle-based non-profit to identify and target underserved, low income high-school students in order to improve students’ college readiness and increase their rate of college graduation.

Christopher C. Joyce
Research Assistant, Global Innovation Fellows Program

Chris is pursuing a dual degree, Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Pharmaceutical Bioengineering, at the University of Washington. He is the MBAA VP of Alumni Affairs, EVP of Healthcare and Biotechnology Association, VP of Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club, and Venture Fellows Mentor. His prior experience includes over 8 years of consulting for early and late stage biotechnology companies which helped him hone his expertise in Operational Risk Management. He is an avid explorer and has traveled to 27 countries in the last 10 years. Chris is focusing his studies on strategy, finance and entrepreneurship in the biotechnology industry.

Tracy Lam-Hine
Research Assistant, Global Innovation Fellows Program

Tracy Lam-Hine is a second-year MBA candidate at the UW Foster School of Business. Prior to graduate school, Tracy worked in the Healthcare Strategy and Operations practice of Deloitte Consulting, and then later moved to managing programs evaluation initiatives at a venture philanthropy fund in San Francisco. Over the summer, he interned as an Impact Assessment Officer with Vulcan Philanthropy (and the Paul G Allen Family Foundation) and hopes to continue his career working at the intersection of philanthropy, healthcare, and global development. Tracy graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in Economics and Public Policy in 2010.

Darius Chen
Research Assistant, Global Innovation Fellows Program

Darius graduated from University of San Francisco with a degree in Business Administration. His interest in the delivery of health services was cultivated early on during his travels to Asia and Latin America. These experiences coupled with his passion for service drove him to pursue a commission as a Medical Service Corps Officer in the U.S. Army. He deployed to Afghanistan where he partnered closely with Afghan National Security Forces to deliver health services to villages in Kandahar Province. As an MBA Candidate at the Foster School of Business, Darius is eager to apply lessons learned from his experiences to address the most challenging demands in the implementation of global health policies and initiatives.