ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: MEET SIX RESEARCH ASSISTANTS & ONE GLOBAL INNOVATION FELLOW THAT GRADUATED FROM START’S TRAINING PROGRAM

This past June, the Strategic Analysis, Research & Training (START) Center proudly celebrated five research assistants and one Global Innovation Fellow graduating from its training program. Four of these individuals also completed their graduate degrees: Global Innovation Fellow Deepa Anant earned both her MBA from the Foster School of Business and her MPA from the Evans School of Public Policy. Andrea Rivas and Madalitso Khwepeya both completed their Master of Public Health degrees in Epidemiology, while Maya Lubeck-Schricker earned her Master of Science in Epidemiology, and Abigail Mulugeta completed her Master of Public Health in Global Health. Akash Malhotra and Helena Manguerra will continue their academic journeys as Global Health PhD candidates in Implementation Science.

Below, learn more about our impressive graduates and the work they completed while engaged with START.

DEEPA ANANT

Deepa earned her MBA from the Foster School of Business, along with a concurrent MPA degree from the Evans School of Public Policy, with a concentration in Nonprofit Management and Social Innovation. Before graduate school, she spent seven years working in procurement and operations for American Airlines and Apple. There, she established product cost evaluation processes, developed key terms agreements, and designed financial data collection frameworks for managing cross-functional partnerships.

Deepa managed two of the four projects she worked on during her time with START. Below are highlights from two of the projects Deepa worked on:

• Climate Change Adaptation & Public Health: The START team analyzed policy priorities related to climate change adaptation and human health. They did this for a select group of implementing and funding organizations, as well as specific countries, by reviewing publicly available information. They presented key findings on investments, in-country programs, and the overall landscape to the Global Development Division at the Gates Foundation. They also provided recommendations on how the Foundation can collaborate and align its efforts in the climate and health sector.
• Financing & expenditure assessment GHI flows, Phase 1: The START team conducted a comprehensive analysis of budget execution and fund absorption for two major global health initiatives (GHIs): the Global Fund (GFATM) and the Global Financing Facility (GFF). This assessment aimed to evaluate spending efficiency and identify barriers to optimal resource utilization in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Senegal.

Reflecting on her time at START, Deepa said,  “START has been the most rewarding experience of my time at UW. It gave me a unique opportunity to bridge my education in public policy and business while contributing to projects with real-world impact. I strengthened my project management skills and worked with peers and experts across disciplines. More than a training ground, START is a true community. I had the privilege of learning from some of the most driven, insightful, and talented faculty and students. I’m deeply grateful for the growth and purpose this program has given me, and it will continue to shape how I approach my career and community.”

Deepa will be working as a Consultant with Gartner.

AKASH MALHOTRA, MPH

Akash Malhotra is a PhD student in Implementation Science in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health. He completed his undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 2015 at the Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology at the University of Delhi. Following this, he worked at Bain and Company, a global management consulting firm, in their India and Africa offices. He transitioned to the field of public health in 2018, working for the Clinton Health Access Initiative. There, he supported service delivery of their Tuberculosis, Oxygen, Vaccines, Nutrition, SRMNCAH, and Health System Strengthening programs in Southeast Asia. Akash pursued his MPH at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), graduating in December 2021. After graduating, he continued exploring his interests in costing, cost-effectiveness, program management, and implementation science, working at the Department of Epidemiology at JHSPH. He helped support clinical trials in East Africa. Akash’s experience focuses on addressing delays in patient diagnosis and linkage to care, applying both a patient- and provider-centered approach in low-resource settings.

Akash worked on five projects during his time with START, acting as the Project Manager for one of them. Below are highlights from two of the projects Akash worked on:

• Vaccine IPM Valuations: The START Team collaborated with Sarah Metzger to gather vital inputs and estimates for vaccine coverage costs, rollout timelines, and efficacy. They compiled this data into comprehensive spreadsheets, which then fed into larger models for cost-effectiveness analysis.
• Comprehensive Analysis of Non-symbiotic Nitrogen Fixing Mechanisms: The START team meticulously reviewed and synthesized current research on underexplored biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) modes, including, Stem-modulating BNF, Cyanobacteria, Azolla-Anabaena, Nostoc, and BGA. Beyond identifying these mechanisms, the team pinpointed existing market products utilizing these microbes. They also identified key bottlenecks hindering the scalability and translation of these technologies to important crops like maize, sorghum, and rice, and outlined the necessary research interventions to develop them into viable products.

Reflecting on his time with START, Akash said, “START was one of the first communities I found when I moved to Seattle two years ago, and it quickly became a meaningful part of my journey. The experience made me more agile in my thinking, taught me how to collaborate across diverse working styles, and gave me the freedom to express myself and lead with new ideas, always with the support of a generous and thoughtful team, be it other RAs, faculty, or the Operations Team. The training sessions contributed to my growth as a public health professional, and I hope to stay connected and continue contributing in small ways in the future.”

Akash will continue to work on his dissertation in Implementation Science in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health.

HELENA MANGUERRA, MPH

Helena Manguerra is an Implementation Science PhD student in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health. Helena served for four years as a Post-Bachelor Fellow and Research Scientist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). For the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project, Helena developed the institute’s first estimates of attributable disease burden due to low birth weight and short gestation. As part of the GBD, she also modeled attributable burden due to child stunting, underweight, and wasting. Prior to starting her PhD program, Helena worked as a Research Associate at International Care Ministries, a poverty reduction NGO based in the Philippines. She helped to design, build, and evaluate ICM’s newly started community health worker program. Helena completed her MPH in Global Health Metrics & Evaluation from the University of Washington and her BS in Global Health from Georgetown University.

Helena worked on six projects during her two-year engagement at START, acting as the Project Manager for two of them. Below are highlights from two of the projects Helena worked on:

• Women’s Health Publications: Using data from PubMed metadata and clinical trial registrations in ClinicalTrials.gov, the START Team quantified the extent to which women’s health was represented in scientific publications from 2019-2023. The client team was particularly interested in the START team developing a reproducible method for quantifying women’s health in scientific literature. The primary deliverables were a final presentation slide deck, master slide deck of metrics and graphs, summary report, and documentation on reproducing the metrics and graphs.
• Correlates of Protection Study Design: This project aimed to provide the Gates Foundation Vaccine Development team with recommendations, particularly for study design and sample size, for a longitudinal observational study that could identify correlates of protection for multiple pathogens.

Reflecting on her time with START, Helena said, “START has been a tremendous learning experience. I am grateful to the START Center for giving me the opportunity to develop relationships with faculty across the School of Public Health and beyond, to participate in and lead teams of dedicated and talented students, and to work on diverse and impactful projects with clients. I am excited for future cohorts of students to participate in and grow from the START experience.”

Helena will continue to work on her dissertation in Implementation Science in the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health.

ANDREA NIETO RIVAS, MD

Andrea Rivas received her Master in Public Health with the Department of Epidemiology from the University of Washington. Andrea is a Peruvian physician with experience in primary healthcare, maternal and child health, and public health consulting. She is an MPH student in Epidemiology at the University of Washington. In 2017, she was one of the Northern Pacific Global Health Fellows and a Fogarty Kuskaya Fellow, a program co-hosted by Cayetano Heredia University and the University of Washington. During her fellowship year, she developed a health center evaluation framework for a maternal and child health project in the Peruvian Amazon. Her initiative also contributed to the improvement of health facilities in rural areas and helped local authorities by providing first-hand information about the needs of hard-to-reach communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrea served as a front-line healthcare worker in Peru, facing the challenging conditions of the overburdened health system. In 2023, she completed her training in Nephrology in her home country, with international clinical and research experience in Brazil and the United States. Her research interests include improvement of healthcare access and prevention of non-communicable diseases.

Andrea worked on five projects during her two-year engagement with START, acting as the Project Manager for one of them.

Below are highlights from two of the projects Andrea worked on:

• Food Fortification in Latin America, Phase 2: The Foundation commissioned START to aid the Nutrition Program Strategy Team in implementing large-scale food fortification (LSFF) to tackle global micronutrient deficiencies. Phase I identified LSFF stakeholders and conducted case studies in Latin America (Chile, Costa Rica, & Guatemala), highlighting compliance monitoring programs. Mandatory fortification legislation and sanctions were found, with the Ministry of Health (MoH) as the central monitoring body. Phase II aimed to deepen understanding of fortification compliance in Costa Rica and Guatemala through key informant interviews, focusing on industry practices, regulatory bodies, coordination, and cooperation. The findings inform strategies to enhance food fortification compliance in the Latin American market.
• Menstrual Health Systematic Review: The Women’s Health Innovation team enlisted the START Center to conduct a literature review to understand the effect of menstrual health product use on infectious outcomes (sexually transmitted infections, urogenital infections, & bacterial vaginosis), and identify corresponding gaps in the literature.

Reflecting on her time with START, Andrea said, “My time as a Research Assistant at START was an invaluable opportunity to apply the skills I was gaining through my MPH in Epidemiology to large-scale projects in public and global health. It was also a welcoming and supportive environment for international students like myself. In addition to strengthening my research and policy skills, START provided hands-on training in leadership and project management that complemented and enhanced the academic coursework in my graduate program. The experience offered a multidimensional foundation that enriched my time at UW.”

Andrea graduated with her Master of Public Health with the Department of Epidemiology from the University of Washington.

MADALITSO KHWEPEYA, PhD, RNM, MSc

Madalitso had previously obtained Master’s and PhD degrees in nursing science from Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. Her work experience spans from core nursing clinical practice, where she held a deputy in charge of the maternity department position in Malawi for four years, to managing research projects in medical education at Chang Gung Medical Education Research Centre, Taiwan. Mada also has worked with I-TECH on a project that sought to evaluate two-way texting (2wT) as an effective follow-up intervention for males after voluntary circumcision. Her research experience and passion are in the use of quantitative epidemiological methods to find solutions to perinatal mental health in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Madalitso worked on eight projects during her two-year engagement with START, acting as the Project Manager for one of them.

Below are highlights from two of the projects Madalitso worked on:

• Immunogenicity: The START team conducted a rigorous literature review to better understand the impact of dose interval on immunogenicity in multi-dose vaccine regimens across and within vaccine platforms to inform the optimization of routine immunization schedules by improving efficacy, increasing coverage, and reducing cost.
• Charting the Transition from Culture to Molecular Surveillance Methods:The START team reviewed grey and published literature and interviewed subject matter experts to describe the history of progression from culture-based methods to molecular methods for public health surveillance for ten pathogens of public health importance in order to describe facilitators and barriers to progressing to newer molecular methods of surveillance.
  

Reflecting on her time with START, Madalitso said, “My time at START has been one of the most formative parts of my graduate experience. Being part of multidisciplinary teams, contributing to real-world global health projects, and having the opportunity to lead some of those projects significantly strengthened my research and leadership skills. Collaborating across diverse topics and disciplines also broadened my perspective on how public health research can drive meaningful change. I’m leaving START more confident, competent, and inspired to advance equity in global health.”

Madalitso graduated with her Master of Public Health with the Department of Epidemiology from the University of Washington.

MAYA LUBECK-SCHRICKER

Maya graduated with her Master of Science with the Department of Epidemiology from the University of Washington, After graduating from Tufts University in 2020 with a BA in Community Health, Maya worked as a research assistant at the Tufts School of Medicine investigating tuberculosis treatment dropout and medication adherence in India. In January 2022 Maya moved to Cap Haitian, Haiti to work on the research and innovation team of a container-based sanitation provider called SOIL that serves more than 2300 households in the city. Maya is particularly interested in the monitoring and evaluation of global health WASH and NTD interventions.

Maya worked on six projects during her two-year engagement with START, acting as the Project Manager for two of them.

Below are highlights from two of the projects Maya worked on:

• Shigella Burden in Latin America: The START team conducted a systematic review andmeta-analysis to synthesize the burden of Shigella diarrhea among children in the Americas region to inform vaccine research and development and regional policymakers. The team prepared a manuscript for submission to the Gates foundation pre-print server, VeriXiv, as well as for peer-review at PLOS NTD.
• Impact of Climate Change on Public Health in Humanitarian Settings, Recommended Adaptions: The START Center, in conjunction with the Emergency Response team within the Global Development division of the Gates Foundation, developed a comprehensive report that explores the escalating impact of climate change on public health in humanitarian setting and gives recommendations drawn from research for the climates adaptation strategies to prevent public health crises, focusing on Haiti, Ethiopia, and Pakistan. In particular, climate events and associated public health outcomes in nine low-and middle-income countries, the findings of which were then used to select narrowed focus on: 1) hurricanes and infectious diseases in Haiti; 2) drought and malnutrition in Ethiopia; and 3) flooding and infectious diseases in Pakistan.
  

Reflecting on her time with START, Maya said, “While at START I had the opportunity to lead and contribute to interdisciplinary projects that strengthened my skills in research, analysis, and strategic thinking. Working across teams and topics challenged me to become a more adaptable collaborator and effective communicator. The supportive environment and exposure to complex, real-world problems helped me develop both technical and soft skills that I’ll carry forward into the next stage of my career.”

Maya is the Director of Research and Innovation at a container-based sanitation provider operating in northern Haiti called SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods).

ABIGAIL MULUGETA

Abigail graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health- Global Health and a minor in Informatics in 2021. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she worked as a Student Data Extractions Analyst at the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, where she extracted and organized data from global health research on various topics for contribution to the annual Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Most recently, Abigail worked as a Research Fellow at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, where she researched methods of improving family planning counseling and follow-up in Ethiopia and Kenya. She volunteered with Path From Poverty as a Research Assistant, working to perform quantitative analyses of the efficacy of interventions implemented in rural Kenya to improve water quality and access. Her interests in global health are health program design, monitoring and evaluation; rural health; and sexual/ reproductive health.

Abigail worked on nine projects during her two-year engagement at START, acting as Project Manager for two of them. Below are highlights from two of the projects Abigail worked on:

• STIs as a Cause of Infertility in Sub-Saharan Africa: The START team conducted literature reviews of studies assessing the association between five key STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, T. vaginalis, M. genitalium, and syphilis) and both PID and infertility. Literature was also reviewed to identify the prevalence of infertility and the five key STIs as well as evidence of an association between PID and infertility directly. This series of literature reviews was used to generate data visualizations and a ranked list of the STIs in terms of importance and relevance for the Gates Foundation’s WHI PST strategy.
  
• Women’s Health R&D Workforce: The START Team conducted a published and grey literature review to identify gaps in the Women’s Health R&D workforce, focusing on sub- Saharan Africa. The aim is to highlight critical needs in research capacity, funding opportunities, and participation, aiming to enhance networks and research output in Women’s Health through targeted workforce development strategies.

Abigail graduated with her Master of Public Health with the Department of Global Health from the University of Washington.

These seven START graduates will continue to engage with START’s extensive alumni network, established in 2011. START often invites alumni to share their experiences after graduating from the training program at all-team meetings and, additionally, taps into the alumni network for content expertise on projects. The alumni network is comprised of highly skilled START graduate professionals employed in global health, business, and consulting across disciplines.