MEET THE NEW START RESEARCH ASSISTANTS

 

 

The Strategic Analysis, Research, & Training (START) Center is thrilled to introduce the six newest team members joining the University of Washington and our Center this summer and fall. These talented graduate students will work closely with our current research assistants and faculty team.

 

 

 

HELENA ARCHER

Helena Archer is a first-year MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington. She received her bachelor’s degree in health policy and management at the University of North Carolina. While in school, she completed a hospital administration internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and worked as a research assistant in UNC’s Department of Social Medicine. She later joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Associate Program and spent two years assigned to the Coconino County Public Health Services District in Flagstaff, Arizona, working in maternal and child health and injury epidemiology. Most recently, as part of Global Health Corps, she has worked on technical systems strengthening as a Health Informatics Officer at Akros, a small non-profit, in Lusaka, Zambia.

 

 

MATT DRIVER

Matt Driver is an MPH student in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington. He holds a BS in Statistics from UCLA, where he provided analytical support on a variety of research projects focusing on health disparities in minority populations. After graduating, he worked as a health economics and outcomes researcher at Analysis Group, where he leveraged complex administrative claims data to assess cost-effectiveness, treatment patterns, and safety outcomes for emergent drug therapies. Through the firm’s pro bono practice, he also worked on various projects focusing on health outcomes for HIV+ mothers in Port au Prince. His interests include sexual and reproductive health, racial and ethnic health disparities, and LGBTQ health.

 

 

RACHEL FORST

Rachel Forst is a second year MBA Candidate at the Foster School of Business. She started her career working in advocacy and fundraising at the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington, D.C. and most recently worked as a consultant and project manager at Vera Solutions, building technology solutions for nonprofits. She has lived, worked, and studied in Rwanda, Jordan, Vietnam, and India. Post-MBA, she intends to pursue a career in management consulting, and eventually move back into the social impact space in a consulting or impact investing capacity.

 

 

 

AFA MALU

Afa Malu is a second year MBA Candidate at the Foster School of Business focusing on Marketing and Product Management. He started his career as a quality and manufacturing engineer at Leland International, a furniture manufacturing company based in Grand Rapids Michigan. Afa went on to join the Office for Nigerian Content Development, a governmental organization focused on writing and regulating policies and regulations to spur the Information & Communication Technology sector within Nigeria. Afa has a passion for technologies that have impact on a global scale and he hopes to work for an organization that demonstrates this impact. He welcomes ideas that challenge his way of thinking and broaden his knowledge. When he is not involved in school related activities, he enjoys spending his time playing soccer competitively.

 

 

BROOKS MORGAN

Brooks is a PhD student in the Epidemiology at the University of Washington.  Prior to enrolling at the UW, Brooks worked as a researcher for the Johns Hopkins Center for Global NCD Research and Training.  His work encompassed data analysis, programming, writing, student mentorship, and expert support for study implementation at the center’s international sites in Lima and Puno, Peru; Nakaseke, Uganda; and Bhaktapur, Nepal.  His interests are varied and include infectious disease, maternal/child health, climate change, and humanitarian emergencies.  He received his MSPH from the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he studied Global Disease Epidemiology and Control.

 

 

ANDREW SECOR

Andrew Secor is a Global Health Implementation Science PhD student in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. Since receiving his Master of Public Health in Global Health from the University of Washington, he has managed health system strengthening and community health worker evaluations in West and Southern Africa. Most recently, he worked as the Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor with JSI on an Ebola survivor program in Liberia. His research interests include health information systems, integrating community health strategies into formal health systems, and addressing mental health issues among vulnerable populations.