Student Spotlight

Three UTMB MD/MPH students were named 2025–2026 Albert Schweitzer Fellows. Their projects, tackling legal barriers to health and environmental injustice in Galveston, embody the SPPH mission of evidence-informed, community-driven public health practice.

At the Spring General Body Meeting, Dr. Mandy Hill shared decades of public health experience with SPPH students, blending wisdom with personal stories. Her guidance underscored how mentorship, authenticity, and informal connection shape the SPPH experience.

Field Notes: Truth Serum Edition gives students the mic—anonymously. In this one, a student sounds the alarm on Utah’s fluoride ban, calls out political short-sightedness, and urges public health pros in Texas to speak up before it’s too late.

UTMB's School of Public and Population Health closed out National Public Health Week with a powerful Service Day. Students volunteered at local nonprofits to fight food insecurity, support children, and gain firsthand public health experience in the community.

UTMB’s 2025 Public Health Symposium brought together 90+ poster presenters, a global health keynote by Dr. James Roth, and an awards ceremony honoring excellence in service, scholarship, and community impact.

UTMB students turned a day at the Capitol into real-world advocacy. From discussing public health policy with lawmakers to translating research into action, SPPH students are shaping the future of healthcare from within the legislative process.

Dr. Olivares presented on "Applying a Feminist Bioethics Lens to Enhance Evaluation of Addiction Recovery Programs for Pregnant and Post-Partum Women"

Carmen Hayes Presented on "Violent Legacies, New Threats: Protecting Black Motherhood in the Age of Artificial Womb Technology"

Lorenah Vasquez shared her poster "An Institution of Violence: Immigrant Detention Centers Further Reproductive Injustices Against Latines and Other Women of Color".

UTMB MD/MPH student Leonard Wang has been selected as a 2025 FASPE Medical Fellow, joining an international ethics cohort in Germany and Poland. Currently a Fulbright Scholar in Scotland, Wang continues to make a global impact in medicine, ethics, and public health.

As the EPA announces its largest deregulatory action in history, an SPPH student weighs in on the health consequences, environmental injustice, and the urgent role public health professionals must play in resisting these rollbacks.

Tiffany Bystra shared her poster on "Community and Social Service Organizational Roles in Mitigating Oncofertility Access Disparities".