
12/6/2021
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health will recognize seven alumni for their outstanding service to the field of public health at a small awards ceremony tonight.
“If the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate change crisis have taught us anything, it’s that we are all members of one interconnected global society—what happens in one community impacts us all,” said Maureen Lichtveld, M.D., M.P.H., dean and Jonas Salk Professor of Population Health at Pitt Public Health. “The dedicated alumni I have the privilege of recognizing this evening are making positive differences in their communities, countries and the world. It is an honor that our school played a role in launching their remarkable careers.”

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nmaculada Hernandez, Pharm.D., Ph.D., class of 2016, will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award for Research in recognition of her extensive research and more than 80 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals. Hernandez, an associate professor at the University of California San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, recently received an R01 award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with cardiovascular disease. During the past year, Hernandez led a group of investigators evaluating geographic access to COVID-19 vaccine administration locations. Their analyses informed the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in medically underserved areas.






PHOTO INFO: (click images for larger versions)
CREDIT: John Scott
CAPTION: John Scott, Ph.D., A.M., director, Division of Biostatistics,Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration.
CREDIT: Inmaculada Hernandez
CAPTION: Inmaculada Hernandez, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate professor,University of California San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
CREDIT: Shauna Clark
CAPTION: Shauna Clark, Ph.D., inaugural diversity advisor to the Center for Cancer Research director at the National Cancer Institute.
CREDIT: Mary Beth Zeni
CAPTION: Mary Beth Zeni, Sc.D., M.S.N., associate professor at Ursuline College in the Graduate Nursing Program.
CREDIT: Alexandra Bhatti
CAPTION: Alexandra Bhatti, J.D., director of U.S. Vaccine Public Policy at Merck & Co.
CREDIT: Tushar Singh
CAPTION: Tushar Singh, Ph.D., M.D., M.S., regional advisor for the Field Epidemiology Training Program, Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CREDIT: Lyn Barry Robertson
CAPTION: Lyn Barry Robertson, Dr.P.H., M.S.N., R.N., associate director for health equity and community outreach and engagement at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.