Makala Carrington, left, and Shenazar (Shane) Esmundo 2022 American Public Health Association and Kaiser Permanente Community Health Scholars program. | Colorado School of Public Health
Makala Carrington, left, and Shenazar (Shane) Esmundo 2022 American Public Health Association and Kaiser Permanente Community Health Scholars program. | Colorado School of Public Health
The Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado announced that two doctoral students received scholarships.
Doctorate students Makala Carrington and Sheazar Esmundo were selected for the 2022 American Public Health Association and Kaiser Permanente Community Health Scholars program.
"[The scholarships] clearly illustrate the commitment of ColoradoSPH and our graduates toward equity-focused and social justice public health work," Dani Brittain, Ph.D., ColoradoSPH’s associate dean for Academic & Student Affairs, said."
Carrington comes from a military and public health family. She grew up in North Carolina near Fort Bragg Army Base, where her father retired after 20 years in the Army. Her mother worked in public health institutes for almost 20 years.
"That's the life I grew up with and wanted to continue," Carrington said. "I wanted to be in that space."
Carrington received a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Public Health, and is currently a Doctor of Public Health candidate in the Department of Community & Behavioral Health at Colorado SPH at CU Anschutz. She is also a U.S. Air Force officer.
“Public health pulled me in, and I wanted to learn more about it,” Esmundo said. “I was drawn in by its connections with real-world issues.”
Esmundo said she didn't know anything about public health prior to college.
She enrolled at California State University-Los Angeles, with a plan to become a nurse, but courses in public health changed her mind. She completed a Master of Public Health at California State-Northridge. She is now a Doctor of Public Health candidate in Community and Behavioral Health at ColoradoSPH – CU Anschutz.
Carrington and Esmundo are among the 19 candidates chosen for the competitive scholarships, which will cover tuition fees for graduates pursuing a DrPH or MPH, according to the Colorado School of Public Health.
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