Dr. Benjamin Anderson and Dr. Jillian Pintye were both recently recognized by the Washington Global Health Alliance (WGHA) with a pair of awards. Winners were selected by a panel of global health experts chaired by Erin McCarthy, senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and WGHA board member. Anderson, a professor of Global Health, earned the Pioneers Award for Impact. Pintye, an Assistant Professor Global Health, received the Pioneers Rising Leader honor. 

Wednesday, June 12, 2019 marked the 12th Department of Global Health graduation since the department’s founding in 2007. This year’s celebration saw a record number of students, as 74 students received their degrees, up from last year’s total of 56. Of the 74 graduates in the Class of 2019, 62 received Masters in Public Health and 12 earned PhDs in Global Health Implementation Science, Global Health Metrics, or Pathobiology.

Mina Halpern’s interest in global health issues began when she worked as a peer educator at Planned Parenthood while attending high school in Olympia. She says this experience sparked a passion for the field of HIV, eventually leading her to the University of Washington, where she graduated with a Master’s in Public Health in 2006.

Preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission, conducting novel research on West Nile Virus, and developing better approaches to mental health are just some of the ways that UW global health students are already making positive health impacts locally, nationally and globally. Each year, the Department of Global Health recognizes graduating Master’s, PhD and medical  student scholars who are exemplary students and engaged leaders in global health.

This year’s awardees included Rabi Yunusa, who received the Global Health Outstanding Master’s Student award.