Meet the Impact Scholars

Sylvia Akpene Takyi's global work focuses on environmental epidemiology, with interests in the impact of air pollution on metabolic health and how nutrition can help ameliorate adverse outcomes in resource-poor settings. Her work at the center is focused on mitigating toxic exposures in e-waste communities in Ghana.

U-M Mentor team: Jaclyn Goodrich (Public Health), Heidi Hauserman (SEAS), Marie-Anne Rosemberg (Nursing)

Érinn C. Cameron is a clinical psychologist specializing in global perinatal mental health and environmental determinants of health. She completed her doctoral clinical residency in Integrated Behavioral Health at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and postdoctoral training as an HBNU NIH Fogarty Global Health Fellow and T32 Global Psychiatry Clinical Research Fellow at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center. Her work integrates clinical psychology, global health, and urban planning through mixed-methods and community-based participatory research. In collaboration with partners across Latin America, she studies how climate-related stressors, particularly water insecurity and extreme heat, impact perinatal mental health, birth outcomes, and health equity. She is also a member of the Heat, Health, and the Built Environment research team at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

U-M Mentor team: Ana Paula Pimentel-Walter (Architecture and Urban Planning), Carina Gronlund (ISR), Gabriel Harp (Architecture and Urban Planning), Marie O'Neill (SPH)

Elizabeth Ludwig-Borycz's global work focuses on climate change and the linkages between climate variability and nutrition. Trained as a nutritional epidemiologist, she explores the disproportionate impact of food systems on health outcomes, especially in vulnerable communities. Ludwig's work at the center is investigating how environmental and nutritional stressors during pregnancy can affect newborns and their futures in Bangladesh and Ghana.

U-M Mentor team: Joe Eisenberg (Public Health), Cheryl Moyer (Medicine), Sue Anne Bell (Nursing), Ana Baylin (SPH) 

Melvin Obadha holds a DPhil in Clinical Medicine (Health Economics and Health Policy) from the University of Oxford and was an Initiative to Develop African Research Leaders (IDeAL) PhD fellow at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme. His research examines how climate change is affecting the health of pastoralist communities in dryland regions of Kenya.

U-M Mentor team: Bilal Butt (SEAS), Omolade Adunbi (LS&A), Heidi Hausermann (SEAS), Geoffrey Siwo (Medicine)

Lauren Ward recently completed her PhD in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding environmental impacts on children's health within the Chitwan Valley Family Study in Nepal. As an Impact Scholar, she is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration that translates research into practical solutions for real-world health challenges in global settings.

U-M Mentor team: Emily Treleaven (ISR), Bill Axinn (ISR), Dirgha Ghimire (ISR), Sabine Loos (Engineering), Chuanwu Xi (SPH), Amy Buckenmyer (Nursing)

Baeza Robba's global work focuses on promoting help-seeking behaviors and access to healthcare for women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Her work at the center explores barriers related to help-seeking that sub-Saharan African university students experience when they encounter intimate partner violence. Baeza Robba is currently an assistant professor of nursing at Pontificia Universidad Católica De Chile.

U-M Mentor team: Michelle Munro-Kramer (Nursing), Lisa Fedina (Social Work), Elizabeth King (Public Health)  

Martinez-Folgar's global work focuses on chronic disease epidemiology and its intersection with urban environments in Latin America. Through the lens of multilevel and geospatial analysis, Kevin aims to identify and address healthcare access limitations and promote preventive measures through policy, especially in underserved communities. Martinez-Folgar is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Metabolic Branch at the National Cancer Institute.

U-M Mentor team: David Flood (Medicine), Larissa Larsen (Architecture & Urban Planning), Lindsay Kobayashi (Public Health), Elliott Tapper (Medicine)

Lee joined the inaugural cohort of Impact Scholars after earning her PhD from the University of Michigan School of Nursing, where she researched the effectiveness of microfinancing programs in improving healthcare access for pregnant women. As an Impact Scholar, she worked with rural communities in Uganda to enhance healthcare governance and accountability and studied how microfinance participation affected women’s decision-making, empowerment, and health. Lee is currently a faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Nursing.

As an Impact Scholar, Rego worked with colleagues to study the impact of data science on health equity and to better understand drivers of vaccine hesitancy globally, with a focus on displaced populations in Bangladesh and Kenya. Following his Impact Scholar appointment, Rego went on to join the organization Social Impact as a research manager, supporting global development organizations and programs to be more effective at improving people’s lives.

Espira was part of the inaugural cohort of Impact Scholars, where his global work centered on defining cross-disciplinary impact and creating environmental metrics for impact evaluation. After his time as an Impact Scholar, he joined Gradient Environmental and Risk Sciences Consulting in Seattle, Washington.

As an impact scholar, Siddika's research focused on on utilizing greenspace as a strategic intervention to combat climate change-induced adverse pregnancy outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. Her work not only highlighted the potential of greenspaces to improve maternal and child health but also laid the groundwork for implementing sustainable environmental solutions in resource-limited settings. Following her tenure as an impact scholar, Siddika joined the faculty at Lincoln Memorial University's School of Dentistry.

Sharma joined the inaugural cohort of Impact Scholars after completing his doctoral studies in development economics, where he explored the intersections of health and education to improve outcomes for marginalized populations. As an Impact Scholar, he contributed to the Chitwan Valley Family Study in Nepal, focusing on how integrated development approaches can influence long-term health and educational trajectories. He is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Social and Environmental Research – Nepal (ISER-N) and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS).

U-M Mentor team: Bill Axinn (LSA/Sociology), Emily Treleaven (ISR), Dhirga Ghimire (ISR), Cheryl Moyer (Medicine)

Heather Tucker's global work focuses on feminist ethnography and participatory research with persons with diverse sexual orientation, gender identities and expressions and sex characteristics in sub-Saharan Africa. As an Impact Scholar, she contributed to feminist participatory research initiatives in Kenya, with a focus on intersectional data and advancing social equity in public health. She will soon begin a postdoctoral fellowship with the Traineeship in AIDS Prevention Studies (TAPS) program at the University of California, San Francisco, where she will continue to build expertise in community-engaged HIV prevention research.

U-M Mentor team: Gary Harper (Public Health), Kristi Gamarel (Public Health), Lynae Darbes (Nursing), Ashley Lacombe-Duncan (Social Work), K Rivet Amico (Public Health)