Category: Melenis Lopez

Welcome to Fall 2023 and Recognition of New Fall ERHD Graduates

It’s a brand new academic year at ECU and I want to WELCOME all the NEW ERHD graduate public health and medical professionals who have started our program this Fall!! By now, I hope you’re settling into our MPH 6007 Global Public Health course and recognize that it is an engaging online, asynchronous class in which students enjoy dialoguing about a wide variety of global public topics!

We are beginning our 13th year of operations and as Director of the Ethnic and Rural Health Disparities (ERHD) Graduate Certificate Online program, it gives me great pleasure to recognize our new Fall 2023 ERHD Graduates! They are: (1) Bryant Foriest, (2) Kaitlin Frey, (3) Bridget Gallagher, (4) Courtney Kirchner, (5) Melenis Lopez, (6) Parth Panchal, (7) Emily Parks, (8) Karen Semaan, (9) DJ Smith-Getchell, and (10) Latasha Stabler.

On our ERHD website, you can view all of their photos.

I also want to highlight the OUTSTANDING and very INSIGHTFUL CAPSTONE PROJECT/PROPOSAL titles of each of our new ERHD Graduates. Each Capstone Project/Proposal represents the totality of what each ERHD graduate learned in our ERHD program from the 4 courses.

  • Bryant Foriest – “How Mental Health Stigma and Attitudes inform African American Mental Health Utilization in North Carolina.”
  • Kaitlin Frey – “Applied Fieldwork: Incorporating Interprofessional Medical Facilities within Native American Reservations.”
  • Bridget Gallagher – “Dear Diary: Documenting Self-Efficacy of African American Youth with Sickle Cell Disease.”
  • Courtney Kirchner – “Swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Eastern North Carolina and the Associated Negative Health Outcomes for Rural African American Residents.”
  • Melenis Lopez – “How Racial Inequalities Impacts the Mental Health of Minority Children.”
  • Parth Panchal – “The Plight of African American Women and Their Infants.”
  • Emily Parks – “Addressing Health Disparities among Immigrants: Exploring Perceptions and Improving Access to Screening for Infectious Diseases.”
  • Karen Semaan – “Wholistic Maternal Fetal and Pediatric Support Project.”
  • DJ Smith-Getchell – “Investigating Potential Access Barriers to Emergency Medical Services in Rural Communities.”
  • Latasha Stabler – “Filling the Gap of Over-the-Counter Medical Supply Needs for High-Risk Populations: A Proposal.”