Student Spotlight
Hello! My name is Aida Rodriguez, and I live in San Diego, CA. I have a traditional background in biology with a MS and BS in biological science. My research is in firefighter health and safety, and I have been a researcher and project manager for almost six years. Being in the firefighter health and safety field, occupational health and safety felt like the next logical step in my career. Interestingly, I began my public health journey during the middle of the pandemic, but when else would be a better time to start? I also teach human physiology as a professor at a local San Diego College. I love sharing my research and knowledge with students.
FAST FACTS
Name: Aida Rodriguez
Semester/Year Enrolled in DrPH: Fall 2020
Focus Track: Occupational Health
Hometown: North Hollywood, CA
Hobbies/Interests: I love to fish, travel, and spend time with my dog and fiancé. Creativity is important to me! My newest venture is working on my Esty shop.
Colleges attended and degrees: California State University San Marcos- B.S. in Biological Science and California State University San Marcos- M.S. in Biological Science
Dream job: Principal investigator for firefighter health and safety studies
Words to live by: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Research interests: Wildland Firefighter health and safety
Academic Advisor: Dr. Kearney
Where I’m working now: The Wildfire Conservancy
What I love about ECU: I love that I can continue to work at my current job and work towards my DrPH degree online while on the other side of the US.
Favorite DrPH class? PUBH 8125 Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology
What advice do you have for other DrPH students? There is no better time than now to gain the DrPH degree. Yes, it takes a lot of discipline and time management but if you want it bad enough and work hard enough, you will come out on top!
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Sinan Sousan published two journal articles related to secondhand electronic cigarette exposure
Dr. Sinan Sousan published two journal articles related to secondhand electronic cigarette exposure. The first paper titled “Laboratory Determination of Gravimetric Correction Factors for Real-time Area Measurements of Electronic Cigarette Aerosols” was published in the Journal of Aerosol Science and Technology. The paper quantifies electronic cigarette aerosol exposure in laboratory settings and determines correction factors for real-time optical sensors that can be used for similar settings to estimate exposure in real-life scenarios. The paper can be accessed through this link:
The second paper titled “Increased JUUL Emissions from Initial Puffs after Removing and Reinserting Pod“ published in the Journal of Chemical Research in Toxicology. The paper quantifies aerosol exposure of the popular electronic cigarette JUUL and demonstrates that real-life vaping behavior could generate more than ten times the aerosol exposure compared to standard puffing protocols. The paper can be accessed through this link:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.2c00017
Congratulations, Dr. Sousan!