Practicum and research empower this future public health leader

Mary Cunningham — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 00:28:03 +0000

Practicum and research empower this future public health leader Mary Cunningham Fri, 09/19/2025 - 20:28

�� master of public health (MPH) student Janell Addo-Boateng, MPH ’25, describes her practicum experience at Culture Care Collective as a launchpad into the public health field.

Janell Addo-Boateng, MPH '25, Photo provided.

“This experience helped solidify my interest in policy and program evaluation for maternal and community health, which is an area of interest I hold dear to my heart,” she explained. “I strengthened my skills in policy writing and stakeholder engagement, which are all important skills for working in public health policy and advocacy.”

For Addo-Boateng, a first-generation student who graduated in May, her practicum provided a strong foundation for a career in the public health field. She participated in research, evaluation, and communication initiatives at Culture Care Collective—a health equity program aimed at integrating community health workers into university and clinical environments to improve care for underserved populations. During her time with the collective, she wrote a policy brief and a case study, supported the design and analysis of qualitative data on program impact, and co-authored a manuscript summarizing her findings.

Beyond her practicum, Addo-Boateng worked as a graduate research assistant, supporting research led by CPH faculty Rochelle Davidson Mhonde and Michelle S. Williams on fertility desire among women living with HIV. The role allowed her to sharpen her writing, data analysis, and time management skills, while also learning how to communicate research findings to both academic and non-academic audiences.

In addition to supporting faculty-led projects, Addo-Boateng pursued her own research at George Mason, conducting a policy analysis for the March of Dimes on closing Medicaid postpartum care gaps and addressing maternal mortality disparities. She evaluated three policy approaches through the lenses of effectiveness, efficiency, and feasibility, with an emphasis on justice-oriented solutions, and presented her findings in testimony and peer presentations on how strategic policy changes could reduce costs, strengthen care coordination, and improve maternal health outcomes.

She further demonstrated her skills at the national level by participating in the 2025 National Case Study Competition in Health Education, where her team earned the silver award for their solution to address rising rates of sexually transmitted infection among young adults.

Janell Addo-Boateng, MPH '25. Photo provided.

“I learned how to put research into actionable policy tools that will resonate with diverse stakeholders,” explained Addo-Boateng. “I also learned how important it was to be adaptable, especially when working on interdisciplinary teams and navigating real-world timelines. In my case, I was completing full time studies as a graduate student, working on my research assistant position with my professor Dr. Rochelle Davidson Mhonde, and contributing to my practicum responsibilities.”

Addo-Boateng says she is incredibly grateful for the opportunities she had at the College of Public Health, especially the mentorship and hands-on experiences that helped bring everything together. She believes her time at �� has truly prepared her to step into the next phase of her career with confidence and clarity.

For fellow students, she offers this advice, “Choose a practicum that aligns with both your values and your long-term goals. Also, don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone, as it’s often where the most growth happens! Lastly, take initiative because from my personal experience, my practicum was a launchpad into getting experience in the public health field.”

Topics

MPH

Student Research

Master of Public Health

From zoonoses to mental health interventions, MPH student’s interdisciplinary research at Mason leads to CDC Fellowship

Mary Cunningham — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 18:46:17 +0000

From zoonoses to mental health interventions, MPH student’s interdisciplinary research at Mason leads to CDC Fellowship Mary Cunningham Thu, 08/03/2023 - 14:46

Ryan Shelton, a recent graduate of the ��'s Master of Public Health (MPH) program, accepted a full-time ORISE Fellow position at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. He is part of the Science Team in the Division of Emergency Operations where he works in the emergency preparedness sector preparing reports, interpreting data, and providing recommendations for CDC emergency response processes.

Ryan Shelton. Photo provided

Shelton credits the academic and research opportunities at Mason's College of Public Health for preparing him for this role.

“Mason's MPH program allowed me to gain experience with interdisciplinary research through the diverse classes offered as well as research assistantships like the one I had with Dr. Roess,” Shelton said.

During his program, Shelton worked as a research assistant under Mason researcher Amira Roess performing multiple studies surrounding zoonoses, diseases that can be passed between humans and animals. His primary assignment focused on infectious disease research about the mother-to-child transmission of specific bacteria in rural Bangladesh.

“The goal of this study was to examine bacteria levels in expecting mothers, their immediate households, and any animals they had contact with to determine how many samples of bacteria were in each mother before birth, and about six months after birth,” Shelton said.

In a separate survey-based study, Shelton also tracked human-deer interactions across Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Southern Maryland to determine risks of disease spread in urban areas.

“The goal of the deer-human interaction survey is to document where the deer are migrating and gain insight on their geographical placement in urban environments,” said Shelton. “This will help determine the risk of zoonotic disease spread between humans and deer in densely populated areas.”

Both studies necessitated Shelton to have an understanding of infectious disease, animal science, and geography, consistent with the public health practice of One-Health.

Under Roess’s tutelage, Shelton designed surveys, performed literature searches, conducted data analysis, and created figures to visualize data---many of which he is already using in his current role with the CDC.

Versatile communicable and chronic disease research skills

In addition to his work with zoonotic diseases with Roess, Shelton is completing research to address the mental health crisis afflicting public health workers across the globe with Project HOPE, a global nonprofit whose public health work includes improving access to mental health services for all populations.

Shelton recognizes the need to reduce the stigma associated with mental health so health care workers feel they can seek help.

“Prioritizing and normalizing mental health is highly important so the workers can share their concerns and be open to receiving treatment,” he said.

Shelton’s interdisciplinary work with Project HOPE integrates the fields of mental health, public health, sociology, and emergency preparedness and response. He is currently working on a resiliency training program to teach frontline health care workers coping mechanisms for high-stress situations.

“It is an unfortunate reality that health care workers do not often receive the mental health support they need in trying times,” Shelton said. “With Project HOPE, I am working on analyzing and improving a mental health and resilience training program that is implemented to address the mental health crisis for nurses, doctors, and other emergency responders around the world.”

Like his work with Roess, the data analysis and public health program evaluation skills he developed while in Mason’s MPH program have proven to be invaluable.

Mason students pursuing the MPH are instructed in the core public health competencies while also being exposed to the various fields where public health intersects with. Those concentrating in global health, like Shelton, are trained to promote public health worldwide, as well as prevent infections and chronic illnesses.

“I took many classes that exposed me to a variety of sub-fields within the public health sphere,” said Shelton. "Within the MPH global health concentration, courses covered a variety of topics including infectious diseases, human migration patterns, and even biostatistics, but most importantly, how these different areas come together in public health."

Learn more about our Masters in Public Health Program