Announcing the 2020 Bloomberg Fellows

The Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health announces its 2020 cohort of Bloomberg Fellows, each drawn from an organization working on one of five critical health challenges facing the nation: addiction and overdose, environmental challenges, obesity and the food system, adolescent health, and violence.

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Fifty have been awarded full scholarships to earn a master of public health degree, and eight individuals have been selected to pursue a doctor of public health degree.

This year’s fellows hail from a wide array of organizations, including schools, advocacy organizations, food banks, police departments, and community health clinics. Examples include:

• Heartland Alliance, a Chicago-based organization that serves those who are experiencing homelessness, living in poverty, or seeking safety
• Center for Court Innovation, a New York-based nonprofit focused on reforms to the justice system
• Idaho Voices for Children, a state policy and advocacy organization
• The Gainesville, Florida, and Rapid City, South Dakota, police departments
• Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, whose collaborative research and education programs promote health and well-being in 69 tribes

The 2020 cohort, the program’s fourth, represents the largest number of states to date. It includes fellows and organizations spanning 27 states and the District of Columbia: Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

“We are thrilled to welcome this new class of Bloomberg Fellows to the School,” says Bloomberg School Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, ScM. “We look forward to equipping the fellows with the skills and knowledge to tackle some of America’s toughest health challenges.

“America was facing a disturbing decline in life expectancy even before Covid-19 hit, and now public health leadership and innovation are more critical than ever,” says Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies. “I’m glad to help welcome a new class of fellows to the best public health school in the world—and I thank them for making this commitment to such an important field.”

Launched in 2017, the Bloomberg Fellows program provides full scholarships for full- or part-time study. Fellows agree that upon completion of the program, they will work for their collaborating organization for at least one additional year.

The 2020 Bloomberg Fellows and their organizations are as follows:

MPH Fellows

Addiction and Overdose

Susan Buchholz - The Communities Project - Fitchburg, MA

Stephanie Busch - Vermont Department of Health - Burlington, VT

Lorne Carroll - Section of Public Health Nursing - Homer, AK

Mudit Gilotra - Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System - San Jose, CA

Jennifer Harlos - Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium - Anchorage, AK

Charles Hawthorne - Harm Reduction Coalition - Oakland, CA

Kathryn Humphries - Harm Reduction Action Center - Denver, CO

Michael Kennedy - CVS Health - Woonsocket, RI

Zachary Kosinski - Harford County Health Department - Bel Air, MD

Aisha Matthew - NYC Health + Hospitals - New York, NY

Robert Pitts - NYC Health + Hospitals - New York, NY

Matthew Salzman - Cooper University Hospital - Camden, NJ

Jerald Westberg - Hennepin County Medical Center - Minneapolis, MN

Adolescent Health

Victoria Adewumi - City of Manchester Health Department - Manchester, NH

Caitlin Buckingham - Furman University - Greenville, SC

Zachary Carey - Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School (Baltimore City Public Schools) - Baltimore, MD

Kinnari Chandriani - Get Healthy Philly - Philadelphia, PA

Alexis Charpentier - Hawaii Department of Health - Honolulu, HI

Katie Lu Clougherty - DC SCORES - Washington, D.C.

Logan Dennis - Idaho Voices for Children - Boise, ID

Rocio Carranza Jacinto - Cocoon House - Everett, WA

Wesley Jamison - MissionFit - Baltimore, MD

Miriam Perez - Peer Health Exchange - Chicago, IL

Martin Peters - Eckerd Connects - Clearwater, FL

Grace Ramsay - Tapestry - Florence, MA

Rebecca Spare - HealthCare Access Maryland - Baltimore, MD

Katy Stewart - Aspen Institute - Washington, D.C.

Alexis Wojtowicz - National Academies - Washington, D.C.

Environmental Challenges

Azita Amiri - University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) - Huntsville, AL

Rachael London - Neighborhood Design Center - Baltimore, MD

Julianah Marie - City of Frisco Environmental Services - Frisco, TX

Chantelle Mendonsa - Natural Resources Defense Council - Washington, D.C.

Jennifer Robohm - College of Health, University of Montana - Missoula, MT

Obesity and the Food System

Rene Begay - Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, University of Colorado - Aurora, CO

Maureen Best - Local Environmental Agriculture Project - Roanoke, VA

Emily Foxman - Urban Harvest - Houston, TX

Andrea Jacobson - Balance - Kansas City, MO

Tessa Mork - YMCA of Metropolitan Washington - Washington, D.C.

Marissa Silverberg - Jefferson County Public Health - Lakewood, CO

Katherine Thomsen - Avera Queen of Peace Hospital - Mitchell, SD

Jillian Tse - San Francisco-Marin Food Bank - San Francisco, CA

Paige Volpenhein - Star of the Sea Foundation - Key West, FL

Violence

Maria Beyer - Children’s Wisconsin - Milwaukee, WI

Cailin Crockett - Department of Defense Family Advocacy Program, Office of the Secretary of Defense - Arlington, VA

Eric Cumberbatch - Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice – New York, NY

Robert Fanelli - Gainesville Police Department - Gainesville, FL

Kathryn Ford - Center for Court Innovation - New York, NY

Quaila Hugh - Center for Court Innovation - New York, NY

Heidi Penix - Texas Center for the Judiciary - Austin, TX

Lydia Watts - Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center - University of Maryland, Baltimore - Baltimore, MD

DrPH Fellows

Addiction and Overdose

Jasmine Little - Mathematica - Princeton, NJ

Erin Russell - Maryland Department of Health - Baltimore, MD

Adolescent Health

Nicole Barnes - ICF International - Fairfax, VA

Kathryn Kaplan - Heartland Alliance - Chicago, IL

Environmental Challenges

Janie Cambron - Kentucky Department for Public Health - Frankfort, KY

Alfred May - Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention - Augusta, ME

Obesity and the Food System

Jana Goins - Baltimore City Health Department - Baltimore, MD

Violence

Don Hedrick - Rapid City Police Department - Rapid City, SD

Read the full bios of the Fellows and their organizations.