Rachel Ward receives prestigious Boren Fellowship

Rachel Ward, MSW MPH Student

Rachel Ward, current MSW MPH student, has been awarded a prestigious Boren Fellowship to conduct Zika research in Brazil.

The Boren Fellowship is awarded through the National Security Education Program to graduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests. Per their website, "Boren Fellows represent a vital pool of highly motivated individuals who wish to work in the federal national security arena. In exchange for funding, Boren Fellows commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation."

Rachel says, "As a dual degree student in Public Health and Social Work with undergraduate degrees in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Spanish, this opportunity feels like a culminating experience that ties together a number of my academic and professional pursuits over the past eight years. With the much-appreciated help of many professors and colleagues, particularly Dr. Jane McPherson, who connected me with public health and social work professionals in Brazil (thank you, Dr. McPherson!!), I proposed a 6-month long research project in Recife, Brazil. My research concerns ways in which the United States can learn from Brazilian public health response systems to the Zika Virus and similar vector-borne diseases. I am also interested in ways in which social work organizations can provide systems of support during epidemics. As our climate continues to get warmer, I believe the United States will begin to experience more of these epidemics that Brazil and the rest of Latin America have been battling for ages. Through language acquisition and experience abroad, I am eager to be a part of the literal and figurative 'translation' of public health response systems between Latin America and the United States. 

This past year, I received a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship from the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute at the University of Georgia to study Portuguese and begin preliminary research to prepare for this opportunity. I did independent research with Dr. McPherson to study Brazilian health messages concerning the Zika virus. Through my research and personal interests, I have found many ways in which Brazilian health promotion can guide our own health messages in the United States. Once in Brazil, I will continue field observation of these messages, while also working with a team of researchers at a Brazilian university on the Zika response in Recife, Brazil. I also hope to partner with local non-profit organizations to provide support for mothers of babies with the congenital syndrome associated with Zika virus. I am interested in surveying the unique social and economic needs of these mothers affected by the Zika virus and research how the Brazilian healthcare system is responding to the medical needs of their children.

When I return, I hope to secure a job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in the field of Global Health or Maternal-Child Health, utilizing my Portuguese and Spanish language skills in a way that promotes global health security."

Congratulations, Rachel on this prestigious award!