The Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW) at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) has selected six students as Class of 2024 Health Scholars. All of them will receive financial support for travel and research to pursue internships and senior thesis research that relate to domestic and international health care and health policy.

A small group of juniors is selected for the program annually through a rigorous application process focusing on both academic performance and plans for work and research on health policy issues.

“These students represent Princeton University’s best and brightest scholars in the field of global health,” stated Gilbert Collins, Director of Global Health Programs.

Scholars are supported for two years, engaging in fully funded health-related internships or independent research during the summer following junior year and then writing senior theses with a health policy dimension. They may also participate in health policy seminars and lectures, broadening their understanding of global health challenges while interacting with distinguished speakers and visitors. 

The Health Scholars initiative is part of CHW’s Global Health Program (GHP), which offers the opportunity for undergraduates to earn a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy while exploring the world’s most pressing health issues through academic study, innovative research, and experiential learning.

Meet the Class of 2024 Health Scholars:

• India Behl, a SPIA concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate, plans to study how adverse and positive childhood experiences can impact outcomes in adulthood, physically and socially. She hopes this research will demonstrate how these lasting consequences affect the health care system and will therefore contribute to the development of upstream interventions.
• Alaina Joby, a SPIA concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate, plans to study antimicrobial resistance (AMR), possibly examining the similarities and differences of AMR responses associated with tuberculosis and leprosy. She is interested in studying how policy could facilitate a streamlined care plan in South America, a continent that suffers acutely from both diseases.
• Ive Jones, a Politics concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate, plans to explore the impacts of homelessness on public health outcomes. She plans to explore health burdens placed on this vulnerable population, such as higher risk of communicable disease infection, violence, mental illness, and chronic health conditions.
• Julia King, a Politics concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate, plans to examine why certain Southern states legislate gun ownership for domestic violence offenders while others do not, and how lawmakers could overcome issue ownership to pass widely supported legislation. She hopes that her research will help to address the seemingly unsolvable public health crisis of gun violence, particularly in situations of domestic violence.
• Bella Moscoe, a SPIA concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate, is interested in factors that influence a country’s willingness to adopt universal health coverage and the success of those efforts. Specifically, she would like to study how public sentiment can impact the speed in which health legislation is passed and the effects such policy has on a population
• Kennedy Walls, an Anthropology concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate, plans to examine the relationships between global health and humanitarian aid by drawing on her work with refugee populations in health settings. She will explore how research can uplift voices of marginalized migrants excluded from aid structures and distribution.

The Center for Health and Wellbeing is an interdisciplinary center within SPIA, which seeks to foster research and teaching on the multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in both developed and developing countries.