Welcome back!!

Welcome back MPH students!!!

With classes underway, it is important for you to get involved!
Please join us for our first MPHSO meeting of the year on Monday, September 14th at 7pm in the School of Nursing basement lounge- right after the public health administration class.

Come enjoy free food and get to know our current officers. Our meetings provide great ways for you to get to know your peers and to get involved in upcoming conferences and volunteer opportunities.

Until then... here is a little bit about our current MPHSO officers:

Rachel Frische, Co-President (rfrische@kumc.edu)

Rachel has a bachelor’s of arts in biology and liberal arts with a minor in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she was enrolled in the 6-year medical program. She is taking a hiatus from her medical doctorate to attain her MPH, which she began last June and plans to complete by December. After finishing her MD and MPH, Rachel aspires to utilize her public health and medical knowledge to become a highly effective community educator and physician at the primary care level of pediatrics and infectious disease.

Nikki Keene, Co-President (nckeene@ku.edu)

Nikki graduated from Wichita State University in 2007 with a bachelors of science in Health Services Management and Community Development. She entered into the joint MPH/PhD program at KU after undergraduate graduation. She has been working with the Work Group for Community Health and Development for two years supporting a variety of projects in Kansas and the Midwest. Projects include youth development, substance abuse prevention among adolescents, technical assistance/capacity development interventions and obesity prevention work in Nebraska. Nikki hopes to eventually work in community development to build healthy environments to reduce chronic diseases, specifically obesity.

Takela Fife, Vice-President (tfife@kumc.edu)

Crystal Boateng, Treasurer (cboateng@kumc.edu)
Crystal graduated from George Mason University in 2002 with a bachelors of science in Health Science. During her undergraduate final project she was “infected” with the Public Health bug by studying community health and working with the DC DOH. After graduation, she spent time working in clinics and with a health care reimbursement company. She knew she needed to get back in school and continue her education, so she decided to pursue her passion of public health. She is specifically passionate about community health and preventive interventions that utilize education and behavioral approaches.

Teresa Dailey, Secretary/Webmaster (tdailey@kumc.edu)
Teresa graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2005 with a degree in economics and peace studies. She spent a year in Baltimore supporting international relief and development programs with Catholic Relief Services, and two years buying food for international food aid with the US Department of Agriculture here in Kansas City. She is doing the MPH program part time and is interested in eventually working to improve international public health programs.