Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health

Students

Public Health Doctoral Student Biographies

Amarilis Cespedes

Amarilis Cespedes is fifth year doctoral candidate in the public health program. She was born and raised in New York City. Amarilis earned her B.A. in English at Haverford College, with a concentration in Latin American & Iberian Studies. In 2006, she earned her MPH at Columbia University's Mailman School of public health with a concentration in Health Promotion. Her research interests include Latino and immigrant health, particularly in relation to sexual and reproductive health, and obesity outcomes. Currently, she's working on her dissertation proposal to examine the relationship between acculturation and asthma outcomes among Latinos.

Maggie Giorgio

Maggie Giorgio is a second year doctoral student in the public health program. Maggie grew up in Acton, Massachusetts and earned her BA in political science and philosophy from Boston College. In 2009, she earned her MPH from the Population and Family Health department at the Mailman School of Public Health in Columbia University, with a concentration on sexual and reproductive health. Her research interests include HIV and STI prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly as it relates to social networks and women's agency. Currently, she is working on a project that is focused on the link between education disruption and health outcomes among young Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa.

Donovan Jones

Donovan Jones, a California native, received both an M.A. in Music History and Theory and a B.S. in Environmental Science with a minor in LGBT Studies from University of California at Riverside. He completed MPH in Global Public Health with a concentration in Global Health Policy and Management from New York University. Mr. Jones is currently the Director of Recruitment and Community Relations for the Project 18 syndemics study of young men who have sex with men at the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies at Steinhardt. His research interests include HIV, sexuality and health, and the intersections between the social sciences and public health.  

Shilpa Patel

Shilpa Patel is a third year doctoral student in Public Health in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health. Shilpa is originally from New Jersey, and earned her BS from Rutgers University with a double major in Public Health and Psychology. In 2007, she earned her MPH from Columbia University, with a concentration in Effectiveness and Outcomes Research. Shilpa is interested in research that evaluates how health services and policies affect health outcomes, particularly among vulnerable populations. Currently, she is finishing up her coursework and is working on her dissertation proposal which focuses on how variations in Medicaid affect racial and ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes.

Maggie Paul

Maggie Paul is a third year doctoral candidate in the public health program.  Her dissertation research is on the population health effects of local health department resource disparities in the US.  Ms. Paul's broader interests include estimating the impact of public health laws and programs.  Prior to joining NYU, she earned her MS in bioethics, policy and law from Arizona State University and worked as a data analyst at the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Office of Epidemiology.

Jenny Uyei

Jenny Uyei is a fifth year doctoral candidate in the public health program. Her dissertation research focuses on examining the influence of integrated Tuberculosis and HIV/antiretroviral programs on service delivery and patient outcomes in Cape Town, South Africa. Ms. Uyei's interests include global health, health services, program evaluation, TB, and HIV and health disparities. She received her MPH at the University of California, Los Angeles and BS at Boston University.