Alexander Jenson
Master of Public Health degree candidate
Bachelor of Arts, Yale University
Majors: African Studies
United States
MPH: Epidemiology and Biostatistics, with special interest in infrastructure research in East Africa
What are your career goals?
I hope to use my MPH with my MD to advance health care infrastructure in East Africa, particularly in emergency, trauma, and pre-hospital settings. I want to improve pre-hospital care and reduce traumatic injuries in developing nations through practice, research, and scholarship.
What sparked your interest in global health?
My desire to work in public health, particularly in East Africa, began in the summer of 2000, when a family trip to northern Tanzania changed my life. In Arusha I was fascinated by the cultural differences I observed which illuminated aspects of my own culture, and I knew that the daily hardships of these people demanded action on my part.
How do you see yourself making a difference in public health because of the Global Health Scholarship?
The Global Health Scholarship, and an MPH from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, will enable me to accomplish two goals: in the short term it will give me the tools and mentorship to examine and expand my current research with faculty at the school, and it will most importantly provide essential tools for my future career in public health research. This will enable me to act on my conviction that research carried out in the developing world demands the same degree of intellectual rigor as that of major research institutions in tertiary care centers in the United States.
Who inspires you and why?
I am indebted to my research mentors: the tireless work of Dr. Kaveh Khoshnood at Yale and Dr. Sheila West at Johns Hopkins to improve the well-being of people in developing nations has provided a model for me. In addition, I am constantly inspired by my father, who was similarly changed by that trip in the summer of 2000 and has become the president of Growth Through Learning, an organization that provides scholarships for needy girls to go to secondary school in East Africa. Finally, the numerous interactions I have had with individuals in Kenya and Tanzania have taught me that inspiration does not have to be derived from academic success, but that the merits and morals of one’s actions are what deserve recognition.