2017-18 Graduate Students
Henning Ander
Henning is a graduate of Rollins College where he majored in mathematics. He has broad interests within medicine and hopes to tie in clinical research with the study of mental health. He hopes to combine his research interests in psychosocial, physical, and functional forms of medicine. Henning will work with Professor Dominique Béhague.
Simone Charley
Charley is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she double-majored in Psychology and Sociology. She is interested in researching mental health and how it intersects with criminality and race. In the MA program, she will work with Professor Derek Griffith.
Ryan Dal Degan
Dal Degan is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where he majored in MHS and minored in Psychology and Spanish. He is particularly interested in public health research and the emerging field of mental healthcare. He currently works in Professor David Schlundt’s lab within Vanderbilt’s Psychology department, where he assists with data analysis on a variety of research projects related to improving health outcomes through diet based interventions targeting SNAP recipients funded through the AARP. While in the M.A. program, he will work with Professor Derek Griffith
Ashley Ehlert
Ehlert is a graduate of of Clemson University where she majored in Biological sciences. Her two main interests include improving healthcare for veterans and continuing to improve global healthcare and policy. While in the M.A. program, Ehlert will work with Professor Laura Stark.
Maggie Mang
Mang is a graduate of Emory University where she majored in philosophy and biology. She has broad interests in critical health studies, philosophy and history of science and medicine, feminist studies, and biopolitics. While in the M.A. Program, she will work with Professor Aimi Hamraie.
Elizabeth Manning
Manning is a graduate of Oberlin College where she majored in Biology. Her research centers on how transgender people who do not identify as men or women navigate relationships with their health care providers. While in the MA program, she is working with Professor Hector Myers.
Meredith Mattlin
Mattlin is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she double majored in Medicine, Health & Society and Sociology and minored in film. She is interested in health disparities in urban environments and food deserts’ impact on health. While in the MA program, she will work with Professor Laura Stark.
Alexis Mundo
Mundo is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where he received a degree in Medicine, Health, & Society and Spanish. He is interested in pursuing a career in hospital administration, and will use the MA program to strengthen his understanding of the social foundations of health. Mundo will be working with Professor Jonathan Metzl.
Rebecca Rahimi
Rahimi is a graduate of California State University, Northridge where she majored in English literature. Her interests include the medical humanities and themes of identity, trauma and agency. She plans to pursue research in the fields of narrative medicine and mental health reform in minority populations. While in the MA program, she will work with Professor Kenneth MacLeish.
Beatríz Satizábal
Satizábal is a graduate of the University of Tennessee where she majored in Race & Ethnicity in the United States and minored in Leadership Studies. Her research interests are health disparities among Hispanics in the United States and the effects of migration on global health. She is interested in pursuing a PhD in global or population health sciences. While in the M.A. program, she will be working with Professor Hector Myers.
Lydia Simmons
Simmons is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she double-majored in Child Development and Medicine Health and Society. She is interested in researching health disparities in minorities as well as the effects of gentrification. In the MA program, she will work with Professor Jonathan Metzl.
Lauren Taylor
Taylor is a graduate of Clemson University, where she majored in Sociology. Her interests focus on the social determinants of mental health, and evaluating barriers in health policies and access to healthcare for individuals with mental or chronic illnesses. While in the MA program, she will work with Professor Tara McKay.
Kristin Troutman
Troutman is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health & Society and Spanish. She is interested in the effects that language barriers have on healthcare access and health outcomes, specifically within the Spanish-speaking population. While in the MA program, she will work with Professor Dominique Béhague.
Courtney VanHouten
VanHouten is a graduate of Belmont University where she majored in Sociology and Psychology. Her academic interests include the social foundations of knowledge, specifically the sociology of scientific knowledge, and the modern construction of mortality. Her current research explores the intersection of American medical culture and death and the dying process. While in the MA program she will work with Dr. JuLeigh Petty in the Center for Medicine Health and Society and Dr. Laurie Novak in the Department of Biomedical Informatics.