2021-22 Graduate Students
Odalys Arbelaez
Odalys Arbelaez is a graduate of Drew University, where she majored in Biology and French. Her research focuses on connecting healthcare policy to issues related to health inequity and healthcare disparities. While in the M.A. program, Odalys will work with Professor Gilbert Gonzales.
Brenna Atkins
Brenna is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor JuLeigh Petty.
Kell Coney
Kell Coney is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where he majored in Medicine, Health, and Society. While in the M.A. program, he will work with Professor JuLeigh Petty.
Jessica Creedon
Jessica Creedon is a graduate of Boston College, where she majored in Neuroscience and minored in Management and Leadership. Jessica’s research interests include emotional and traumatic memory, environment-gene interactions and mental illness, and the psychophysiological response to stress. While in the M.A. program, Jessica will work with Dr. Kenneth MacLeish.
Anyssa Francis
Anyssa Francis is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society with a minor in Chinese Language and Culture. Anyssa’s current research focuses on the public health implications of cognitive impairments associated with Chemotherapy treatment and the potential reversal of impairment with brain training activities. While in the MHS MA program, she will work under the guidance of Dr. Kenneth MacLeish.
Lauren Gaither
Lauren Gaither is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society with Honors and double minored in German and Biological Sciences as a Chancellor’s Scholar. Her research focuses on examining the effect of various forms of healthcare marketing in different communities, including direct to consumer prescription marketing, billboards, and placement of advertisements. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Dr. Lucie Kalousová.
Phoenix Gandy
Phoenix Gandy is a graduate of Tennessee State University, where she majored in health science with a concentration in public health. Her research analyzes African American attitudes towards dental care to understand structural and personal barriers that prevent or discourage good oral health. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Dr. Hector Myers.
Madison Goldsborough
Madison Goldsborough is a graduate of Hampton University, where she majored in Psychology with a concentration in Pre-Medicine. Her current research interests are centered around health disparities that affect marginalized communities. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor Kirsty Clark.
Emily Halvorson
Emily Halvorson is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she majored in psychology and Spanish. Emily’s research interests fall under the umbrella of health psychology and include topics such as adverse childhood experiences and resilience, to microaggressions and health sequelae. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor Dominique Béhague.
Madiya Harriott
Madiya Harriott is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society as well as Child development and minored in Psychology. Madiya’s research focuses on organizational empathy and how that concept impacts burnout effects in employees. While in the M.A. program, Madiya will work with Professor JuLeigh Petty.
Aaron Hunt
Aaron Hunt completed his undergraduate work at Vanderbilt majoring in Political Science and Medicine, Health, and Society while minoring in Sociology. His research interests include minority health outcomes, legal scholarship, and minority identity in predominantly white spaces. During the M.A. program, Aaron will be working with Dr. Danielle Picard.
Myra Konte
Myra Konte is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health and Society. Her research interests center around intersectionality, critical race theory and social activism. While in the MHS 4+1 program, she will work with Professor Celina Callahan-Kapoor.
Dionne Lucas
Dionne Lucas is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University, where she majored in Mass Media Arts with a concentration in Public Relations. Her research focuses on building trust between communities of color and the healthcare system. While in the MA program, she will work with Jonathan M. Metzl.
Ashley Mullen
Ashley Mullen is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she majored in History and Medicine, Health, and Society. Her research focuses on healthcare policy and the impact of the ACA on individuals with preexisting conditions. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor Tara McKay.
Esther Park
Esther Park is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society with a minor in Psychology. She currently has interest in researching the health disparities in physical therapy in application to structural competency. While in the M.A. program, she will be working with Professor Danielle Picard.
Karrie Raymond
Karrie Jane Raymond is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society with a minor in Cognitive Studies. Karrie was the 2020 recipient of the Walther Award for VUcept Excellence (WAVE) in the Diversity Awareness category and the 2021 recipient of the Dr. Dorothy Wingfield Phillips Award for Leadership for her contributions to Vanderbilt’s Caribbean Students Association. Ultimately, Karrie is interested in researching topics centered on promoting health advocacy and health education programs for marginalized populations, more specifically within Black and Indigenous populations. During her time in the M.A. program, Karrie will work with Dr. Tara McKay.
Isabella Schafer
Isabella is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society. She hopes to center her research around the impact of telemedicine on the physician-patient interaction. During her time in the M.A. program, she will be working with Professor Danielle Picard.
Milan Severino
Milan Severino is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society with a minor in Psychology. Her current research centers on developing community-based interventions for childhood obesity in underserved populations. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor Aimi Hamraie.
Grace Smith
Grace Smith is a graduate of Duke University, where she studied neuroscience with minors in psychology and religion. She is broadly interested in the historical and social/biopolitical development of psychiatric diagnoses, particularly mood-, grief-, and stress- related disorders. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor Laura Stark.
Glory Stanton
Glory Stanton graduated from the University of Utah where she majored in Health Promotion and Education (Provider-Health) and minored in Sociology. Her research interests include focusing on the intersections and legal policies between racial health disparities, bioethics, and human rights law. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Dr. Jonathan Metzl.
Catherine Terrace
Catherine Terrace is a graduate of Trinity University, where she majored in Anthropology with a minor in Political Science. Her research focuses on disability justice, architecture, and critical access studies. While in the M.A. program, she will work with Professor Aimi Hamraie.
Spencer Turney
Spencer Turney is a graduate of the University of Memphis where he majored in Journalism and Public Relations. His research interests center on the role of news in civil society, with specific focus on media consumption and psychology, public health, and risk communication. He hopes to combine his research with his professional experience in media relations. While in the M.A. program, he will work alongside Dr. Jonathan Metzl.
Amira Vivrette
Amira Vivrette is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society, and Sociology and minored in Human and Organizational Development. She has interests in racial and ethnic health disparities and health justice. Amira hopes to combine her research interests to investigate access to care and health outcomes for vulnerable populations. While in the M.A. program, Amira will work with Professor JuLeigh Petty.
McKenzie Yates
McKenzie Yates is a graduate of Vanderbilt University class of 2017, where she majored in Medicine, Health, and Society with a concentration in health and behavioral science and minored in African American & Diaspora studies. McKenzie’s research focuses on mental health disparities, specifically within the diagnostic structure, in minority communities. While a member of the MHS 4+1 program, she will be working alongside Professor Laura Stark.