Student Spotlight: How is Ashlee Cermak Working to Reframe Our Understanding of Mental Health and Well-being?
#UMNMCH student Ashlee Cermak (MPH 2026) reflects on the experiences that led her to MCH and her internship with the collaborative Socio-Ecological Model of Mental Health and Well-being project. Ashlee conducted extensive literature reviews to identify environmental influences on mental health. She hopes that her work synthesizing and presenting this important mental health framework will lead to a broader understanding of the many factors influencing our mental health and well-being. Describing this research process, Ashlee wrote, “I worked closely with MCH alumni Paige Erickson and assisted with reviewing over 60 articles to synthesize findings, identify themes, and develop practice recommendations or action steps for public and mental health professionals.”
Student Spotlight: How did Bella Mualem’s Deployment with the Minnesota Vision Health Task Force Shape Her Interests in Health Organizational Leadership?
#UMNMCH student Bella Mualem (MPH 2025) describes her deployment with the Minneapolis Public Schools Early Childhood Screening Department and the Vision Health Task Force (MNVHTF). As a part of her deployment, Bella helped create awareness campaign materials to improve vision screening in Minnesota children. She also actively developed leadership skills to formalize training processes and create collaborative spaces where all team members are seen and heard. Bella writes, “Through my time with the MNVHTF, I learned about the unique epidemiology of vision health in Minnesota, specifically in Native populations. I also learned that trust is the glue to hold collaborations together, as well as the importance of skillful communication.”
Student Spotlight: How did Grace Armon Connect Her Geography Background with Maternal and Child Health with the Title V MCH Internship Program?
#UMNMCH student Grace Armon (MPH 2025) describes her time with the Title V MCH Internship Program through the National MCH Workforce Development Center. Her internship with the South Dakota Title V Division focused on analyzing community needs assessments. Grace’s background in geography and passion for place effects on health equipped her with the skills to apply demographic and geographic analysis to MCH populations. In Grace’s South Dakota Title V internship, she learned the “importance of treating the community as the experts, and how to think more critically about my role in public health.”
MCH Leads Blog: Evidence-based Interventions to Promote Healthier Pregnancies
Audrey Martinez, a PhD student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is March’s featured author of MCH Leads. In her blog entry, Audrey applies MCH Competency 4 (Critical Thinking) and Competency 8 (Honoring Lived Experience) to her dissertation. “This dissertation is just the beginning of my commitment to improving maternal and child health in Arkansas and beyond...The goal is to optimize maternal nutrition during pregnancy, giving children born to women with obesity a better start in life by improving the intrauterine environment and fostering healthier family nutrition practices.” Learn more about Audrey’s contributions here.
