Meet the Fellows!

Here is a short introduction to each fellow and their upcoming project:

Jill Lebov, Graduate Student, jlebov@email.unc.edu

Collaborative Sahsa health initiative

Jill is a Master of Science in Public Health/ Doctoral Candidate in Epidemiology. As the Public Health Leader for the Collaborative Sahsa Health Initiative (CSHI), she will travel with a team of 10 UNC medical, public health, nursing and geography students to a rural underserved region in eastern Nicaragua. In collaboration with students and faculty from the University of Nicaragua - Leon (UNAN), the team will work to improve local health infrastructure (including provision of medical supplies), collect epidemiological data, and begin to implement basic health improvement projects in the area. Due to the region's isolation and sparse population, little information is available about the health status and needs of the area. Thus, it is important to continue gathering data on topics such as reproductive health, vaccination, and diarrheal disease which can be used to inform future targeted health interventions.

Rebekah Macfie, Graduate Student, rebekah_macfie@med.unc.edu

Presumptive HIV diagnosis and point-of-care p24 testing in hospitalized Malawian children

A first year medical student, Rebekah Macfie, will use her fellowship to investigate a new test to detect HIV in the new born children of HIV-positive mothers in Lilongwe, Malawi. Traditional HIV tests cannot be used until children are 18 months old, as new born children still have their mother’s circulating antibodies. This new test, the p24 assay, will be used to determine newly-delivered children’s serostatus before they leave the hospital so that HIV-positive children can be immediately started on antiretroviral treatment.

Morgan Abbott, Undergraduate, mabbott@email.unc.edu

Carolina for Amani

A sophomore, International Studies and Religious Studies major, Morgan will implement Carolina for Amani, which is designed to utilize college interns to update adoption files and psychosocial reports, as well as convert them to an electronic format, in conjunction with the New Life Home Orphanages in Kenya. This will allow each of the 350 children in the New Life Homes to be eligible for adoption sooner while making the adoption process more efficient, accessible, and safe.

Santiago Beltran, Undergraduate, sbeltran@email.unc.edu

Fondo de Apoyo Comunitario

A first-year student in Pre-Business Administration and Public Policy, Santiago will partner with Lemonade International, the Community Empowerment Fund and Fundacion Micros to pilot a transitional microfinance initiative, El Fondo de Apoyo Comunitario (FAC: the Community Empowerment Fund) in La Limonada, one of Central America’s largest urban slums located in Guatemala City. FAC will seek to alleviate the poverty experienced by the people of La Limonada by empowering them through income-generating microloans and entrepreneurship workshops. FAC loans will be the base of a program that motivates borrowers to gain higher incomes and build assets to eventually integrate them into independent banking and the formal economy.