Compelling Student Research Presented at the 2025 Public Health Poster Forum
Students presented their research and community engagement projects at the annual 2025 Public Health Poster Forum, a student-run showcase for research, and some earned scholarship prizes for their outstanding work in public health and related health fields.
Many students responded to the call for the annual 2025 Public Health Poster Forum (PHPF). The event is organized entirely by public health students, and the theme for this year’s PHPF was Building Resilient Communities: Public Health Strategies for the Future. The poster display room was packed with students presenting to faculty and visiting public health professionals about their creative solutions to public health challenges.
We want to thank all the students who participated from the Zuckerman College of Public Health and from around the University of Arizona, there was so much passion for positive change in the room!
We were honored to have Del Yazzie, MPH, as the keynote speaker for the Forum. Del serves as the director and senior epidemiologist for the Navajo Tribal Epidemiology Center. His work focuses on leading the Navajo Nation’s disease surveillance efforts, putting science and data into action to help Navajo communities stay healthy. He also serves on the Navajo Tribal Institutional Review Board and CDC and NIH Tribal Advisory Committees. Thank you, Del, for sharing your public health insights and wisdom!
Thanks to all the students who helped to organize and produce the Forum, and especially committee co-chairs Oluchi Kanma-Okafor and Dulce Jimenez! Our students did an outstanding job producing the Forum this year! Also big thanks to staff mentors Lyn Duran, Courtney Faryab, and Michael Tearne, and to the faculty mentors Dr. Sheila Soto and Dr. Refugio Sepulveda for all their help! We further very much appreciate the time, care, and expertise of all the judges, both faculty and public health professionals, for their participation and support!
You can see the full list of all the poster presenters, staff and faculty supporters, and our volunteer judges from both inside and outside the university in the 2025 Public Health Poster Forum Booklet.
For the poster awards this year, Dr. Zhao Chen, Associate Dean for Research, presented the awards for research, and Dr. Paloma Beamer, Interim Associate Dean for Community Engagement, presented the community engagement awards. Congratulations to all the student award winners!
Below we celebrate the winners of the 2025 Public Health Poster Forum awards.
Community Engagement Awards
First Place
Jillian McFarland
MPH student in Health Behavior Health Promotion
Project: Parks for all Accessibility in Motion: Inclusivity for Deaf Communities
Using a community assessment approach, McFarland investigated ways to improve accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals at Saguaro National Park, and to develop a replicable model for other national parks.
Other authors: Cam Juarez, Stephanie Hernandez, Audrey Zelinka
Second Place
Lazaro Ruiz
Online MPH student in Applied Epidemiology
Project: Innovations in HIV Testing and Engagement Among Hispanic Population
To improve HIV screening in Hispanic communities, Ruiz worked with the college’s Mobile Health Unit and found positive results by including HIV as part of a status-neutral comprehensive screening approach that destigmatized HIV testing.
Third Place
Brooke McKalip
BS in Public Health student
Project: Particulate Matter 2.5 Exposure of Unhoused Individuals in Tucson
Working with individuals experiencing homelessness (IEH), McKalip surveyed air quality using portable monitors and evaluated IEH exposure to fine particulate matter which has well-documented negative health effects.
Research Awards
First Place
Lady Dorothy Elli
MPH student in Global Health
Project: Tuberculosis Stigma and Healthcare Burdens in Indonesia: A Qualitative Analysis
Using a qualitative research design, Elli surveyed tuberculosis (TB) patients and healthcare workers in Indonesia to understand cultural stigma around TB and the challenges experienced by care providers, gathering data to improve treatment adherence and long-term public health outcomes.
Second Place
Gabriela Fragozo
BS in Neuroscience student
Project: Investigating G3BP1 in the cGAS-STING Signaling Pathway
To better understand ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), a fatal neurodegenerative disease, Fragozo investigated the cGAS/STING neural pathway associated with ALS inflammation.
Third Place
Royani Saha
PhD student in Environmental Health Sciences
Project: The Hygienic Scholar: The Science of Keeping Study Spaces Clean
To evaluate spaces where students study, such as libraries and university workspaces, Saha analyzed fomite-mediated microbial contamination on surfaces and evaluated the most effective hygiene interventions.