Students showcase research and community projects at annual Public Health Poster Forum

This year the college’s annual Public Health Poster Forum expanded to a new location, featured a panel discussion, and included more posters about student research and community service projects than ever before!

The college’s annual Public Health Poster Forum, organized entirely by students, for students, grew in many ways this year! A unique opportunity for students to showcase their research and community service projects, this year’s Forum was held in a new venue, the HSIB building, which gave it a new stature and increased visibility on the Health Sciences campus. In addition, the Forum hosted a panel discussion with faculty experts and featured more posters (more than 50) about student research and community service projects than ever before!

Organized entirely by public health students, the theme for this year’s poster forum was Data to Action: Public Health Climate and AI Innovation. In connection with the theme, we were honored to have a panel presentation from three of our MEZCOPH faculty, Dr. Chris Lim, assistant professor in Environmental Health Sciences, Dr. Onicio Leal-Neto, assistant research professor in Environmental Epidemiology, and Dr. Shravan Aras, assistant research professor in the School of Health Professions, and associate director of Sensor Analytics & Smart Devices Platforms with the UA Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics. The three panelists shared their experience and expertise on the role of AI technologies in the future of public health, with a focus on wearable sensor technologies, smart health platforms, digital epidemiology, and low-cost sensor innovations.

We want to thank all the students, donors, and partners who participated from the Zuckerman College of Public Health and around the University of Arizona. There was so much passion and dedication, and many innovative ideas!

Thank you to all the students who helped organize and produce the forum, and especially committee co-chairs Yva Luc, Kizil Yusoof, and Hannah Vu! Our Poster Planning Committee 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 poster forum judges, both faculty and public health professionals, for their participation and support!

You can see the full list of all our volunteer judges, as well as the poster presenters, staff, and faculty supporters, in the 2026 Poster Forum Booklet.

For the poster awards this year, Dr. Zhao Chen, Associate Dean for Research, presented the awards for research. Dr. Paloma Beamer, Interim Associate Dean for Community Engagement, presented the community engagement awards. Thank you Dr. Chen and Dr. Beamer for your continued support of student research and community projects! Congratulations to all the student award winners!

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