A Call to Action

The SSAINTS Program is a team of current Tulane students who are working to ensure the health and well-being of an underserved and vulnerable population group, the Vietnamese American older-adults residing in the New Orleans.

During the height of New York City’s COVID-19 outbreak, when confirmed cases were rising by thousands per day, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was transformed into a field hospital to serve as relief. Northwell Health sent a team of administrators and clinicians to lead operations. Taylor Klavans (BS ‘11, MHA ‘13), director of Northwell Health's consulting division, was a member of that team and oversaw the military outreach missions.

Catherine R. Counts (BS ‘11, MHA ‘13, PhD ‘17) is an Acting Instructor in the University of Washington Department of Emergency Medicine, as well as the Research and Quality Improvement Manager for Seattle Medic One, the EMS arm of the Seattle Fire Department.

Sarah Perou Hermans, MD/MPH Candidate, Class of 2021, and Bridget Dixon, MPH Candidate, Class of 2021 have been collaborating with the DePaul Community Health Center network investigating how the mental health of patients has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to assess related health disparities and social determinants of health.

Mayanka Mahendran, a Tulane MD/MPH student, conducted her practicum remotely with a team of public health individuals working with DePaul Community Health Centers and was involved with improving the new DePaul Health Centers telehealth interface.

Callie Kennedy, MD/MPH Candidate, Class of 2021, has been collaborating with the Daughters of Charity clinic network and more broadly the DePaul Community Health Center network looking at the presenting symptoms of COVID-19 positive patients in this primary care setting.

Affiliates with the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Newcomb Institute and College, and the School of Medicine provided hygiene products, gowns, and masks to the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. Story from Lauren Nguyen, MD/MPH Candidate 2023 and Formerly Incarcerated Transitions Clinic case manager

Laura Scott, Ph.D. student at Tulane's SPHTM was written about in Citizen Potawatomi Nation for her current studies of wastewater to gain a greater understanding of how COVID-19 can live and spread and for volunteering as an epidemiologist for the City of New Orleans at the pandemic’s onset.

Latasha Allen (SPHTM Alumna), I am currently a disaster epidemiologist with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and an environmental health officer on duty with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Jenny Hixon (SPH alumni, MPH ‘06), I am the Violence Prevention Manager for the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

Joanne Casarella (BSPH 2011), City Research Scientist in the Office of School Health at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

James Falasca, MPH&TM, I’m a statistician in the division of Planning and Evaluation at the Westchester County Department of Health (NY).

Katherine Feemster, a MPH graduate student, has been working with the AgriSafe network providing resources and information to American farmers

Kamya Raja, MSPH – I am a Program Analyst at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), supporting the Medical Reserve Corps Program.

Callie Habrun, DVM, and a second-year student in MPH&TM: I am doing contact tracing in New Mexico.

Walker King: I’m a first year MPH Epidemiology student and I’m a Critical Care Nurse.

Jake Hurwitz: I am an MD/MPH student within the Disaster Management program and I am a part of the emergency preparedness team with the New Orleans Health Department.

Helena Likaj, MPH, is Odyssey House’s Prevention Department Manager

Two Health Policy and Management department faculty who are volunteering at the Community Testing Center at the Mahalia Jackson theater, New Orleans.