Two Tulane public health students among Fulbright Finalists for 2025-2026

Tara Ivic-Pavlicic (NTC ’20 – BSPH and MPH) and Charlize Nguyen (NTC ’24 - Public Health Minor) are among 12 Tulane students who have been named Fulbright grant recipients for 2025-2026. 

These students receive funds through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, the U.S. Department of State’s flagship international educational exchange program, to either study for a graduate degree, conduct an individually designed research project, or participate in an English Teaching Assistant Program outside the United States.

Ivic-Pavlicic received an Open Study/Research Award in Serbia. She will be conducting lung cancer research at the University Clinical Center of Serbia in Belgrade. Serbia has some of the highest smoking and lung cancer rates in the world. Her project will be focused on determining how demographics, smoking exposure, sociocultural factors, and various treatment options are associated with survival among lung cancer patients. She will be mentored by Dr. Dragana Maric, the chair of the Department of Thoracic Oncology at the Clinical Center.

Nguyen gained an Open Study/Research Award for Vietnam. She will be conducting public health research at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Hanoi, Vietnam. The project will investigate the financial costs of improper antibiotic use -- a  common practice in Vietnam and a significant driver of antimicrobial resistance. In addition to her research, she plans to volunteer with local women’s rights organizations to support survivors of domestic violence in achieving financial independence.

The Fulbright Program was created in 1946 in the aftermath of World War II. Since its inception, over 400,000 Fulbrighters from the United States and 160 countries, have studied, taught, and conducted research in each other’s countries while promoting mutual understanding and collaboration as participants and alumni.

Read more about the Fulbright Program and the other award recipients here.