Two Tulane WSPH students, alumna named to 40 Under 40 in Public Health list

The de Beaumont Foundation today announced its 2025 class of 40 Under 40 in Public Health, and Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is proud to be well represented, with two current DrPH students and one alumna among the honorees.

Chelsea Cipriano (MPH ’11), Colleen Nguyen (DrPH candidate), and Alex Sheehan (DrPH candidate) were all named to de Beaumont Foundation’s 40 Under 40 in Public Health, the first list of its kind to recognize and elevate leaders changing the face of public health in creative and innovative ways. 

Honorees are equity-focused, service-oriented leaders who bring passion and an entrepreneurial spirit to their work. They span professional settings, interest areas, and career stages but share a common goal: improving state and local public health.

“I am thrilled and so proud of each of these outstanding individuals for their many achievements and for their dedication to improving public health in all spaces and places,” said W. Susan Cheng, associate dean for public health practice.

Cipriano is the managing director of the Common Health Coalition, which brings together more than 300 organizations across the country working to improve health care and public health partnership. She previously served as the executive director for government affairs at the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Prior to that, she held multiple positions within the New York City Mayor’s Office, and within federal governments as a presidential management fellow at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

A graduate of Tulane-Newcomb College (‘10), she is the Newcomb Alumnae Association president elect and previously received the Tessaro Young Alumni Volunteer Award for outstanding service.

“I’m honored to be named to the de Beaumont Foundation 40 Under 40 in Public Health Class of 2025," said Cipriano. "I am deeply grateful to the many colleagues and mentors from whom I continue to learn every day, and to Tulane University for fostering a foundation of service, curiosity, and community that continues to guide my work. It’s a privilege to be recognized alongside such an inspiring group of leaders as we strive to advance equity, make our systems work better for the people they serve, and ultimately improve health for both individuals and their communities.”

Nguyen currently works as a graduate teaching assistant at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School while also serving as the executive director of Asian Women for Health, a Boston-based nonprofit focused on improving health, representation, and workforce develpoent for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. In this role, she leads initiatives that train and empower community health workers, strengthen culturally responsive care, and foster cross-sector collaborations between community-based organizations, healthcare systems, and research institutions.

Previously, she was at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the International Rescue Committee – experiences that continue to inform her people-partnered approach to leadership and advocacy. A former peer mentor in the DrPH program, she is also currently a member of the One Mind Community Advisory Network and a doctoral fellow at Strong365 Lab.

"I’m honored to be recognized among such inspiring leaders who are advancing health and equity in their communities,” Nguyen said. “This recognition reflects the collective work of so many who believe in the power of representation and lived experience. By lifting up community voices and creating space for healing and belonging, we move closer to a public health system that truly serves everyone.”

Sheehan, a third-year student in the DrPH program at Tulane, serves as a health care program manager at the Washington State Health Care Authority; the state’s largest health care purchaser, Medicaid authority, and behavioral health authority, where he supports programs and initiatives that increase equitable access to mental and behavioral health care, treatment, and recovery supports. He is also a scholar in the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Program, Elinor Ostrom Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Learning Experiences to Advance Practice (LEAP) Scholar at the Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN). Sheehan is also a member of the One Mind Lived Experience Council and a doctoral fellow at Strong365 Lab.

"I am grateful to be named a de Beaumont Foundation 40 Under 40 in Public Health,” Sheehan said. “An honor like this seems like something I could have only dreamed about, let alone received. More than a personal milestone, I see this achievement as a collective honor, shared with my fellow cohort of public health practitioners all over the U.S. doing the important work in their own communities.  Additionally, this honor celebrates and acknowledges all of those who gave me the love and support I needed so I could go on to return that energy into the world tenfold. Being in the Class of 2025 reminds me I am never alone in my mission to continue to bridge lived expertise, professional experience, and academic scholarship for the betterment of mental health policy and practice.”

Recognizing rising leaders who are working to improve the health of communities across the nation, the 40 Under 40 program has honored epidemiologists, program managers, researchers, and policy analysts in state, local, and territorial health departments; colleges and universities; nonprofit organizations; and the private sector since its inception in 2019.

Learn more about the de Beaumont Foundation’s 2025 class of 40 Under 40 in Public Health at: https://debeaumont.org/about-40-under-40/