Fellowships

Refugee Health Unit Fellowships

The Refugee Health Unit (RHU) offers fellowship opportunities for graduate students looking to increase their professional development while conducting research to advance their work. The RHU fellowship offers fellows training and reflection to support the fellow’s growth and opportunities to further explore community-based engagement. Learn more about the experiences of fellows who have completed the opportunity:

Previous Fellows

  • Saadia Ali was born and raised in east San Diego by her Somali refugee parents. She is an undergraduate transfer student at San Diego State University who is currently working toward a degree in Psychology.Throughout her college career, Saadia has completed a couple of educational, community-focused programs outside of her required coursework. Through the Civic Impact Program, funded by the Foundation of California Community Colleges, Saadia became one of 25 civic scholars in the state. As a Civic Impact scholar, Saadia was able to educate her fellow peers at Cuyamaca College about their local and state representatives. She also had the chance to visit the California State Capital and work with other Civic Impact Scholars on how to better civic engagement at community colleges.Saadia is currently in the Science Enrichment Education Program at UCSD and San Diego which is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). She joined the Refugee Health Unit through this program and is currently working with Amina Sheik Mohamed on Cervical Cancer disparities in the Somali Community as a mentee.Saadia's main focus is to bring health education programs to underrepresented minorities and make health resources available to them.
  • Janice Lee currently works as an intern for the Refugee Health Unit at UC San Diego Center for Community Health. Janice was born and raised in Hong Kong. Under the influence of her family, she has been involved in community service since an early age. While in college, she spent two summers interning at Christian Action refugee center in Hong Kong. There, she coordinated language programs for refugee women and assisted them in preparing for the UN resettlement process. Janice is also a translator and editor at Christian Solidarity Worldwide which reports religious persecution incidents in Southeast Asia. Having worked in the financial sector for a couple of years, she returned to school to pursue a Master’s degree in International Affairs, hoping to live out her passion in serving under-served populations. Before school started, she was a volunteer at the Family Welcome Center whose mission is to serve the Middle East refugee population in El Cajon. Janice earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California. She is currently pursuing a Master of International Affairs from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. Upon graduation, she hopes to research and initiate programs to improve the livelihood of refugees in the area. During her spare time, she loves painting, trying out new recipes and teaching children to sing.
  • A medical student at the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine, Nyah Rodman demonstrates both a commitment to the underserved and a steadfast interest in infectious disease etiology. In 2018, Ms. Rodman graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a B.S in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology with a minor in chemistry. During her undergraduate study, she led a STEM-focused after-school program for lower-income primary school children in Dane County, as well as mentored underrepresented community college students interested in research through project RAISE. After graduation, she completed her post-baccalaureate at UCSD where she solidified her commitment to working with underserved populations through the Hepatitis Awareness Campaign within the Refugee Health Unit—an initiative she is currently designing to create better access to healthcare resources for San Diego County’s refugee communities. While involved in her community outreach, Ms. Rodman also conducted nosocomial pathogen research, resulting in multiple publications and conference presentations. As a future physician, her primary goal is promoting health equity within her community and looks forward to converging her interests in infectious disease etiology while addressing the social determinants of health.
  • Through her experiences working with various health-promoting and community goal-oriented organizations like Refugee Health Unit, Feeding San Diego, The UCSD Health Services Research Center, and from her research experience in health education for at-risk communities, Rahil has learned that so many communities in San Diego need help and support in accessing basic health care necessities and without the support from these agencies and others, more people will suffer negative health outcomes. Being able to positively impact communities and the people in them through her work, motivated Rahil to learn more about how she can effectively bring about positive health outcomes for every community she touches. To that end, Rahil is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health from UCSD to give her the tools and skills to continue to bring about positive health outcomes in underserved communities and for at-risk populations.
  • Ila Zargham was an intern with the Refugee Health Unit at the UCSD Center for Community Health during her senior year at UCSD. Ila graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Anthropology and a minor in Global Health. Throughout her time in San Diego she has gotten involved with several organizations which focus on refugee and asylee health and well-being, as well as organizations centered around the health and well-being of those affected by HIV/AIDS. During her time at the Refugee Health Unit, she worked to expand social media outreach, promoted community events, and even had the opportunity to sit in on coalition meetings. Her experience working with Amina Sheik-Mohamed at the Refugee Health Unit greatly peaked her interest in, and furthered her passion for working with various communities with health equity in mind.After graduation she began working for the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, processing social service applications. She hopes to continue to pursue a career in the global public health sector, whether that is through public policy, medicine, or community organizing.
  • Avika Dhillon is a fourth-year History honors student at the University of California, San Diego. This year, she is working on a thesis examining the responses to conservative and leftist movements in San Diego during the Vietnam War. She is currently working with the Refugee Health Unit. Avika has a passion for community service and has been a member of Rotaract, an international service organization, for the past two years. Her creative interests include fine art illustration and cooking.
  • Ananya Rajaraman, is a student who is ethnically from India, has lived in Singapore and Kuwait for much of her life, and considers herself a third culture citizen. She is working to become a clinical psychologist, with the aim of addressing the weak therapist to patient ratio and in particular, she hopes to help educate eastern families abut the values of therapy in order to help remove the stigma around the concept of mental health and its solutions.In addition to working with the Refugee Health Unit, she also volunteers at License to Freedom, an organization dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse - particularly refugee and immigrant women. Additionally, she is working as a research assistant for the Center for Brain and Cognition at UCSD.
  • Andrew Blank is an intern at the UC San Diego Refugee Health Unit in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, CA, a Master of Public Health student concentrating in Global Health at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, and a U.S. Navy submarine lieutenant.Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a Minor in Arabic from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He graduated from Nuclear Power School and Nuclear Power Training Unit in Charleston, SC; Prospective Nuclear Engineer Officer in Washington, D.C.; and the Drones in Global Public Health Certificate Course at the University of Southern California.His military assignments include duty as Assistant Weapons Officer aboard USS OHIO (SSGN-726)(Blue) in Bremerton, WA; Tactical Systems Officer aboard USS TOPEKA (SSN-754) in Apra Harbor, Guam; and currently, Staff Submariner and Advanced Antisubmarine Warfare Officer Course Director at Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center in San Diego, CA. Andrew’s decorations include two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, and numerous other personal and unit awards.Andrew appreciates the opportunity to learn from and work with Refugee Health Unit and its partners. He subscribes to the social determinants of health model, and advocates for transdisciplinary interventions rooted in evidence, theory, strengths, and cultural competence. His research interests include armed conflict and mental health; harm reduction strategies for people who inject drugs; water, sanitation, and hygiene in humanitarian emergencies; leadership in crisis; and the intersection of faith, culture, human rights, public policy, and health for all.
  • Katherine Tian is an intern with the Refugee Health Unit at the UCSD Center for CommunityHealth. She recently completed her Bachelors of Science degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at UC San Diego and is planning to pursue medical school in the future. Katherine first became interested in the impact of the social determinants of health through a global health course at UCSD and wanted to learn more about them in the context of the local San Diego community. Combined with her interest in women’s health, she supported RHU projects in cultural competency and awareness on female genital cutting for healthcare providers. She also became involved in conducting impact evaluations on existing programs for students of San Diego refugee families and assisting with focus groups to assess health equity for refugee mothers. Through her experiences so far, Katherine has learned a lot about the importance of thepublic health perspective and has developed a deeper appreciation and love for her San Diego community.
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