Category: Stephanie

I can’t believe that my time with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dengue Branch is already coming to an end. Living in San Juan, Puerto Rico for 6 weeks has been unforgettable, and I will really miss the people, the beaches, and the food! I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn from such passionate and dedicated individuals working at the forefront of public health, and for their eagerness to mentor me and allow me to take the lead on projects. I also spent a lot of time working with the CDC’s local partner organizations, the Communities Organized for the Prevention of Arboviruses (COPA) and the Puerto Rico Vector Control Unit (PRVCU), and I’m so thankful for their willingness to include me in their projects and help navigate the challenges of language barriers and study logistics!

This was my first time working with mosquito-borne diseases, so I’ve learned a lot in just a short time. One of my favorite activities was assisting COPA with yard inspections, where we looked for mosquito breeding sites in different water vessels such as plant saucers and bromeliads. I learned about the life cycle of the mosquito in detail, and the most common practices used to control adults and larvae. During the last few weeks of my practicum, I was in Caguas assisting the PRVCU with the start of their dengue serosurvey. This involved going door-to-door recruiting participants by explaining the project, passing out flyers, scheduling appointments, and recording household information in Survey123. I also assisted the community engagement leaders and phlebotomists during the appointments with dengue test set-up, blood collection, and recording participant information. I have learned a lot about the logistics required to successfully complete a serosurvey as well as some of the unanticipated challenges and how to navigate them.

This summer practicum experience has allowed me to build upon my skills and broaden my knowledge of arboviruses, as well as continue to grow as a public health professional. I look forward to working with the CDC and their partners remotely for the next few months as I wrap up a manuscript on outbreak vector control strategies and continue working on my master’s paper.

-Stephanie

I am currently an MPH student in the Leadership in Practice concentration at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and I am a veterinarian by training. This summer, I am completing my practicum with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the Dengue Branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Specifically, I will be working with COPA (Communities Organized to Prevent Arboviruses), which is a locally-led project designed to organize and mobilize communities to prevent diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. The CDC Dengue Branch provides global leadership in dengue risk assessment, research, and effective public health practices.

One of my main goals during my practicum is to practice the data analysis skills I gained during my MPH coursework and be able to apply them in real life. I am assisting the CDC epidemiology team with data analysis of various projects, including perceptions and acceptability of the implementation of Wolbachia suppression in communities. I am also involved in the Caguas AGO Project, which is a community-based study in Caguas, Puerto Rico to measure the impact of autocidal gravid ovitraps (AGO) in reducing Aedes mosquito density and human infections with dengue.

So far my practicum has exceeded my expectations! I have really enjoyed living in San Juan, spending time on the beach, and exploring all of the amazing things Puerto Rico has to offer. During the second half of my practicum, I’m looking forward to being able to assist COPA with more of their fieldwork activities, including home visits to collect blood samples from patients and administer surveys assessing their health status and perception of various mosquito-control methods. I also hope to work more closely with the entomology team and learn about how they conduct arboviral research.

-Stephanie