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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics

Research Training Highlights

Buehler Center for Health Policy & Economics has pivoted towards COVID-19 research.The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System Program provides traditional and enhanced surveillance metrics. This research is especially helpful to take the pulse of the pandemic and to measure the dynamics of the pandemic in low-income countries that have little to no epidemiologists or disease modelers. This project provided the opportunity for several residents and medical students to work on surveillance and publications. See our active surveillance system, manuscripts, and research team.

Sean Watts, MD is a PGY-3 emergency medicine resident interested in epidemiology of disease and its implications on public health and disaster response. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign during his undergraduate studies, as well as Rush Medical College where he obtained his medical degree in 2018. During medical school, he was involved in global health projects in emergency departments in Ecuador. Sean is working on the Latin America region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.

Salem Argaw, BS is a third-year medical student also pursuing her MPH. She completed her undergraduate studies in Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University and did research in neuromotor disorders at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. After graduation, she spent a year in Geneva, Switzerland on a Fulbright Fellowship. She conducted research on violence against healthcare, focusing on cyberviolence against hospitals, at the University of Geneva’s Institute of Global Health. During this time, she also collaborated with a team of international surgeons and trainees to develop a hackathon focused on increasing access to surgery in East Africa.Salem is working on the Sub-Saharan region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project

Elana Benishay, BS, is a second year medical student and Camille-Lange Rathbun scholar at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Prior to matriculating at Feinberg, Elana studied Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received the Naomi R. and Freeman A. Koehler Scholarship and College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Research Scholarship for her human gastrointestinal microbiota research. Elana is working on the Central Asia region for The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.•Michael Boctor, BS, is currently a second-year medical student with an interest in plastic and reconstructive surgery. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and received the Daniel Hale Williams recruitment scholarship to attend Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Michael is also a multiple-award winning film director and worked professionally prior to attending medical school. He is working on the North America region for The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.

Kasen Culler, BS is a third year medical student at the Feinberg School of Medicine. He received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University. During his undergraduate studies, he participated in research at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, which he continued during his gap year after graduation. He worked in the Center for Bionic Medicine and became involved in studies involving robotic lower-limb prosthetics with powered knee and ankle joints. At Feinberg, he was able to participate in a global health trip to rural and urban communities in India. Kasen is working on the Europe region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.

Tariq Issa, BA Tariq Issa is a second year medical student at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine with an interest in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Prior to attending medical school, he attended Vanderbilt University where he graduated in 2019 with a degree in Medicine, Health, and Society. Tariq is working on the North America region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.•Dinushi Kulasekere, BS is a second year medical student at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine with an interest in pediatric surgery. Prior to attending medical school, she attended The Ohio State University where she graduated in 2018 with a degree in Economics. Dinushi is working on the South Asia region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-PolicyPersistence and Transmission project.

Jasmine Lin, BA is a fourth year medical student at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She grew up in Los Angeles, California and graduated Princeton University in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy. Jasmine is working on the East Asia and Pacific region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.

Ashley Maras, BS is a second-year medical student at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish in December 2018. Throughout her undergraduate career, she was involved in health disparities research focused on developing and implementing a culturally tailored childhood obesity intervention in the Latinx community. As the daughter of a Honduran immigrant, Ashley is extremely interested in researching health disparities affecting the Latinx community and studying the effects that the current pandemic will have on Latin American countries. Ashley is working on the Latin America region for The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project in the Middle East and North Africa.

Emily Marogi, BS is a third-year medical student at Feinberg School of Medicine interested in pursuing a career in internal medicine with emphasis on public health, health disparities and intersectional representation. She attended Loyola University Chicago, where I majored in English and Biology and spent a year as an international research fellow in Italy and China. She is particularly interested in refugee/immigrant health as her parents immigrated to Canada as Iraqi refugees and spent a great deal of her teenage years volunteering with refugee families as a translator in the States. This prompted her interest in exploring disparities in coronavirus impact on refugee-dense countries through The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project in the Middle East and North Africa.

Ramael Ohiomoba, MPH is a third year medical student. She received a BA from Vanderbilt University with majors in biology and political science and a minor in chemistry. She is also a recent graduate of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, where she completed a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. Ramael is working on the Caribbean Region of The Global SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance System-Policy Persistence and Transmission project.