Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University is racking up the numbers in its interdisciplinary Master of Public Health program. December 2013 brought eight new graduates of the program, bringing the total graduate count for the 2013 calendar year to a record 32.

The Master of Public Health program was approved by the Kansas Board of Regents in January 2003 and admitted its first students that fall. The mission of the program is to provide education, research and service across multiple disciplines of public health, impacting human, animal and community health locally, regionally and globally.

Students are required to take 42 semester credit hours to complete the program with specific courses in one of four areas of emphasis: food safety and biosecurity, infectious diseases and zoonoses, public health nutrition and public health physical activity. The program involves Kansas State University's colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, Human Ecology and Veterinary Medicine.

Graduates of the program seek jobs in public health at all levels -- from local to international -- and are finding much success, said Michael Cates, director of the university's Master of Public Health Program and the James B. Nichols professor of veterinary medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Alumni of the program include Svetlana Cotela, who became the deputy minister for the Ministry of Health and chief medical officer of the Republic of Moldova in July 2013. Cotela received her Master of Public Health with an emphasis in public health nutrition from Kansas State University in 2011. Other graduates are now working at many local, state, federal, international and private health-related agencies. The program also has attracted many students who have earned their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or are in the process of doing so.

"We want to thank the 20 different faculty members who served as major professors for one or more of these 32 graduates in 2013, as well as the 36 faculty members who served as committee members for one or more of these students," Cates said. "This year has really demonstrated the interdisciplinary nature of our program and its partners. These major professors and committee members were from 10 different departments in the four academic colleges."

Graduates of Kansas State University's Master of Public Health program in 2013 and their area of emphasis include:

Abby Banks, Atchison, public health physical activity emphasis, May 2013; Ryan Szatkowski, Emporia, food safety and biosecurity emphasis, May 2013; Jami Grace, Goodland, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013, and a May 2013 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate; Sheila McCullough-Culver, Jetmore, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013; Ahsha Abu-Ali, Louisburg, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013.

From Manhattan: Kimathi Choma, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013; Jacob Davenport, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, August 2013; Gonzalo Erdozain, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, August 2013 -- Erdozain also is a fourth-year veterinary medicine student; Janet Guvele, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013; Bethany Paige Johnson, public health nutrition emphasis, May 2013; Joseph Lightner, public health physical activity emphasis, May 2013; Clara Marshall, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013; Benjamin McKenna, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013; and Joshua O'Neal, public health physical activity emphasis, December 2013.

Amy Sents, McPherson, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013 -- Sents also is a third-year veterinary medicine student; Lauren England, Overland Park, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013, and May 2013 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate; Aundrea Shafer, Scranton, public health physical activity emphasis, August 2013; Kealan Schroeder, Tipton, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013; Allison Crow, Wamego, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013 -- Crow also is a fourth-year veterinary medicine student; and Michael Banfield, Wichita, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013.

From out of state:

Jason Bradley, Bolivar, Mo., infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013; Ashley Bredenberg, Nixa, Mo., infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013; Mychal Davis, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, and Michaela Schenkelberg, public health physical activity emphasis, both August 2013 and both from Omaha, Neb.; Gabriel Kenne, Papillion, Neb., infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, August 2013; Iris Smithey, Beaumont, Texas, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, December 2013; Sara Coleman, Doswell, Va., infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013; and Zacharia Modi, Lorton, Va., infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013.

From out of country:

Yang "Jeanne" Liu, food safety and biosecurity emphasis, August 2013, and Jing Han, May public health nutrition emphasis, May 2013, both from China; Cristina Bonnelly, Puerto Rico, infectious diseases and zoonoses emphasis, May 2013; and Arlerta Ndlela, Swaziland, public health nutrition emphasis, August 2013.