UTEP Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program

11/15/2022

Congratulations Roberta! 🥳

Happy Tuesday, CHS Miners! ⛏ We're pleased to share good news today. Roberta Thimbriel, PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Program, successfully defended her dissertation yesterday. Dr. Thimbriel will receive her doctoral degree this December, joining a group of 57 proud PhD program alums.

A special thanks goes out to Roberta's committee for supporting her during her time in the program, including Dr. Thenral Mangadu (chair), Dr. Yok Fong Paat, Dr. Jeannie Co**ha, Dr. Emre Umucu and Dr. Ogechika Alozi.

Congratulations, Dr. Thimbriel! 🥳

11/14/2022

Congratulations, Georgina! Wishing you continued success 🥳

Las problemáticas derivadas del fenómeno de la migración en la ruta a Estados Unidos han rebasado las respuestas, tanto de los países de origen como de tránsito, lo que impacta a la niñez que migra y que vive expuesta al riesgo de sufrir violaciones a sus derechos humanos. Con el fin de contri...

11/10/2022

Congratulations, Jehu and Joshua! 🥳

10/05/2022

Congratulations, Georgina! 🤩🥳

Happy Wednesday, CHS Miners! ⛏ We're pleased to share good news about Dr. Georgina Sanchez-Garcia, a 2022 graduate of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program, mentored by Dr. Mark Lusk (both pictured here). Dr. Sanchez-Garcia is the lead author on “Trauma and Resilience among Migrant Children from Mexico and the Northern Triangle Enroute to the United States,” which was recently published in the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare. The writing team includes Dr. Mark Lusk and Paula Chavez Santamaria. The article is from a project funded by the Programa de Investigacion de Migracion y Salud at the University of California at Berkeley and is based on Dr. Sanchez-Garcia’s dissertation work in the same area.

Dr. Sanchez-Garcia will also begin teaching in the Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences program this coming spring.

Congratulations, Dr. Sanchez-Garcia! We hope you continue to experience much success in your academic career 🤩

UTEP Social Work

09/23/2022

Congratulations, Hunter! 🥳

Happy Friday, CHS Miners! ⛏ We're celebrating good news today from the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program. PhD student Hunter Turnipseed (2019 cohort) has been officially declared a PhD candidate. A special thanks goes out to his committee for supporting him in reaching this important milestone in his academic career. Committee members include co-chairs Dr. Craig Field and Dr. Leah Whigham, Dr. Holly Mata and Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia.

Congratulations, Hunter!
UTEP Public Health Sciences

09/06/2022

Check out this story featuring Teresa Reyes, 2018 alum of the IHS PhD Program.

Happy Tuesday, CHS Miners! ⛏ Welcome back from the long holiday weekend. The next story in our new faculty series features Dr. Teresa Reyes, asst. professor of Public Health. Dr. Reyes received her Master of Public Health (2010) and PhD in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences (2018) from UTEP.
Full story available at utep.edu/chs.
UTEP Public Health Sciences
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Dr. Teresa Reyes says that she didn’t always think about a career in academia. But a wise and strong mentor from the MPH program, Dr. Paula Ford, foretold Reyes’ future shortly before Reyes graduated with her master’s degree in 2010.

“At the time, I felt lucky to have finished my master’s degree,” Reyes said. “But Dr. Ford told me ‘You’re going to come back to me, and you’re going to want to do your PhD.’ I told her, ‘You’re crazy. I’m done with school.’ But honestly, two weeks after I graduated with my MPH degree, I was at her door.’”

Reyes set out on her journey to complete her doctoral degree. It was a rocky path, beginning with the unexpected death of her beloved advisor. But Reyes forged on, determined to complete the work she had started with Dr. Ford in childhood obesity, a research topic that she remains passionate about. She believes her perseverance is what has shaped her into the strong academic that she is today.

Reyes says her experiences as a doctoral student provided a unique perspective that helped her relate to her students once she began teaching for the Occupational Therapy Program shortly after graduating. Additionally, as a mother of a young toddler, she was able to relate to students who were also parents, on a different level.

“I understood what the students were going through and the expectations that were placed upon them,” she said. “We all struggled with balancing our family/home lives with our professional lives. When I would drop my daughter off at daycare, I would see many of the OT students doing the same thing. So we talked a lot about work-life balance.”

Reyes shared an important piece of advice for students who are considering coming back to teach: “If you’re passionate about it, and that’s what you want to do, you have to find a way to come back and do it.”

08/31/2022

Congrats to Dr. Sarah Ruiz, IHS PhD Program alum (2021)! 🥳

08/26/2022

Welcome to our newest PhD students! Wishing you the very best on this new journey.

CHS Miners, we're pleased to announce the members of the 2022 cohort of the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program. From left to right, are:

William "Jordan" Travis (mentor Dr. Jeff Eggleston)
Brittaney Huskey (mentor Dr. Jeff Eggleston)
April Ansari (mentor Dr. Eva Moya)
Jaime Perales (mentor Dr. Kisuk Min)
Rosa Castellanos Vargas (mentor Dr. Bruce Friedman)
Alyssa Martinez (mentor Dr. Gabriel Frietze)
Denise Portillo (mentor Dr. Jeannie Co**ha)
Dave Arellano (mentor Dr. Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia)

Not pictured here are Manuel Gomez (mentor Dr. Al Gurovich), Katelyn Conroy (mentor Dr. Jeff Eggleston), and Josette Pelatan (mentor Dr. Bruce Friedman).

Wishing this newest cohort the very best as they embark on their journey to a PhD degree!
UTEP Public Health Sciences

08/26/2022

Congrats, Mohsin! 🥳

Happy Friday, CHS Miners! ⛏ We're closing out the first week of the fall semester with more good news from the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program. PhD student Md Mohsin (2020 cohort; mentor: Dr. Thenral Mangadu) has just learned that his first-author article "Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines and Perceptions about COVID-19 and Vaccines in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study" was recently published by Vaccine: X. The article can be accessed at the link below. Congratulations, Mohsin!

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvacx.2022.100207

08/02/2022

Congratulations, Georgina! 🥳🤩

CHS Miners, we're pleased to share good news today! Georgina Sanchez Garcia, a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program (pictured in the middle in this group photo), successfully defended her dissertation yesterday morning and will become the program’s 56th graduate. A special thanks goes out to her committee, including Dr. Mark Lusk, committee chair and professor emeritus of Social Work, Dr. Eva Moya, Dr. Gregory Schober and Dr. Paul Carrola. Georgina has recently begun a new position as a mental health counselor with Jesuit Refugee Services, where she will continue to work with migrant children experiencing trauma.

Congratulations, Dr. Sanchez Garcia! 🙌🥳
UTEP Social Work

04/20/2022

A doctoral student at UTEP has spent months interviewing children about their travels.

04/19/2022

Congrats, Patrick! 🥳

Happy Monday, CHS Miners! ⛏ We're pleased to share good news to start off the week. Patrick Hopkins, a candidate in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD Program, successfully passed his dissertation defense this past Thursday and will graduate this spring with his doctoral degree. Congratulations to Dr. Hopkins! A special thanks goes out to his committee, including Drs. Maria Duarte and Leah Whigham (co-chairs), Dr. Craig Field, Dr. Holly Mata, and Dr. Michelle Cardel.