1. A Project of the Public Health
Student Group
Letter From the Editor, Anne Majsterek RD, IBCLC
SPRING 2011
Letter From the Editor 1
NYC DOHMH Team Epi 1
Public Health Professionals’
Groundbreaking Work
2
Perspective and Renewed
Enthusiasm at APHA
2
Addressing Social Justice 3
An Interview with Dr. Diana
Silver and Dr. Farzana Kapadia
4/5
Public Health
Accomplishments
5/6
London: HIV Prevention and
Counseling
6
Puebla, Mexico: Lessons in
Border Crossing
7
Ellis Island, A Past Integral To
Public Health Future
8/9
The Food Bank for NYC
CookShop Classroom
9
Public Health Events 10
Executive Board 11
Co-Editor Letters 12
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Team Epi
By: Meredith Miller
Team Epi is a volunteer group of graduate
public health and professional students
who are trained by the New York City
Department of Heath and Mental Hygiene
to help respond to outbreaks in New York
City. Not only is this a great way to get
hands on experience in outbreak
investigation processes, but also an
opportunity to meet other students and
network with public health professionals.
In order to be a part of Team Epi,
volunteers must attend a 2 hour training
session, which provides fundamental
information about case interviewing,
disease investigation protocols, disease
surveillance, and public health preparedness
protocols. Within a week of training, I
received an email, calling on volunteers to
help with an investigation! The training
only happens two or three times a year and
the next one is in June 2011.
For more information and to register for the
next training session (which will fill up
because there are limited spaces!), contact:
Heather Hanson,
MP H R es ear c h
S c i e nt i s t N Y C
D e p a r t me n t o f
Health and Mental
Hygiene Bureau of
C o m m u n i c a b l e
Disease.
hhanson@health
.nyc.gov Meredith Miller
International Track
Whether a May 2011 anticipated graduate, a graduate student in the continuum of the
degree, or faculty and staff, this Spring has presented some exciting changes for the school
in which we all are active members. Recently the New York University Master of Public
Health degree program was born out of a pairing of the former Steinhardt Community
Public Health and the Global Public Health programs in an effort to grow with the
developing field of public health. NYU‘s response to the public health field is a continued
attempt to provide future and current students the most germane education in this our
ever-evolving field and world. Students can expect an expansion in course offerings and
faculty, a community of colleagues with an increased variety of experiences and interests,
fuller training and professional resources, and can choose from the following three
concentrations: International and Community Health, Public Health Nutrition, and Global
Health Leadership.
When I interviewed for a dietetic internship several years ago, I asked my interviewers
what benefit do they receive from hosting an intern. The response spoke to the inquisitive
nature of having a student, but more poignantly to the current nature of the knowledge of
students. Since, I have myself hosted numerous dietetic interns, and found, like my
previous preceptors, a draw to question these interns regarding their current and usually
exciting school-derived knowledge.
So if the pace and expectations of graduate school and life in New York City do not
already provide consistent reminders that change is always upon us, be it desirable or not,
may this merger of programs remind us that our field is ever evolving and in keeping
pace, we are keeping current, which does not only represent that which happens now, but
as well how we direct our future.
Anne Majsterek RD, IBCLC, Newsletter Editor
Public Health Student Group Newsletter

2. Perspective and Renewed Enthusiasm at the American Public Health Association
Conference Fall 2010
By: Jane Coleman
With over 12,000 public health
professionals in attendance, and countless
town halls, business meetings, and
roundtable discussions to choose from, this
years American Public Health Association
(APHA) Annual Meeting and Exposition
was a public health smorgasbord. As a first
time APHA conference attendee I was
quickly caught up in the excitement of the
event. For the first time I felt that when I
leave the halls of New York University,
rather than walk out alone, I will walk into
a new community, a community of public
health professionals found across the
country and around the globe.
At this conference I had the opportunity to
interface with several of my public health
allies in the fight against HIV/AIDS at a
departments and Community Based
Organizations to create and print HIV and
other STD prevention posters tailored to
the needs of specific audiences.
I left this round
table discussion
and the APHA
conference as a
whole, inspired
and excited to be a
part of this
groundbreaking, at
times controversial,
ever evolving field
of public health.
Amanda Nace
International Track Graduate
December 2010
PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
round table session on innovations in HIV/
AIDS. This round table session consisted of
ten presenters scattered to ten separate tables
throughout the conference room. Members
selected a table and sat with the researcher
and a handful of other attendees for
twenty-minute discussion sessions before
rotating to another table of interest. The
round table discussions were my favorite
forum at the conference. The small size of
each table allowed participants to speak
intimately with each researcher and generate
ideas for further research. Some of the
interesting research I explored was an HIV/
AIDS prevention program for Central
America and Mexico, a study of anal
intercourse and HIV risk among heterosexual
women in Chicago, and Project CREATE, a
web-based service enabling rural health
American Public Health Association Conference Fall 2010:
A Reminder of the Groundbreaking Work of Public Health Professionals
By: Amanda Nace
The Denver Convention Center was
buzzing with energy and full of scientists,
researchers, practitioners, public health
professionals, and students like myself for
the 138th annual American Public Health
Association meeting this past October
2010. The theme was social justice and the
notable Dr. Cornell West delivered a
powerful speech that opened up the gates
for an incredible conference and
memorable speakers and poster sessions.
I attended as a second year graduate
student from the NYU Master of Public
Health program. I volunteered to help
represent the NYU Master of Public Health
program at the New York University booth
in the Expo Hall. I found it rewarding to
talk to potential students about the
different programs offered and enjoyed
seeing their excitement about the idea of
living and going to school in New York
City. The booth was a great way to network,
share contact information, and learn more
about people‘s interest and the options
available to students at NYU. It also gave
me a chance to reflect on everything I have
learned in the program and how much I have
enjoyed my time at NYU.
When I was not at the NYU booth, I was
attending the different presentations and
learning from the poster sessions. One of the
presentations that stood out was about public
health professionals working in conflict or
post-conflict areas in Africa. The primary
issues that arose were safety, cultural
sensitivity, and the process in planning and
implementing a program with minimal or no
local and country resources available. I have
spent time working in West and Southern
Africa and would like to expand my work on
malaria and HIV to post-conflict areas and
found the presentation to be thought
provoking and relevant to my personal
interests.
I would recommend getting involved in
APHA as a
student and
working with
NYU throughout
the conference.
T here were
m e m o r a b l e
presentations and
the conference
overall was a
great experience.
Jane Coleman
International Track
At the American Public Health Association‘s (APHA) 2010 Annual Meeting and Expo in Denver Colorado, New York University‘s
Master of Public Health Program was represented by both faculty and students. Below are student articles detailing their experiences and
impressions of the conference, highlighting the importance of being involved with APHA.

3. This year‘s American Public Health
Association conference was themed
‗Social Justice,‘ which brought out some of
the most innovative young leaders in the
field. New to Public Health as a
professional field, I was inspired to see
many presenters not much older than I am,
all involved in the type of cutting-edge
program design that I hope represents the
future of the discipline.
Sunday morning I attended a panel entitled
―Maternal Mortality as a Human Right,‖
wherein several speakers affiliated with
Amnesty International presented a new
framework for viewing the crises facing
girls and women worldwide. LeAnn
Strauss is a JD and coauthor of Amnesty‘s
new report, ―Deadly Delivery,‖ the first by
any major organization to approach
maternal health from a social justice
standpoint. She outlined the ―AAAAQ
(accessible, acceptable, affordable,
available, quality)‖ checklist for healthcare
access: maternal care must be available,
accessible, affordable, acceptable, and of
quality. She presented some harrowing
facts from the U.S. delivery system,
including racial disparities, the lack of
maternal mortality review boards, and our
shameful status as #50 in maternal
outcomes worldwide. Strauss and another
speaker, Lisa Bowen of the White Ribbon
Alliance, presented airtight strategies
drawn from the G8, African Union, and
UN‘s latest summits on the topic. Now that
the world‘s biggest thinkers see a safe
pregnancy as an inalienable right, maybe
we will finally make some progress.
Another highlight was a talk by a young
Greenpeace representative about the
organization‘s multi-sectoral approach to
sustainable aquaculture. Though the
agency is perhaps best known for its
radical protests, it has worked tirelessly to
compile the best up-to-date reports on
corporate practices in food production.
Ever wonder which food stores really
support fair trade and sustainability? The
Greenpeace website is a leading source of
information, and their work to educate and
engage corporate buyers to support
best-practice fisheries has changed the face
of global aquaculture.
Talking to Chas Salmen, the young
director of Organic Health Response
(www.organichealthresponse.org) gave me
great hope for the future of ―our
generation‖ in public health. He and a few
colleagues have created a small but strong
organization in Mfangano Island, Kenya,
attacking the region‘s triple threat of
environmental degradation, HIV
prevalence, and underdevelopment. The
organization targets river perch fishermen,
educating them on sustainable fishing
practices (river perch are an invasive
species and ravaging the Lake Victoria
ecosystem). To encourage community
members to know their HIV status, the
organization partnered with Microsoft to
provide free Internet access in community
centers, but only allow locals to use the
computers if they‘ve had an HIV test. This
type of multi-dimensional thinking
reminded me why I was drawn to
Public Health: effective leaders are versed
in a variety of disciplines and engage
m i n d s f r o m a l l t y p e s o f
professional realms. The time has
certainly come to
approach health from
the Social Justice
perspective; lawyers,
activists, scientists,
politicians, and
corporate giants are
all finding their
places at the table.
Professionals from Many Fields Do More Than Pay Lip Service to Social Justice at the
American Public Health Association Conference Fall 2010
By: Jordan Levinson
PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 3
Jordan Levinson
International Track

4. Public Health Student Group member
Marissa de Crom recently sat down with Dr.
Diana Silver and Dr. Farzana Kapadia, both
professors of Public Health in the NYU
Master of Public Health program, to discuss
their research article, Lifting Boats Without
Closing Gaps: Child Health Outcomes in
Distressed US Cities from 1992-2002,
recently published in the American Journal
of Public Health.
Dr. Silver, Dr. Kapadia, and their research
team looked at the 100 most populous cities
in the United States for disparities in health
outcomes among children and adolescents
aged 17 and younger. They assessed cities
by measures of socioeconomic status as
well as race/ethnicity, and looked at
cause-specific mortality rates for homicides
and unintentional injuries and birth rates.
They then categorized the cities as
distressed or non-distressed based on their
findings. They found that rankings among
the cities changed little between 1992 and
2002 and disparities between distressed and
non-distressed cities either remained
relatively constant or increased. While all
cities saw overall improvements in health,
which may be due in part to a strong United
States economy at the time, gaps in health
outcomes, in particular between black and
white children, persisted. As they explain in
their paper, ―Although the tide of
prosperity lifted all boats, it failed to close
the gaps between distressed and
non-distressed cities that were evident in
1990.‖
de Crom: Can you explain the idea
behind comparing health outcomes in
cities to rising or sinking boats in the tide?
Silver: This is actually the way our
economists think about what has happened
in the United States‘ economy over time.
The basic theory is that a rising tide lifts all
boats. Economic prosperity is good for
everybody and what‘s good for the top is
also good for the bottom. The idea is that
this creates jobs and allows for greater
social mobility. But, what we see is that
this is not exactly right; not every group
has the capacity to make the most of
greater prosperity and some people get left
behind for that reason. So, some boats are
lifted and then the gaps emerge. Some
cities are less able to move forward as
quickly and as well.
de Crom: As you mentioned in the paper,
although little is known about the
underlying causes of these disparities, do
you see any of the most distressed cities
showing progress toward closing these
gaps?
Silver: We looked at the 100 most
populous U.S. cities and nearly one-third
of these cities share the common
characteristics of real distress – lots of
people in poverty, lots of single-female
headed households, declining tax base, and
less educational opportunity. And
distressed cities have much less capacity
than cities that have a lot more wealth in
them to do something about that.
Kapadia: The government doesn‘t have a
lot of resources to provide that backbone of
services that a concentrated group of
individuals in some cities would need;
these cities are not going to have the same
kind of tax revenue.
Silver: There are some things cities can
do and we have seen what some of these
things are. We think services matter – and
that‘s part of our interest in
understanding it. Cities can do some things
working on their own by focusing on
services that are working. We
wouldn‘t want to take the city‘s role out
of that, but they need support from the
state and we need a federal policy about
urban development that recognizes the
difference between cities that are doing
well and cities that are being left
behind. That may mean some
readjustment, and not just financial
resources, but also technical expertise and
support for targeting their resources in
these directions. Kids are basically
healthy and that‘s another reason why we
look at kids. Much of what we see in
distressed cities is preventable, such as
infant mortality and teen births. This
sends a message back to policy-makers,
but, as researchers, we also have a few
more things to investigate and uncover.
de Crom: You collected data over a
10-year period. Are you conducting a
follow-up study on these same cities?
Silver: We in fact are. We are moving
forward and looking at these same
outcomes 10 years later and seeing what
has happened. As the economy dropped in
2005 and 2006 and then plateaued,
supposedly its coming back up but we
don‘t think so yet, so we are interested to
see what happens on those outcomes.
Kapadia: We looked at overall mortality
in adolescents and we are interested in
how it will affect adult populations. Tying
in some of the past work I have done, we
are going to look at HIV mortality across
these cities to look at how HIV services,
HIV testing, counseling, and surveillance
have tied in to the mortality from HIV
across these cities. In terms of the issue of
services, we want to understand what
services related to HIV cities should be
thinking about. When we see
improvement in a health outcome,
governments cut funding for that
outcome. Especially in these economic
times, when you see these marginal
improvements, you see these cuts and
then we find that, a number of years down
the line, we pay for that with increased
morbidity burden. So that‘s the next
PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 4
Closing Gaps in Health Disparities Across the United States:
An Interview with Dr. Diana Silver and Dr. Farzana Kapadia
By: Marissa de Crom
From left to right:
Dr. Farzana Kapadia, Dr. Diana Silver

5. question to look at. It will depend on
behaviors, and it will depend on the
underlying transition respective to how
resources are distributed across these
cities but it will be interesting to see how it
compares to some of the other work that has
been done in this area.
Silver: Often you think of difference in
racial groups. We see real changes in
black-white differences in kids over time
and that‘s where the big gaps really are. But
we also know that services are not delivered
in this way, they are delivered by
jurisdiction, so we need to put the meaning
of ―the place‖ back into that discussion of
understanding those disparities. That is part
of what this work is trying to do – that‘s
our goal.
de Crom: What other projects, related or
unrelated, are you currently working on?
Kapadia: I am finishing some other small
projects and I am currently working on a
project looking at marginalized people in
urban areas. Another project is looking at
risks among newly arrived immigrants, how
immigrants adapt to their new communities,
and the services and organizations
available in their communities.
Silver: I have a big and growing project
with Dr. Macinko looking at variations in
policy that states make that are aimed at
reducing morbidity and mortality. The state
is the center of the action on a lot of
issues: gun control, driving laws, alcohol
laws, seat belt laws, for example. All these
policies are at the state level. We are
trying to understand the variation in ways
the states have put these policies in place
and trying to understand if some state are
proactive about public health regarding any
issue or if they just do really well on one
issue, and less so on another issue. We are
collecting 30 years of data and doing some
really interesting analyses.
Kapadia: The U.S. has no federal
mandate to enact public health law and
that‘s one of the things that people don‘t
recognize. It is left up to the states to
decide what to do about many
issues. So the fact that no one has looked at
this until now is very telling. The states are
trying to create national standards for
education. Why don‘t we have national
standards for public health?
Silver: We have left the responsibility up
to the states to decide how to shape
themselves and there is a real
PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 5
Closing Gaps in Health Disparities Across the United States:
An Interview with Dr. Diana Silver and Dr. Farzana Kapadia Continued
By: Marissa de Crom
downside to that. While some credit can
be given to public health departments,
we will have to see where that
goes. This work also focuses on the
meaning of place and the way in which
this social built environment influences
what the health outcomes are going to
be. So we are excited about that part.
You can access Dr. Diana Silver and Dr.
Farzana Kapadia‘s research through
NYU‘s Bobst Library or the American
Journal of Public Health.
Diana Silver, Tod Mijanovich, Jenny
Uyei, Farzana Kapadia, Beth C.
Weitzman. "Lifting Boats Without
Closing Gaps: Child Health
Outcomes in
Distressed Cities
From 1992-2002"
A m e r i c a n
Journal of Public
Health. 2011;101
(2):278-284.
Marissa de Crom
Nutrition Track
Dr. James Macinko, PhD, Associate
Professor of Public Health and Health
Policy
Publications:
The Influence of Primary Care and Hospital
Supply on Ambulatory Care Sensitive
Hospitalizations among Adults in Brazil,
1999-2007. Macinko J, de Oliveira VB,
Turci MA, Guanais FC, Bonolo PF, Lima-
Costa MF. American Journal of Public
Health. Feb 2011
Major Expansion of Primary Care in Brazil
Linked to Decline in Unnecessary
Hospitalization. Macinko M, Dourado I,
A q u i n o A , d e F a t i m a
Bonolo P, Fernanda Lima-Costa M, Medina
M, Mota E, de Oliveira V, Aparecida Turci
Public Health Accomplishments Spring 2011
M. Health Affairs, 29, no.12 (2010):2149-
2160
Dr. Danielle Ompad, PhD, Adjunct
Professor of Public Health, Associate
Director, Center for Urban
Epidemiologic Studies at New York
Academy of Medicine
Publications:
HIV Risk Behaviors Among Young Drug
Using Women Who Have Sex With
Women. Ompad DC, Friedman SR,
Hwahng SJ, Nandi V, Fuller CM, Vlahov D.
Subst Use Misuse. 2011;46 (2-3): 274-84
Comparison of HIV Risk by
Duration of Injection Drug Use. Vlahov D,
Ompad DC, Fuller CM, Nandi V. Subst
Use Misuse. 2011;46(2-3):181-191
Public Health Student Group, NYU
Master of Public Health Program:
The Public Student Group is a 2011
President‘s Service Award recipient. The
purpose of the President‘s Service
Award is to recognize distinguished
achievements in the promotion of
learning, leadership, and quality of
student life at New York University. For
more information or to become involved
with the Public health Student Group,
please contact Jane Coleman at
jc3872@nyu.edu or Molly Engelhard at
molly.engelhard@nyu.edu.

6. PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 6
HIV Prevention and Counseling: Psycho-educational Perspectives
By: Arianne Ramautar
When most people think of London they
envision rainy days, Prince William, tea,
and telephone booths. So did I, until this
past winter. I did not study abroad as an
undergraduate and when I saw that I had a
chance this time, I jumped at the
opportunity. Not only was the course
relevant to the degree I am pursuing, but a
personal eye-opener.
HIV Prevention and Counseling:
Psycho-educational Perspectives is taught
every year by Dr. Perry Halkitis. The
focus of the class is on the HIV epidemic
in westernized countries and how
differently the United Kingdom approaches
it compared to the United States.
During my experience, I saw more
acceptance and awareness regarding HIV
in the United Kingdom. As well, in the
United Kingdom there exist a myriad of
HIV-related resources available for
anyone who is interested. When visiting
Compton Street, London‘s ‗Soho‘, where
there are gay clubs and bars, there exist
countless pamphlets and fliers related to
HIV prevention. These clubs and bars have
condoms and personal lubricants available
free of charge for anyone who wants, or
needs them.
Another positive player in this fight is the
Mortimer Street Clinic, which primarily
deals with HIV positive Londoners, but also
treats and helps people to take care of their
general sexual and reproductive health.
Conversations with clinic participants and
guest lecturers provided a before-unknown
perspective regarding how manageable HIV
really is. It also taught us that everyone has
a different story and no one deserves to be
stigmatized as a result of their HIV status.
I think every one of my classmates,
including myself, came away from the class
with an increased sense of awareness and
consideration for those infected with HIV.
It is that heightened awareness and
acceptance we would like to spread here in
New York (for starters).
As a student of public health, this
experience made me open my eyes to all the
different components that come into play
when dealing with a significant health issue.
It made me glad that I am a part of this
interdisciplinary field that ensures the
wellbeing of the individual as well as the
rest of the population. This experience has
inspired me to be more aware of all the
different issues that come into play when
dealing with situations
such as the HIV
epidemic. It also made
me realize that any work
I do in the future must
benefit our society.
After all, if we do not
ensure the well being of
our population, who
will?
Arianne Ramautar
Community Track
Public Health Accomplishments Spring 2011 Continued
Jane Coleman
International Track
Jane has been selected by an NYU
Steinhardt faculty committee as one of this
year‘s recipients of the Samuel Eshborn
Service Award, which is presented to
―graduate students in recognition of the
unique and beneficial quality of their
cumulative record of service to their fellow
students, the faculty and administration of
the School.‖
Anne Majsterek, RD, IBCLC
Nutrition Track
Anne has been selected as this year‘s
recipient of the John W. Withers Award,
which is presented to an ―undergraduate and
a graduate student in recognition of
outstanding scholastic attainment and for
upholding the highest ideals of service,
loyalty, and devotion to the School and
class.‖
Jane and Anne will be recognized at the
Valedictory Celebration, on May 17, 2011,
at The New Beacon Theatre.

7. PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 7
Puebla, Mexico: Lessons in Border Crossing
By: Sally Pope
Over the winter break 2011 I had the
opportunity to participate in the study
abroad course Global Issues in Public
Health: Puebla, Mexico. The objective of
the course was to look at the health
burden immigration has on Mexicans who
have migrated to the United States from the
points of view of their families and those of
former immigrants.
One of the topics of focus throughout the
course has been the health effects of the
actual process of border crossing. Border
crossing is a very expensive and very
dangerous venture that results in hundreds
of Mexican deaths a year in their attempts to
cross into the U.S.
On one of our day excursions we visited the
small town of La Preciosita just outside of
Puebla. While there I had the opportunity to
interview Dona Natalia, a woman who has
had a number of male relatives
migrate to the U.S. Her story serves as a
powerful example of the reasons behind
immigration and the dangers immigrants
face during the process.
La Preciosita, like many towns in Mexico,
does not offer a lot of economic
opportunities for the people. The land in the
area is farmable when the weather is right
but the cost to rent land is too much for
most people to afford. Natalia‘s husband
and son-in-law decided to cross into the
U.S. for better opportunities. The men
saved $2500 (U.S.) each to hire a coyote (a
human smuggler, also called a pollero) to
assist them across the border.
The men took a bus to a border city right
outside of Arizona where they stocked up
on gallons of water. After walking for two
brutal days across the desert,
battling heat exhaustion, exposure,
dehydration, and animal/insect attacks, the
men were picked up in a truck by the
coyote once they were close to the border.
They were spotted by border patrol and
chased, yet somehow the truck managed to
escape and the men were taken to a ‗safe
house‘ where they would stay until they
were taken to their destination city.
Conditions in the house were horrible. Fifty
people were crammed into one tiny room
with no beds, no food, no clean
water; they were reduced to drinking
either their own urine or water out of a well
contaminated with animal feces.
After three days of inhumane living
conditions, the men were crammed into a
hiding space in a car and driven straight to
Chicago to make their new life in the U.S.
As Dona Natalia finished her story, a look
of sadness crossed her face and she began to
give us a rare account of the story of women
border-crossers. Two of Natalia‘s distant
female relatives attempted to cross the
Arizona border desert with a group of men.
The women struggled to keep up with the
group, but eventually the group was forced
to face the realization that they had to leave
the women behind or face the risks of
dehydration or capture. After a few weeks
of no word from the women, their family
members made a desperate attempt to find
them, but with no luck. The only
information they could obtain were rumors
spread around the border towns the week
before of two women attempting to cross
the border who were abducted and sold
into slavery.
These stories, as depressing as they are,
serve as good representations of the
dangers immigrating Mexicans face. In an
ideal world, Mexicans would have
economic stability to prevent the need to
immigrate, border crossing could be done
legally and safely, and the U.S. would
recognize the rights of these people in our
country. Sadly this is not the case. Yet,
until then, my time spent in Mexico has
given me an appreciation and respect for
the risks that immigrants face in hopes of
finding a better life in the United States, a
country founded on immigration.
Sally Pope
International Track

8. Ellis Island, Part of Our Past Integral to Our Public Health Future
By: Molly Engelhard
In an effort to experience first-hand what
the immigrants of the early 20th century
encountered as they arrived in the United
States for the first time, the Public Health
Student Group took a ferry to Ellis Island
October 2010 and toured the museum
where 12 million American immigrants
were screened between 1892 and 1954.
While enrolled in The History &
Principles of Public Health class with
Professor Sally Guttmacher, we learned
about the period of our country‘s history
where communicable diseases were
commonplace and becoming a great
public health concern. A large contributor
to these diseases continuing to spread was
the migration of people from country to
country and then state to state within the
U.S. As many of these immigrants came
through Ellis Island they brought with them
new diseases, which were introduced into
the rest of the population creating a need for
the fist public health efforts to control and
address the burden of communicable disease.
As students learning about the progression of
public health at this time, we were able to
add to our classroom studies by retracing the
footsteps of these immigrants through the
rigorous physical and mental examinations
they underwent upon their arrival at Ellis
Island. Seeing photos and artifacts from this
PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 8
process brought an even deeper
understanding to what it must have been
like for these new Americans.
We hope to continue to
offer this trip each fall
as a way to supplement
students‘ course
learning and to have an
opportunity to get to
know fellow Masters
of Public students
outside of class.
Molly Engelhard
International Track
From top left counterclockwise:
Public Health Student Group members on the ferry on the way over to Ellis.
A display of some of the baggage that may have been used by some of the
immigrants coming into Ellis.
An inspection card that each immigrant would have had detailing their health
and whether they would be admitted into NYC.

9. PAGE 9PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER
From left to right:
Members follow along with
the audio tour.
Inside the main building
where all the people waited to
begin the examination
process. This space would be
filled with people waiting to
hear their name called for their
turn.
The Food Bank for New York City’s CookShop Classroom Program:
NYU Master of Public Health Students Work with Local School Children
By: Marissa de Crom
Every Friday last spring, I was eager to get
to PS 170, Peninsula Preparatory Academy,
in Far Rockaway, Queens and see a
c l a s s r o o m f ul l o f e x c i t a b l e
2nd-graders. How could this have been
volunteer ―work‖ when I was having so
much fun? I was volunteering for the Food
Bank for New York City‘s CookShop
Classroom program for elementary schools,
a nutrition education program geared
toward kindergartners, 1st, and 2nd-graders
in low-income areas throughout the five
boroughs. On my first day, when the
teacher explained I was there to help with
the CookShop lessons, every hand shot up.
I was asked, ―How long have you been a
chef?‖ and ―Are you on the Food Network
TV show?‖ and ―Are you Rachael Ray‘s
sister?‖
The CookShop program uses structured
lesson plans and a hands-on approach to
teach children about easily accessible and
affordable vegetables, fruits, grains, and
other plant-based foods. The children get a
sense for how whole foods grow, how they
feel in their hands, and what food groups
they belong to. The following week‘s
lesson involves a recipe we prepare
together using the ingredients they just
learned about. The 2nd-graders at PS 170
did most of the preparation themselves -
they washed the fruits and vegetables,
chopped with plastic knives, and read
recipe measurements from their own
workbooks as I prepared salad dressing. I
am not on the Food Network, Rachael Ray
is not my sister, and I am not a chef, but by
the end of the year, each of these students
graduated from the program with an apron
and a diploma certifying them as a
CookShop Chef!
For me, the best part of the program is
seeing the children proudly tell their peers
what they had learned about tomatoes and
garbanzo beans and adventurously try
foods that many of them had never eaten
before. I visited the students after the
program ended and I was already starting
to miss them all. I am looking forward to
working with the kindergarten class at PS
19, Marino P. Jeantet School, this spring.
The program very successfully gives
children a positive attitude toward healthy
wholesome foods and is rewarding for the
volunteers as well. Other NYU Master of
Public Health students are involved with
CookShop. Chantel Hamilton works at a
school in Bushwick with a classroom that
participates in CookShop. It seems
CookShop does have an impact on the
students. Hamilton explains, ―The kids talk
about the green apples and the red beans
that they like. And, they are sad whenever
they know they are going to miss
CookShop because of a school holiday!‖
I became involved with CookShop
because I believe it is a great way to make
an impression on kids at a young age about
the importance of eating well and to get
them in the habit of making smart food
choices as they grow into adulthood. As a
public health nutrition student, I hope to
focus my career effort on emphasizing the
importance of diet in managing chronic and
infectious diseases. Obesity and type-2
diabetes, for example, are growing
problems in our country, and teaching the
community how to help prevent these
conditions with a healthy diet is essential to
addressing these public health concerns.
The Food Bank For New York City has a
number of programs that can always use
enthusiastic volunteers. The Community
Kitchen and Food Pantry of West Harlem
needs help stocking shelves and helping
clients choose foods in the food pantry and
preparing food in the soup kitchen. The
Warehouse Repack Program needs help
assessing and packing
donated food to be
distributed throughout
the city. Visit the
Food Bank for New
York City‘s website at:
www.foodbanknyc.org
for more information
or to become involved
as a volunteer.
Ellis Island, Part of Our Past Integral to Our Public Health Future Continued
By: Molly Engelhard
Marissa de Crom
Nutrition Track
Photo Credit: Michael Harlan Turkell
Used with permission from FBNYC

10. PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 10
Public Health Events Spring 2011
between 1st-year Master of Public Health
Students Lawrence Almanzar, Chau Bui,
and Jennifer Gayle.
Lawrence Almanzar
1st Year
Community Track
Chau Bui
1st Year
Community Track
Jennifer Gayle
1st Year
Community Track
Upcoming Events:
April 27th: President’s Service Award
Ceremony
The Public Health Student Group will be
recognized at the ceremony as a recipient of
the 2011 President‘s Service Award. The
Public Health Student Group Co-president,
Molly Engelhard, will be receiving the
award on behalf of the group.
Where: Eisner & Lubin Auditorium,
Kimmel Center for University Life, 4th
Floor.
When: 4:00pm
If you would like to attend as a guest please
RSVP here:
h t t p : / / w w w . n y u . e d u / l i f e / e v e n t s -
traditions/presidents-service-awards/guest-
rsvp.html
Immediately following the ceremony, a
reception will be held in the Rosenthal
Pavilion on the 10th floor of the Kimmel
Center.
April 29th: Spring Conference
A Symposium on Refugee Youth:
The Relationship of Education to Health
NYU staff and international public health
professionals will be discussing the
importance of health and education in youth
development and the impact of interrupted
education on health.
NYU professors, Dr. Sally Guttmacher and
Dr. Teboho Moja will discuss the struggles
Zimbabwean refugee youth are currently
facing in South Africa.
Special guests attending from South Africa,
Mr. Colin Northmore, Director of Sacred
Heart School in Johannesburg and Bishop
Paul Verryn, from Methodist Church,
Alberty Street School, will further discuss
the case study of South Africa and its
current state of affairs regarding refugee
youth.
Where: Kimmel Center, Room 905,
When: 9:30 – 5:00 p.m. with a reception to
follow.
Please RSVP to Scott Spiegler at
sls607@nyu.edu to attend this free
conference.
May 7th: National Alliance of Mental
Illness New York City Metro The Public
Health Student Group is forming a team to
participate in the National Alliance on
Mental Illness 5K Walk at the South Street
Seaport. Check in is at 9 am and the Walk
starts at 10 am. See the NAMI website to
get involved: www.naminycmetro.org.
For more information and/or to join the
Public Health Student team please contact
Lora Girata at lora.girata@nyu.edu
What Have We Been Doing So Far
This Semester:
Dinner and a Documentary:
The Public Health Student Group sponsored
a screening of the film Flow: ―Irena
Salina's award-winning documentary
investigation into what experts label the
most important political and environmental
issue of the 21st Century - The World Water
Crisis.‖ A potluck dinner was enjoyed by
the 25 guests who came to socialize and
view the documentary.
"An astonishingly wide-ranging film. An
informed and heartfelt examination of the
tug of war between public health and
private interests." -New York Times
Networking Panel with Alumni: Former
Master of Public Health Program students
now working in the field came and shared
their experiences and answered questions
about their careers as public health
professionals. This Public Health Student
Group sponsored event welcomed five
alumni back to Washington Square to chat
with current graduate students. The speakers
were very open to discussion and stayed to
mix and mingle after the event.
April 4th-10th: National Public Health
Week – This year‘s theme was Safety and
Violence Prevention. The Public Health
Student Group sponsored events and
activities throughout the week.
Event:
Guest lecturers - Dr. Catherine Stayton of
the NYC DOHMH presented Priorities and
Approaches Around Injury Prevention; and
Dr. Diana Silver of NYU presented
Approaches to Designing and Evaluating
Interventions Aimed at Injury Prevention.
Activities:
Sticker Contest—The Public Health Student
Group invited participants to take a photo of
themselves or others on the subject of injury
prevention. There was a three-way tie

11. PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 11
2010-2011 PHSG EXECUTIVE BOARD
Co-Presidents
Jane Coleman
2nd Year
International
jc3872@nyu.edu
Molly Engelhard
2nd Year
International
molly.engelhard@nyu.edu
Vice President
Kristin Palbicke
1st Year
International
klp314@nyu.edu
Treasurer
Jonathan Gettinger
2nd Year
International
jj373@nyu.edu
Secretary
Alice Figueroa
1st Year
Nutrition
amf505@nyu.edu
Professional Development Officers
Amanda Donnell
2nd Year
International
ald358@nyu.edu
Vandana
Sambandan M.D.
2nd Year
International
vandana@nyu.edu
Andrea Caron
1st Year
Nutrition
adc350@nyu.edu
Sally Pope
1st Year
International
stp242@nyu.edu
Public Relations Officer
Caitlin Decker
2nd Year
International
ced304@nyu.edu
Networking & Communication Officers
Kristina Rodriquez
2nd Year
International
kr936@nyu.edu
Scott Spiegler
1st Year
International
sls607@nyu.edu
Michelle
Sahal-Estimé
1st Year
International
pse211@nyu.edu
Sumathy Rahunathan
1st Year
International
sr1969@nyu.edu
Editors
Anne Majstrerek
RD, IBCLC
2nd Year
Nutrition
arm432@nyu.edu
Jen Sanchez
1st Year
Community
js5345@nyu.edu
Marissa de Crom
1st Year
Nutrition
mad552@nyu.edu
Social Media Officer
Yayne Hailu
1st Year
Community
yh628@nyu.edu
Web Master
Mark Nakamoto
1st Year
Community
mark.nakamoto@nyu.edu
Nutrition Liaison
Minh Tieu
2nd Year
Nutrition
mct298@nyu.edu
Student Representative
Rebekah Epstein
2nd Year
International
rme242@nyu.edu
Graduate Student Organization Liaison
Jeannie Ng
1st Year
Nutrition
jeannie.ng@nyu.edu

12. The mission of the Public Health Student Group is to create and maintain a sense of community among students and faculty
within the Master of Public Health Program, to help reflect our student community‘s diverse interests, and to prepare
students to excel as public health professionals.
New York University Master
of Public Health Program
New York University
35 W. 4th Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Newsletter Contributors
Editors:
Anne Majsterek,
Jen Sanchez,
Marissa de Crom
Writers: Jane Coleman,
Marissa de Crom, Molly
Engelhard, Jordan
Levinson, Amanda Nace,
Meredith Miller, Sally
Pope, Arianne Ramautar
Staff: Lisa Kroin
Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Yumary Ruiz
PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENT GROUP NEWSLETTER PAGE 12
2010-2011 PHSG Members
Andrea Caron
Jane Coleman
Caitlin Decker
Marissa de Crom
Amanda Donnell
Molly Engelhard
Alice Figueroa
Jonathan Gettinger
Yayne Hailu
Anne Majsterek
Meredith Miller
Mark Nakamoto
Jeannie Ng
Nkem Ostan
Kristin Palbicke
Seo Park
Sally Pope
Sumathy Rahunathan
Kristina Rodriquez
Marie-Michelle Sahal Estime
Vandana Sambandan
Jen Sanchez
Scott Spiegler
Minh Tieu
Welcome to the Spring Public Health Student Group Newsletter. As this newsletter shows, the
students and faculty at the NYU Master of Public Health Program are actively involved in the
public health community, exploring issues that affect international health, conducting applied
research, volunteering with local agencies and organizations that have a daily impact on
individual health, and gaining valuable experience at professional conferences. This newsletter
aims to connect students with each other, with opportunities, and with relevant information in the
field of public health. There are some exciting events coming up this semester and we hope to
see everyone there.
Jen Sanchez
Newsletter Co-Editor
The Public Health Student Group is growing and we have much to tell! The student members are
working on fun and meaningful events this semester and have tons of experiences to share. As a
group, we are reaching out to the NYU community and collaborating with other student groups
on campus as well as programs at other schools in the City. We are getting more and more
involved in public health-related events and learning from each other by working together.
I am proud of my fellow group members – each member has been working hard to reach out to
other students in the NYU MPH program and to raise awareness of our efforts in the NYU
community. I hope you enjoy the Spring 2011 newsletter and see it as a snapshot of what we are
up to – student and faculty member accomplishments, adventures from travels abroad, volunteer
work, and internship experiences.
Flip through the pages to learn about international experiences, community outreach projects,
and nutrition awareness efforts and get an idea of how we are enriching our time at NYU!
Enjoy,
Marissa de Crom
Newsletter Co-Editor
Letters from the Co-Editors, Jen Sanchez, Marissa de Crom
Public Health Student Group Members & Faculty Advisor