From Master to Doctor

While many of our graduates have returned to their work as practitioners in development, a few SID alums have opted for more courses, papers, research, and group work in PhD programs. We hope this news inspires others who are thinking about the same career path.

Anna Skosireva, MS 06 (skosanna@gmail.com): I am in the PhD program at Clemson University, Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life. My major is International Family and Community Studies. My research interest is prevention of drug and substance abuse at the community level. Currently, I am involved in a project where we study the relationship between social capital and maternal and child health, and child well-being. If you have more questions, feel free to send me e-mail. You may also check the Web site (http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/ifnl/) for more information.

Wu Zeng, MS 06, (wuzengcn@brandeis.edu): I am a PhD student in the health and behavioral health concentration at Heller. I am interested in the area of health financing in both developing countries and developed countries, particularly in the issue of health benefits and outcome disparities.

Diana Marginean, MA 03, (dianam@brandeis.edu) In 2005, I returned to the Heller School as a PhD student in the Children, Youth and Families concentration. I am currently in my second year of study and my work and research interests fall in the areas of youth development, youth empowerment and inclusion, and the transition from adolescence to adulthood for youth primarily from Eastern European countries. I am currently serving on the Heller Alumni Board and you will be hearing from me (and the board) in the future.

Bishwa Koirala, MA 05, (bishwa_koirala@yahoo.com) I am in a PhD program in economics at the University of New Mexico. I am majoring in Natural Resources and Environmental Economics and will probably minor in Public Finance. My area of research will probably focus on developing a linkage (modeling) between natural resources, environment and poverty, taking a case from a developing country.

Marwa Farag, MS 05, (marwa@brandeis.edu): I'm in my 2nd year of the PhD Program at Heller in the health policy concentration. I'm interested in health financing for the poor, pharmaceutical issues and care for serious illnesses.

Abhijit Deshpande, MS 05, (apd@bu.edu): I am pursuing my doctoral studies at Boston University at the School of Social Work. As a Graduate Research Fellow at the Center for Addictions' Research and Services, I am working on large-scale longitudinal research efforts examining the relationships between drug use, HIV and substance abuse treatment utilization. In my doctoral research I would like to identify patterns of health service utilization among substance users, to explore factors and polices affecting access to substance abuse treatment, and to recognize the harm reduction approach to improve substance abuse and HIV treatment outcomes. I will be presenting my recent research at the "18th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm," in Poland in May 2007.

Moaven Razavi, MS 06, (mrazavi@brandeis.edu) :. At present, I am in my first year of the PhD program at Heller, concentrating on health policy and mainly focusing on poverty, health and universal coverage as a form of poverty alleviation. I hope and am sure that we will have more SID students at the PhD level in coming academic years.

Muwafaq Al-Serhan, MA 05, (alserhan@wisc.edu) I am a second year PhD student in the development studies program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My concentration is on promoting sustainable community development in Jordan, particularly in the rural areas. My research will examine the influence and the impacts on development projects of existing institutionalized social patterns, especially related to matters of culture. In other words, development and institutions is my major concentration.

Meng Zeng, MA 05, (mzeng@bu.edu): I am a first year PhD student at the BU School of Social Work. I am focusing on the development of NGOs in China.

Chloe Puett, MA 06, (chloe@alumni.brandeis.edu): I am a first year PhD student at the Tufts' Food Policy and Applied Nutrition program. The program focuses on nutrition through a lens of food production amongst other factors, not just a generalized aspect of "health" (there's so much more to it than that). This is the only program that has this focus, and is the only program specifically devoted to nutrition (rather than to public health in general with some faculty working on nutrition).

Khalil Shahyd, MA 06, (Khalil05@aol.com): I am a Doctoral Candidate and Research Associate with the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy studying Political Ecology at the University of Delaware. My research will focus on: The Political Ecology of Development in the African Diaspora.

Junya Zhu, MS 06, (Zhujunya@brandeis.edu) I am currently a first year PhD student at Heller in the Health and Behavioral Health concentration. My research interests are performance measurement, quality improvement and patient safety, especially in the area of Pay-for-Performance-- the association between financial incentives to physicians and other health care providers and the delivery of high-quality health care.