Human Genetics MPH student Swathi Balaji has been selected as an Inter-Society Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics (ISCC-PEG) Scholar by the National Health Genomic Research Institute. Balaji will work with Kathleen Blazer, director, Cancer Genomics Education Program, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics, City of Hope National Medical Center and will attend the annual ISCC-PEG meeting in April.
In addition, Balaji also received the Russell Rule Rycheck Award for a Promising Master of Public Health Student. The award is named after Dr. Rycheck, who served on the faculty of the Pitt Public Health's Department of Epidemiology for more than four decades. As a physician and epidemiologist, his devotion to teaching and mentoring benefited countless students. He often spoke of the physician's traditional black bag of tools and believed that public health professionals must also have a "professional bag" full of tools and skills needed to make an impact on the public's health.
Balaji is a dual degree MPH/MS Genetic Counseling student and is also pursuing a Health Equity Certificate.