SPHHP Students Win High Honors

An anti-racism activist and community organizer studying statistics and health and human services is UB’s second-ever winner of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a nationally competitive award given to college juniors for leadership in public service. Samiha Islam, whose activism centers around building empathy across backgrounds and belief systems to forge a more equitable, tolerant world, is one of 62 undergraduate scholars from 60 U.S. institutions chosen for the scholarships. Students were nominated by their institution based on their records of leadership, public service and academic achievement. 

Public health student Grace Van Vessem has won a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award to Slovak Republic. Van Vessem is a graduating senior, Honors College member and Presidential Scholar who majors in public health and minors in environmental studies. Van Vessem’s motivation for pursuing an English Teaching Award in Slovakia is as much personal as it is academic. Her mother's family roots are in Slovakia, and, while her great grandmother was forced to flee the country during the Second World War, Slovakia has remained central to her sense of identity. Van Vessem ’s future goals include going to law school to prepare her for a career in public health and environmental policy.

Third-year epidemiology PhD student Ahmed Soliman received an American Heart Association (AHA) PreDoctoral Fellowship. The prestigious award is designed to advance the research and clinical training of predoctoral or clinical health professional students who plan to conduct research or work in careers aimed at improving cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and brain health. He will receive an annual stipend and other project support. Soliman’s research examines the impact of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on the cardiovascular health of postmenopausal women. PPIs are medications routinely prescribed to treat heartburn, acid reflux and stomach ulcers, with widespread use among older adults. Prescription strength and over-the-counter PPIs are sold under the trade names Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Zegerid.