Trainees

Suzanna Larkin

Graduate Research Assistant

Suzanna Larkin is an MPH candidate in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at UNC Gillings. She earned her B.A. from Duke University with a double major in Global Health and International Comparative Studies and a minor in Cultural Anthropology. She has previously worked for organizations including FHI 360, the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center (MHLIC), and the Duke Center for Global Reproductive Health.

Larkin’s public health experience includes research and studies in Rwanda, Kenya, Vietnam, South Africa and Argentina. Her previous research experiences include exploring the health disparities in childbirth in Durham, NC, from 1960-1980 with Duke Hospital; measuring the availability and quality of maternal emergency services in western Kenya; and assessing the progress of the HRSA-funded Supporting Maternal Health Innovations (MHI) program at MHLIC. Her interests broadly lie in ensuring equitable access to essential healthcare for all birthing people.

Katherine Mollenkopf

Graduate Research Assistant

Katherine Mollenkopf is a current Master’s of Public Health candidate in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health in the Maternal and Child Health Department.

Mollenkopf received her Bachelors of Arts in Neuroscience with a minor in Science, Technology, and Values from the University of Notre Dame in 2021. During her junior and senior years at Notre Dame, she was an undergraduate research assistant in two psychology labs and was a member of the Neuroscience Senior Leadership Council. During her first year at Gillings, she served as a co-project manager and qualitative research assistant for a CHER project aimed at producing manuscripts looking at the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in Clinical and Translational Science Award Centers nationally.

For the 2022-2023 academic year, she will continue her work at CHER as a Graduate Research Assistant, in which she will conduct qualitative data analysis, assist with writing manuscripts, and perform other research and logistical duties. Mollenkopf is passionate about improving the health of children, women and families through addressing health inequities and promoting wellness across the lifespan.

Cambray Smith, BS

MD-PhD Student

Cambray recently joined UNC’s MD-PhD program and will be entering medical school in summer 2020. Her summer rotation is in the lab of Leah Frerichs, PhD and she will be joining the MAPSCorps team. Cambray graduated from NC State in 2018 as a Park Scholar, and during her undergraduate studies worked on a wide variety of projects related to public health. Her previous research experiences include conducting an ethnographic exploration on health and religion in Guatemala, interning with an HPV vaccination epidemiology team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and co-coordinating an HIV vaccine development pilot study at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. She has spent the last two years as a post-baccalaureate research assistant in the Biomedical Ethics Research Program at Mayo Clinic, Rochester where her work focused on the safe and ethical translation of emerging biomedical technologies. She looks forward to her next ~8 years at UNC!

Ciera Thomas, B.S.

Graduate Research Assistant

Ciera Thomas is a Graduate Research Assistant on the Co-LEARN project and an MPH candidate in the Global Health concentration in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to attending UNC, she earned her B.S. in Microbiology with minors in Spanish, International Affairs and Global Health from the University of Georgia.

Thomas has experience in both clinical medicine and public health. In the medical sphere, she has worked as an ophthalmic nurse technician conducting pre-operative and pre-exam assessments and volunteered as a patient liaison serving Northeast Georgians who fall within the Medicare/Medicaid gap. Her public health experience involves working as the Incentive Program Coordinator for Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), Georgia’s COVID-19 vaccine incentive program and as a community mobilizer supporting COVID-19 health education through the establishment of partnerships with 20+ South Georgia community-based organizations.

Thomas global public health interests center on reducing health disparities and improving access to quality healthcare through sustainable and locally led interventions dedicated to systems strengthening.

Tiana Washington

Research Assistant/Project Coodinator

Tiana Washington is a first-year student in the Master of Public Health program, with a concentration in Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is from Raleigh, North Carolina. Washington earned her B.S. in Neuroscience and B.A. in Psychology with a double minor in Natural Sciences and Hispanic Studies at East Carolina University.

Her research interests lie primarily in rural health disparities and adolescent mental health in minority populations. These experiences further inform her interests and augment her passion for community-driven and community-engaged research.