The Global Health Advisory Board is excited to announce the selection of the 2021 cohort of Global Health Pathway residents. They come from diverse backgrounds with a variety of experiences but are each committed to careers incorporating Global Health. They will join our current participants in a longitudinal program lasting at least two years consisting of Global Health mentorship, clinical experience, scholarship, and a didactic curriculum.
Congratulations to:
Alessandra Angelino
MD, Pediatrics
Alessandra is a pediatrics resident passionate about the health of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children. She is especially interested in adolescent health and the health of gender diverse youth, and continues to work with community organizations, tribal epidemiology centers, and the Indian Health Service to create guidelines, curricula, and policy that build upon community strengths. She has worked in Indigenous communities in Washington, North Carolina, and Australia, and hopes to continue engaging in clinical, policy, and advocacy work in AI/AN communities throughout and following her training. Outside of work, Alessandra enjoys cooking (and eating!) and spending time near the water—swimming, surfing, or seashell hunting.
Abigail McRae
MD, Pediatrics
My name is Abigail McRea and I am from Hickory, NC. I attended Lenoir-Rhyne University for undergrad and then attended ECU for medical school. I have many hobbies, including exercise (I swam in college!), cooking, completing jigsaw puzzles, hiking, and traveling. I chose to attend UNC for residency because of the many opportunities to engage in global health and public health. Global health has been an important part of my medical training, having spent time in both Zambia and Kenya during medical school. Those experiences solidified the desire to engage in global health work for my career. At this time, I am interested in
improving pediatric health and outcomes through implementation science, specifically in East Africa.
Oludamilola “Dami” Aladesanmi
MD, Internal Medicine
Oludamilola “Dami” Aladesanmi is a PGY-1 in Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina. He obtained his BA in History and Science from Harvard College, his MD from Duke School of Medicine, and his MPH in Health Care and Prevention from UNC. He is most interested in cardiovascular health and disease prevention among the sub-Saharan African diaspora due to the rising rates of cardiovascular disease in these communities. He is passionate about racial and ethnic health disparities and the expanding possibilities of cardiovascular disease treatment and prevention.
Benjamin Lin
MD, Internal Medicine
I am originally from Massachusetts and attended college at The George Washington University. I began learning about public health while working in a lab investigating water pollution in the Anacostia River in Washington, DC. After graduation, I joined the FDA working to develop a novel Ebola virus vaccine, as well as several related projects in collaboration with the WHO and international partners during the height of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. As a medical student at the University of Vermont, I conducted research involving clinical care and nutritional recovery for patients in the ICU, as well as a public health project to evaluate barriers to syringe exchange in Vermont. I look forward to learning more about sustainable global partnerships, improving systems building, and especially now during the COVID pandemic, equitable global access to vaccines.
Sarah G. Stafford
MD, Internal Medicine/Pediatrics