By Vanessa Aguirre
By the time she was 14 years old, Latasha Allen knew she wanted to be an epidemiologist. She was fascinated by how diseases spread from person to person, and this kick-started her desire to learn more about the field of epidemiology through formal education.
Allen would go on to receive her bachelor’s degree from the Buffalo School of Arts and Sciences. She originally chose biology pre-med as a major but then switched her major to anthropology and a minor in medical sociology. Next she obtained a Master of Science in Public Health from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and later a Master of Emergency and Disaster Management from the Georgetown University School of Continuing Services.
“I chose public health because it was the path to follow to achieve my career goal of becoming an epidemiologist, and I have worked as an epidemiologist during my entire federal public health career so far,” Allen said.
Allen is currently employed as an environmental health officer on active duty with the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which is based within the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More specifically, she works for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition within the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network, known as FDA CORE.
While she continues her career with the FDA, Allen is currently pursuing a DrPH in Global Health Leadership from the Fairbanks School of Public Health.
Allen chose the DrPH because after many years working in the field, she was interested in a more applied doctoral program. She does, however, enjoy research and the DrPH allows space to accomplish both applied and practical fieldwork and public health research. The program has allowed her to develop her interest in humanitarian response, disaster epidemiology, and emergency disaster management.
“Although our classes were virtual, they were truly engaging,” Allen said. “My fellow cohort-mates really made for an enjoyable learning experience. There were also a good number of professors with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share, which made the course discussions very engaging.”
Allen recently found out that she was accepted into the William Averette Anderson Fund Doctoral Fellowship Program, which serves to expand the number of historically underrepresented professionals in the fields of hazard and disaster research and practice so that the diversity of the hazard and disaster fields is reflective of American society. The Bill Anderson Fund (BAF) is a nonprofit and charitable organization, mitigating disasters through fellowship, mentorship, and research for minority communities.
“William (Bill) Averette Anderson was a renowned researcher, scholar and educator who spent his career studying and striving to mitigate the causes and consequences of hazard risks, particularly on marginalized groups who suffer from disasters,” Allen said.
Allen will be involved in a lot of activities throughout her fellowship, specifically focusing on the three pillars of the program: training, mentorship, and peer support.
In November, the BAF fellows traveled to UC Irvine in California for a workshop, participating in a session on disaster research and different initiatives and projects focused on wildfires, flood risk, communication skills, and other topics mainly focusing on the region and what was going on around California.
“Some other activities that I will be involved with as a fellow include attendance and participation at the Annual Natural Hazards Workshop in Broomfield, Colorado, where we also host our annual Disaster Dash, which is a $5,000 fundraiser to support the Bill Anderson Fund’s mission to expand the number of professionals from historically underrepresented groups in the fields of hazards and disaster research and practice,” Allen said.
“Fellows also host sessions to present their research and there are great networking opportunities.”
Allen hopes to learn about various opportunities in the field of disaster research. She also seeks to gain more insight into what is being done in the academic sector through academic research. She wants to see what is being done by her fellow cohorts and what academia is doing.
And overall, she looks forward to the opportunity to learn and expand her knowledge from an academic and research mindset and gain a community of peer supporters.
After graduation, Allen’s plan is to remain a commissaire corps officer, as she has made a commitment and wants to teach at the university level. She has a passion for giving back and sharing what she has learned with students, which is one of her short-term goals.
As for her long-term goal, she wants to retire from the commission core and develop her own humanitarian foundation focused on children affected by natural disasters and man-made disasters.
“If the opportunity presents itself to work for a global organization like the UN or WHO, I want to be able to develop policies and guidelines for global health responses.”
Vanessa Aguirre, graduating December 2023, is a student at the Fairbanks School of Public Health studying health services management along with a minor in wellness coaching.
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