Cassandra Bernardi has recently been hired as a Program Coordinator for Healthy Child Care America at the American Academy of Pediatrics. She says it is a federal grant funded position that works with other human service agencies to improve health and well being in out-of-home child care settings. Cassandra’s previous experience as a program coordinator in addition to her MPH degree have made her a good fit for the position.

Presently working at the Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter at HelmholtzZentrum München, Vernon Cail has traveled far from Springfield. After graduation in 2011 he was hired by the Preventive Medicine Department at Rush University to serve as a Research Assistant. The study’s target population was low income families living in the city of Chicago. Later he served at the Sylvia Lawry Centre for Multiple Sclerosis Research in Munich, Germany before moving to his present position.

Laurette Nessa, who is a Spring 2012 MPH Graduate, is currently working at SIU School of Medicine as a Clinical Research Specialist for the Center of Clinical Research under the direction of a faculty member. The research study aims to decipher various indicators that would help identify Emergency Department patients that would be at high risk of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia infection.

Sonia Vasdev, a 2012 graduate is Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Orthopaedics at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois.  This position involves the administration of clinical research activities as well as teaching, training and orientation of clinical research staff, residents and faculty. She will also be responsible for writing and monitoring research grants, as well as presenting research findings at national meetings.

After finding success in his home nation, Fikayo has decided to expand his horizons through his experience at UIS!