Celebrating our graduates and alumni with awards, student speakers, special guests and more.
Celebrating our graduates and alumni with awards, student speakers, special guests and more.
Market Square | 101 North Main Street at College Street | 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Welcome to the School of Public Health’s 2026 Community Celebration, honoring our graduates and returning alumni. A catered reception will follow the speaking program below. Share your stories with the hashtag #Brown2026!
Dean, Brown University School of Public Health
An emergency room physician, clinical epidemiologist and an alumna of the School of Public Health, Dr. Francesca Beaudoin, M.D., M.S., Ph.D.’17 is a national expert in addressing opioid use disorders and pain management as well as partnering with small businesses and state stakeholders to pioneer innovative solutions to key public health problems. She has called Brown home for nearly two decades, as an emergency physician, doctoral student, faculty member, department chair and academic dean.
Dr. Beaudoin has spent much of her career on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, advancing evidence-based and community-centered approaches to pain management, substance use and recovery. She was one of the first physicians in the nation to serve patients through a mobile drug recovery unit. Operated in partnership with CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, the mobile clinic delivers opioid use disorder treatment, medical care and counseling to individuals suffering from addiction in one of Rhode Island’s underserved communities.
Dr. Beaudoin has authored 190+ peer-reviewed articles, served as a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee and written and implemented practice management policies for health care systems on pain management and opioid prescribing. Dr. Beaudoin has served as a Senior Medical Advisor to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review providing expert review of time sensitive treatments such as gene therapies and GLP-1 medications for obesity. She is principal investigator of multiple federal and private grants focused on improving how people are identified, treated and supported after opioid overdose and recovery.
As dean, Dr. Beaudoin leads the school’s strategy to advance its public health mission through education, research and policy translation. Prior to taking office as dean, Dr. Beaudoin served two years as academic dean overseeing the school’s academic departments, research centers, doctoral and master’s programs and undergraduate concentrations. She has also served as chair of the Department of Epidemiology and has held faculty and research appointments at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. Dr. Beaudoin continues to practice as a physician, holding appointments at Brown University Health and CODAC Behavioral Healthcare.
Dr. Beaudoin earned her bachelor’s and master’s in kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2000 and 2002, respectively, where she was an All-American in women’s rowing. In 2006, Dr. Beaudoin received her M.D. from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her residency in Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital, followed by a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Brown University School of Public Health in 2017.
Stacy-Boddapati is statewide nurse consultant to the North Carolina Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
Stacy-Boddapati is the statewide nurse consultant to the North Carolina Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. Her founding of the Clean Spice Initiative—along with her work as a nurse, researcher and public health specialist—has earned her the inaugural Emerging Leader Award from Brown’s School of Public Health. The award honors a recent graduate of the School of Public Health whose work exemplifies one or more of the school’s values: excellence, equity, diversity and inclusion, collaboration, innovation and community focus.
Singh, the Secretary of Health of West Virginia, aims to lead a transformation of public health in the state, improving health outcomes for residents and boosting operational efficiency statewide.
Under Singh's leadership, West Virginia's Department of Health is modernizing regulatory and public health operations, working to strengthen stroke systems of care, launching the Mountaineer Mile statewide prevention initiative and driving efficiency and accountability and measuring outcomes across bureaus.
Assistant Dean of Education, Brown University School of Public Health
Jesse Yedinak Gray is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health. She is also the Assistant Dean of Education at the School of Public Health.
Her research is focused on applied epidemiology, using a community-engaged approach to research and policy impact by working collaboratively with community-based and state agency partners. As part of that process, she studies implementation science, health & data literacy, and plain language communication.
Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, Brown University School of Public Health
As the leader of the school's Office of Diversity & Inclusion, Fabris is responsible for directing key organizational and programmatic initiatives, expanding outreach and advancing diversity and inclusion throughout the school. He also works closely with the University’s central Office of Diversity and Inclusion and is a member of the SPH executive committee.
This honor recognizes students who have demonstrated strengths in peer leadership, community engagement, and academic excellence during their time at Brown. Learn more about these outstanding graduates:
Bachelor of Arts in Public Health
Kate is a Bachelor of Arts graduate in Public Health dedicated to advancing health equity through health law and policy, particularly in researching topics on antitrust and corporate transactions. Under the mentorship of Professor Erin Fuse Brown and Professor William Goedel, she completed an honors thesis that quantitatively analyzed the impact of hospital mergers and acquisitions on service line availability, for which she was recently awarded the Top Undergraduate Poster Award. Passionate about public health education, she was a teaching assistant for several undergraduate courses in healthcare delivery, systems, and law. After graduation, Kate will be working as a Life Sciences Analyst at Charles River Associates before law school.
Master of Public Health
Health Equity Scholar
Charis Haynes is a graduating Master of Public Health student from the Brown University School of Public Health. She is originally from Covington, Georgia and prior to attending Brown University, she graduated from Howard University summa cum laude with dual degrees in biology and political science. During her time at Brown, Charis was a member of the Health Equity Scholars Program and also involved herself in the Brown and Providence community as a teaching assistant, student ambassador, team member for the Brown University women's club basketball team, and research assistant at Women and Infants Hospital. After graduating from Brown, Charis will be attending medical school in the fall to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a physician.
Ph.D. in Biostatistics
Nickolas Lewis (Nick for short) is originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. He completed his Ph.D. in Biostatistics this past December under the doctoral supervision of Joseph Hogan where he designed a statistical framework for modeling retention in HIV care in Western Kenya. He is currently based in New York working as an Applied Scientist for Uber Technologies, Inc. In his free time he enjoys baking, juggling and exercising.
Campus Dance is on the College Green and Ruth Simmons Quadrangle, starting at 9 PM.
Campus comes to life in a new way during Campus Dance, the biggest outdoor party of the year and a decades-old Brown tradition. Paper lanterns light the skies; you can float between College Green and Simmons Quad; you can swing or Macarena or get down; you can go black tie or in tie-dyed—all that matters is that you're with friends. And then, before the evening ends, there you are at the steps of Sayles Hall, with graduating seniors, alumni returning for Reunion Weekend, families of your fellow Brunonians, and favorite professors, watching the Senior Sing. Tickets required.
This event will be photographed and video recorded for archival, educational, and related promotional purposes.