Date April 17, 2026
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School of Public Health community gathers to celebrate 2026 Dean’s Award winners

Interim Dean Francesca Beaudoin honored the “tremendous drive” of faculty, staff, students and partners during the 4th annual ceremony and celebration.

At this year’s Dean’s Awards ceremony, faculty, staff, students and community partners of Brown’s School of Public Health gathered at the historic Hope Club in Providence to celebrate the achievements of their peers over the course of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Before announcing the awardees, Dr. Francesca Beaudoin, interim dean of the school, thanked the crowd “for keeping the momentum going and continuing to show up in meaningful ways.”

“This has been a very hard year for Brown and for public health, and despite that, I continue to be inspired by all of you in the work that you do,” she said. “Tonight, we're going to recognize some individuals who have done great things in our school. And I really want us to recognize our community right now for its tremendous amount of resilience and drive to improve the public's health.”

A group of five smiling faculty members sit around a table enjoying the Dean's Awards.
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Shira Dunsiger (left) associate professor of behavioral and social sciences, biostatistics and psychiatry and human behavior, was awarded the 2026 Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring.

Dean Francesca Beaudoin poses with Dean's Staff Awardee Wendy Hernandez
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Wendy Hernandez (left) medical lab technician in the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, was awarded the 2026 Dean's Award for Excellence in Innovation.

Two faculty members smile and talk, enjoying the Dean's Awards.
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Alexandria Macmadu (left) assistant professor of epidemiology, was awarded a Dean's Award for Community Engagement from the School of Public Health and a 2026 Howard R. Swearer Engaged Faculty Award from the Swearer Center for Public Service.

Three smiling women toast each other at a table.
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Congratulations to the PACE Organization of Rhode Island, winner of the 2926 Dean's Community Partner Award.

Dean Beaudoin opening the Dean's Awards before a gathered crowd.
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Dean Beaudoin opened the Dean's Awards by thanking the crowd of Brown public health community members “for keeping the momentum going and continuing to show up in meaningful ways.”

With Dean's Awards and Public Health Research Day poster awards, the following people were honored for their achievements in teaching, research, leadership, community engagement, innovation and impact at the school and in the communities we serve.

2026 School of Public Health Dean's Awards

Faculty Awards

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Alexandria Macmadu, assistant professor of epidemiology

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CLASSROOM TEACHING

Nisha Trivedi, assistant professor of health services, policy & practice

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH COLLABORATION

Ying Ma, assistant professor of biostatistics and Edens Family Assistant Professor of Healthcare Communications and Technology

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MENTORING

Shira Dunsiger, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences, biostatistics and of psychiatry and human behavior

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MENTORING

James L. Rudolph, professor of medicine, professor of health services, policy & practice.

Jim was presented with his award in front of his family and colleagues at a ceremony hosted by the Division of Biology and Medicine on March 13, prior to his passing on March 26.

Staff Awards

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP

Brian Gully, project coordinator, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies

DEAN’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION

Wendy Hernandez, medical lab technician, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies

Community Partner Award

PACE Organization of Rhode Island

2025 Public Health Research Day Awards

Top Graduate & Postgraduate Posters

  • Ella Abourjaily – MPH
    “Outcome Measurement for a School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Intervention Amidst National Reading Level Delays”
  • Jadyn Howard – MPH
    “Implicit Bias Education for Future Health Leaders: Curriculum Strategies and Reflections”
  • Ian Liu – Sc.M., Biostatistics
    “A Deep Learning Framework for Protein Expression Prediction from Histology Images”
  • Miranda Mergens – MPH
    “Ultra-processed food consumption and cardiometabolic risk among adolescents: Evidence from the HOME Study”
  • Amos Okutse – Ph.D., Biotastatistics
    “A Knowledge-infused multitask deep learning framework for longitudinal risk prediction and counterfactual modeling”

Top Undergraduate Posters

  • Tenasica Barnwell – Undergraduate, Public Health
    “Early life stress, postpartum depression, and parenting: The moderating role of neighborhood deprivation”
  • Kate Choi – Undergraduate, Public Health
    “Testing Legal Claims: Hospital Mergers & Acquisitions and Service Line Availability”
  • Pierre Join – Undergraduate, Public Health
    “Hospital Prices, Cost-Shifting, and Resource Allocation: Evidence from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017”
  • Meray Nemr – Undergraduate, Public Health
    “Neuropeptide-S independently modulates impulsivity, reward-seeking, self-administration, and attention”
  • Elena Hurtado Solberg – Undergraduate, Public Health
    “Facilitators and Barriers to SNAP Participants’ Awareness and Utilization of a Statewide Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program in Rhode Island”
  • Pooja Yerneni – Undergraduate, Biostatistics
    “Characterizing Early COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics and Healthcare Burden Using an SEAIHCRD Model” 
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