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Epidemiology Scholars

Despite advances in public health, disparities still exist. The rate of new HIV diagnoses is about six times as high among African-Americans as among White New Yorkers. Latino New Yorkers are more than twice as likely to have diabetes as White New Yorkers. In addition, the life expectancy in New York City's poorest neighborhoods in 2001 was eight years shorter than in its wealthiest neighborhoods.

The NYC Health Department has prioritized applied research and public health programs that address these disparities and is committed to training future generations of epidemiologists concerned with health disparities and diversifying its own workforce. In 2007, the NYC Health Department launched the Epi Scholars program with funds raised by the Fund for Public Health in New York (FPHNY). Epi Scholars provides high caliber, graduate level epidemiology students with direct public health experience in an urban setting. The Epi Scholars intern with NYC Health Department researchers for a period of three to six months. During that time, Epi Scholars receive supplemental training to further develop their skills and work on significant high-profile research projects on health disparitie

Epi Scholars is training the future generation of epidemiologists and will soon become national in scope. The NYC Health Department is currently assisting the L.A. County Department of Public Health in launching its own “L.A. Epi Scholars” program, and sites are being established in Boston and Seattle as well.

In the video below, Naomi Kincler (Epi Scholars ’09) describes her experience as a student in the Epi Scholars program.

Naomi Kincler is now an Epidemiologist with the NYC Health Department. She received her Masters Degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and her B.A. from McGill University. In 2009 Naomi participated in the Health Department's Epi Scholars program and discusses her experience here.