2024 Presidential Postdoctoral Fellows

Adriane, a dedicated social worker, completed her PhD at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. Her extensive research during her doctoral studies centered on the crucial subjects of fair working conditions, workplace democracy, and inclusive leadership practices. Adriane has actively contributed to international projects in collaboration with King's College London, focusing on the mental health outcomes of military veterans in the U.S. and U.K. 

Dr. Udodiri R. Okwandu is a Nigerian-American historian of science and medicine whose scholarship and teaching contextualize profound racial, gender, and class inequities within the U.S. healthcare landscape. She earned her PhD and MA in the History of Science at Harvard University, where she was a Presidential Scholar. Dr. Okwandu is particularly interested in examining the historical contexts of psychiatric and reproductive health injustices and sociocultural understandings of health and disease. 

Meki Singleton is a gerontologist whose research centers sexual and gender minority (SGM) or LGBTQIA+ older adults and their aging experiences, particularly for long-term care and end-of-life. This involves investigating how SGM aging communities’ access and utilize services, as well as identifying barriers and challenges they encounter in navigating the healthcare system during a serious illness. 

Andre Rosario studies the history of Filipino nurse migration, focusing on how Filipino immigrant nurses have organized to shape policies related to international nurse recruitment. During the fellowship, he will be starting new projects that promote health outcomes among the larger Filipino immigrant population, using community-based participatory research frameworks. Andre earned his PhD in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was affiliated with the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing.

Dr. Stacia M. Nicholson is a Guyanese-born American, Research Scientist, who received her education in Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science from the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. John’s University, Queens, New York. Earning a B.S. in Pre-med Toxicology ̶ with a minor in chemistry, a M.S. in Toxicology, and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, she subsequently trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, New York. 

Dr. Meadows received her PhD in 2022 from Indiana University School of Medicine on her work analyzing cellular crosstalk of mast cells and bile ducts in cholestatic liver disease and earned an MS in 2017 from Oregon Health & Science University, where she studied Bacillus subtilis oxidative stress response. Her experiences studying whole organs and bacteria will allow Dr. Meadows to solidify her research program to holistically assess how our gut-liver axis can alter overall host health.

Charity Ntansah is a seasoned health communication specialist who has developed and implemented federal and state-level communication campaigns aimed at reducing health disparities among minority communities. Her expertise lie in crafting strategies that resonate with underserved communities, particularly Black and African American populations, to promote health equity.