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Department of Epidemiology

Student Profiles

Kelesitse Phiri

Kelesitse Phiri Doctoral student, Department of Epidemiology

“There is a saying in Botswana,” remarks Kelesitse Phiri. “You are either infected or affected.” Kele’s decision to play a role in combating AIDS, as well as other infectious diseases in Africa, has led her down an intellectual path with several turns. Graduating from secondary school in Gaborone, Botswana, Kele received a scholarship for a postgraduate year at Deerfield Academy. Moving on to Bryn Mawr College, Kele initially majored in chemistry to prepare for medical study but realized that her true love was mathematics. The quandary was how to combine quantitative skills with the medical sciences. In her senior year a sociology professor told her about the field of biostatistics: “It was an ‘ah-hah’ moment.” Kele received a Fogarty Fellowship for biostatistics training at HSPH and worked on the school’s Botswana AIDS project. But while training in Botswana, Kele had another epiphany: “I didn’t like spending all of my time at a computer. I wanted to be engaged in the field.” Colleagues in Botswana and at HSPH proposed that she consider epidemiology, and “it was absolutely the right choice.” Having completed her master’s degree in epidemiology, she has now begun her doctoral program. Graduation is a long way off, but Kele plans to return to Botswana. Her goal is to be part of the capacity building “to enable the country to sustain the public health system on its own.”

Jacob Sattelmair

Jacob Sattelmair (Jacob-Sattelmair.jpg) Doctoral student, Department of Epidemiology

Growing up in rural Massachusetts, and encouraged by his parents to be outside and active, Jacob Sattelmair realized early on that exercise made him feel better. That realization has become the foundation of his present studies and plans for the future. As a Harvard undergraduate, Jake rowed competitively and majored in neurobiology. “I always leaned toward the behavioral side of neurobiology—why people do what they do,” he remarks. At Oxford he continued competitive rowing while pursuing a master’s degree in the science and medicine of athletic performance; for his thesis research Jake conducted a review of the literature on the link between exercise and cognitive function. “It gradually became clear to me that physical inactivity was a really big problem, that it was getting worse, and that we needed to do something about it,” he says. Jake applied to three bench-science programs but choose to pursue a doctorate in epidemiology at HSPH: “I wanted to apply science to help people’s lives.” Down the road Jake hopes to combine research with the development of self-sustaining corporate and school-based exercise programs. In the meantime he is helping to create interactive video games. Jake notes, “Using media and technology to promote health behaviors is a great social enterprise.”