Timothy Mah

Doctoral student, Department of Population and International Health

His father from China, Timothy Mah calls his family an immigrant success story—all of his siblings have advanced degrees. Tim’s own history has been defined by an ethic of service and a love of travel. In high school he did service projects in Kenya and Dominica. During his undergraduate years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in biology, Tim worked in an HIV laboratory at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He then served in the Peace Corps in The Gambia. He says, “It was the prototypical experience of living in a hut with no electricity and no running water. It was also my first real public health experience, working at the grassroots level to develop HIV/AIDS initiatives for youths.” Tim knew about the reproductive health research of HSPH professor Allan Hill and decided to come to the school for a master’s program in population and international health, which he completed last year. For his doctoral research he will be looking at concurrent sexual relationships and HIV prevention among young adults in South Africa. After he completes his dissertation, Tim wants to return to the field to see how HIV programs can be improved. “HIV prevention lies at the crossroads of science, politics, and culture,” he notes. “We have to find the right set of keys.”