Alumni Spotlight

The Mason Public Health Mentor Program pilot aims to support graduating Global and Community Health (GCH) graduate students by pairing them with GCH alumni mentors, who provide professional guidance and career advice in the public health field.

Michelle Vassallo (MHA '15) led a team of infectious disease prevention specialists, physicians, pharmacists, and researchers at Inova Health System to develop and execute a plan to distribute 100,000 vaccines in just 53 days. To do this, Vassallo and her team of nearly 30 public health professionals reimagined how their hospital system could fight the pandemic while keeping everyone's safety top of mind. In recognition of her achievements and contributions, Vassallo has been named 2022 College of Health and Human Services Alumna of the Year.

Faith Spillman (MSW, '16) shares her experience as a MSW graduate student and reflects on how an internship with the Alexandria Public Defender's Office inspired her to pursue a career of supporting court-involved youth as a social worker.

Mason alumna Deborah Bundy-Carpenter was recently featured in Mason Alumni Association's monthly newsletter, The Scroll. Bundy-Carpenter (BSN '79) received the 2020 Governor's Honor Award in the category of Personal and Professional Excellence in recognition for her dedication and excellence in her profession, public health, and collaborative spirit with other healthcare entities and agencies.

Theresa Davis, PhD, was recently featured in The Scroll, Mason's Alumni Association's monthly newsletter. Davis shares her experience leading the telemedicine division that supports intensive care units across the Inova system during the pandemic and representing the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses at the White House.

Two local awards from The Washington Post-American Nurses Association and the Washingtonian Magazine recognize Mason alumni nurses in the 2021 Star Nurses finalists and the 50 Notable Nurses list.

George Mason University names Kevin Cevasco as the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Alumni of the Year. Read more about his time at Mason and commitment to health care accessibility throughout his career.

After earning the highest score on the CHES exam, Mason CHHS alumna Irene Parriski leads a team of crisis counselors dedicated to providing wellbeing strategies and self-care resources for local health departments. 

Karyn Onyeneho, who graduated from George Mason University in 2014, lives by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in her commitment to public service and community engagement: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

After Kristine Tran, MS Global Health ’20, graduated this spring, she immediately began working at the Virginia Department of Health on COVID-19 contact tracing.