The New York University School of Global Public Health Alumni Association serves to support NYU and GPH through the creation and engagement of an involved, passionate, international alumni community. The mission of the GPH Alumni Association is to support the vision and legacy of the school by creating opportunities to foster the academic and professional development of current students and alumni, as well as strengthen the relationship between alumni and their alma mater.
We invite you to meet the Alumni Board members working to lead this charge. Like the entire GPH Alumni Association, they strive for unity among a highly diverse and growing alumni community, providing a strong foundation upon which the school can grow.
Anne Mattson, MPH '18
Anne Mattson graduated with her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Global Public Health in 2018. While completing her MPH, Anne studied in Italy, Nepal, Colombia, and the Czech Republic. Anne's primary focus throughout her career has been sexual & reproductive health education, with a brief stopover working for the COVID-19 Test & Trace Corps in New York City.
Since late 2021, Anne has worked for New York-Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital as a Program Manager for the Ending the Epidemic (EtE) Initiative. The EtE Initiative seeks to end the HIV epidemic in New York by bridging gaps to care for HIV-positive patients who interact with the NYP healthcare system. Managing a team of 6 Program Coordinators, Anne oversees the outreach, care coordination, and appointment attendance of HIV-positive patients who have not received HIV primary care services in the past year. During her time at NYP, Anne has presented at the Ending the Epidemic conference in Albany and helped to shape the future of EtE work in New York City through data-driven information technology approaches to connecting with patients.
Personal Note:
Anne grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and has lived in Brooklyn for the past 9 years. In her free time, Anne enjoys sewing, knitting, and running. She teaches sewing lessons at Brooklyn Sewing Academy for people of all ages and backgrounds. She is passionate about sustainable fashion, the beach, and pasta.
Samara Mbugua, MPH '14
Samara Mbugua graduated with a Master of Public Health in Community & International Health in 2014. She currently serves as a Life Sciences Senior Consultant at Capgemini Invent, the strategy and business transformation arm of Capgemini. In this role, she works to develop patient-centric solutions that address key business challenges at leading Life Science organizations.
Prior to this role, Samara worked as a Global Health Analyst for Becton, Dickinson & Company (BD), where she led public-private partnerships aimed at increasing access to BD’s products, resources and clinical consultants in Africa and Asia. Additionally while at BD, Samara worked as a consultant to hospital clinicians to ensure their adoption, optimization, and overall success utilizing BD’s disease surveillance software. She also gained experience at the United Nations where she focused on peace and security activities in Africa, and has expertise in emergency management at the federal level and in the field as an Emergency Medical Technician.
Samara previously served as the inaugural President of the GPH Alumni Board and is excited to continue her commitment to GPH. Leveraging her past experience and vision for the future, she intends to strengthen the engagement of GPH’s global network while demonstrating to current and prospective students the range of career opportunities within public health. She is also excited to collaborate with GPH’s talented board members to build a stronger sense of community among alumni.
Personal Note:
Samara hails from Lawrence, Massachusetts and enjoys traveling, fitness and reading. She is committed to supporting social justice initiatives and advocating for disenfranchised communities.
Farhan Mohsin, MPH '22
Farhan Mohsin, MPH, has a fervent passion for mitigating health inequities, which is demonstrated through his experience in research and teaching. He currently works at the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity at NYU Langone, where he embraces a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to tackle the complexities of health disparities. His research interests, centered on chronic diseases and mental health in underserved communities, serve as a testament to his unwavering commitment to making a positive impact.
Personal Note:
Farhan lives in Queens, New York. In his leisure time, he enjoys playing soccer, practicing jiu jitsu, cycling, traveling, and reading.
Mulanga Muofhe, MPH '09
Mulanga Muofhe is an NYU Steinhardt alumnus, MPH (with a concentration in international community health) class of 2009. She is the founder of Mulanga Muofhe Natural Beauty, a premium natural and organic skincare brand targeting specific black skin concerns. On the side, she is also an independent transcriptionist with 3PlayMedia.
Before this, Mulanga worked as the Project Manager on Inclusive Health Innovation at the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a specialized unit at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. In this role, she worked as the co-secretariat for the Social Innovation in Health Initiative, which is a partnership comprised of the Bertha Centre, the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the TDR, the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, hosted at the World Health Organization—who’s united effort provides leadership to advance social innovation in health in developing countries, with the ultimate goals to achieve the SDGs and improve the lives of communities in the south. She also served as the project manager overseeing the Health Systems Entrepreneurship operational grant--a joint partnership with Johnson & Johnson to advance Maternal Child Health (MCH) by supporting mHealth organizations scale through engagement with the public sector, all while moving towards health systems integration.
Being a part of the Alumni Board will allow Mulanga to serve as a conduit between past graduates from Steinhardt and the new Global Public Health community as well as creating an avenue for students to engage with organizations in the global south. She is also excited to be part of a diverse group of individuals who are passionate about public health and are eager to support alumni-related issues and events.
Personal Note:
Originally from South Africa, Mulanga spent over 20 years in the United States, making both East Lansing, MI and New Hyde Park, NY home. She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She enjoys traveling, exploring wine farms, the magnificent beaches and scenery, new eateries as well as taking in an evening of the arts.
Acacia Sharma, BS '20
Acacia graduated with her Bachelor’s of Science in Global Public Health and Biology from NYU in 2020, and is currently a program coordinator in the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone Health. In this role, she coordinates surgical rotations for medical students, evaluates and analyzes key performance indicators of the surgical programs, and develops new teaching initiatives to improve these indicators. Outside of work, Acacia volunteers as an emergency medical responder with her local EMS company, and is a certified barre instructor. She enjoys doing barre workouts, reading, trying new brunch spots, and traveling.
She is excited to collaborate with other alumni to help foster community and promote public health engagement!
Jave’on (Jay) Thompson, MPH '22
In 2020 with the help of the Gates Millennium scholarship, Jay joined the Violet community as a 1st year Master of Public Health (MPH) student concentrated in Policy and Management. During his time at New York University (NYU), he was a graduate resident assistant, a senator for NYU’s School of Global Public Health (GPH), the Alumni Relations’ Chair for Student Government, a graduate assistant at New York City Treats Tobacco, and a graduate assistant at the Center for Multi-cultural Education and Programs. In 2022, Jay Thompson graduated with an MPH. A special thank you to the GPH family that is striving to “re-invent the public health paradigm” (NYU GPH) and has prepared amazing pioneers in the public health field.
After graduating NYU, he started working as a Government and Public Services (GPS) analyst at Deloitte LLP Consulting, the consulting arm of Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu Limited. In this role, he works to make an impact that matters by improving outcomes that impact the public, collaborating with key stakeholders to solve the most pressing issues, and developing solutions that are connected, resilient, and sustainable for GPS across the United States. In addition, Jay is a purpose ambassador and active participate in the inclusion councils at Deloitte.
Jay is honored to serve as a general member of the GPH Alumni Board. As a General Member, he intends to bring all the skills he learned from his personal and professional experiences to work alongside our community members to support "The mission of the GPH Alumni Association [which is] …to support the vision and legacy of the school by creating opportunities to foster the academic and professional development of current students and alumni, as well as strengthen the relationship between alumni and their alma mater."
Personal Note:
Jay was born in Florida. In 2020, he graduated with a Bachelor of Art in Anthropology from Wake Forest University, and he was accepted into Peace Corps Ukraine. Amid the global pandemic, Jay worked as a Biological Scientist III (Contact Tracer) at the Florida Department of Health supporting the fight against COVID-19. Outside of work and school, Jay is an avid traveler, tennis player, and reader.
Wenqing (Sienna) Zhang, MPH '17
Wenqing (Sienna) Zhang was among the first group of biostatistics Master graduates from GPH. Currently, she works as a business development manager for Illumina, the leading gene sequencing platforms company headquartered in San Diego. Previously, she worked for Medtronic, the leading medical device company worldwide with its headquarters in Minnesota. She was in charge of the one and only Accelerator of Medtronic located in Shanghai. Her main responsibility was sourcing and negotiating with cutting-edge technology startups and incubating them by providing Medtronic's industry resources and know-how. She was nominated as "Forbes 30 Under 30" in 2021.