Career Connections with SPH Career Center

Whether you’re just starting out or planning your next move, this is your chance to get personalized advice from SPH Career Services staff in a supportive, open discussion environment.

Our career seminars will be hosted by Vic Massaglia, Director, and Darren Kaltved, Associate Director, of the School of Public Health Career and Professional Development Center. Get tips on how to make your resume stand out, writing cover letters, interviews, and more! These sessions are informal and are designed to answer your questions about all things career and development related! Open to all PHI participants and SPH students!

Event Details

Career Connections will be hosted on the following dates:
Wednesday, May 21
Wednesday, May 28
Wednesday, June 4

noon – 1 p.m.
Blegen Hall 230
RSVP recommended

About the Career Center

Vic Massaglia
Director, School of Public Health Career Services

Vic Massaglia has extensive experience in career, leadership, and organizational development in both the public and private sectors. He is passionate about working with SPH students, alumni, faculty, staff, and employers regarding all phases of the career development process. Massaglia consults on topics including building effective resume and cover letters, interviewing and networking skills, and other career and leadership related issues. He holds a Master of Arts in Human Resource Development from the University of St. Thomas. Prior to working for the School of Public Health, he was at the University of Minnesota Law School Career Center.

Darren Kaltved
Assistant Director, School of Public Health Career Services

Darren Kaltved provides services supporting the development of job search and career management skills of SPH students. He works to provide tools that enable each student to assess skills and interests and assume responsibility for career goals. In addition, Kaltved works with each student on enhancing their marketability and developing a competitive edge in today’s job market. Kaltved has a Masters of Education in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education, and is currently working on his doctoral degree in Educational Leadership.

Migration Health in Practice: Lessons from Two UMN Programs

This presentation will highlight two University of Minnesota-led projects focused on migration health. One project aimed to build the capacity of healthcare providers abroad and in the U.S. to address the medical needs of migrating refugees, with the goal of ensuring proper health screenings, safe arrival, and a more successful community integration. The second, the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM), supported the public health needs of these communities after their arrival in the U.S.

Event Details

noon – 1 p.m.
Blegen Hall 230
RSVP recommended

About the Speaker

Erin Mann, MPH
Program Manager and Co-Principal Investigator, Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility, Office of Academic Clinical Affairs; PhD Student, Epidemiology, School of Public Health

Erin Mann serves as the program manager and co-principal investigator for the National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants. Prior to these roles, she managed global and domestic public health projects related to emergency preparedness and response, global medical supply chains, and biosurveillance. Erin received her Master of Public Health from Boston University and is pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Hookah Tobacco Composition and Its Implications to Non-Users

The use of hookah, also known as waterpipe, exposes users to a broad range of toxicants and carcinogens. However, significant knowledge gaps exist regarding its harmful effects on non-users. This presentation highlights the public health relevance of hookah tobacco use and secondhand exposure, with a focus on how the product’s chemical composition may affect non-users.

Event Details

noon – 1 p.m.
Blegen Hall 230
RSVP recommended

About the Speaker

Itorobong Uwatt, M.Sc
PhD Student, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health

Itorobong “Itoro” Uwatt is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health. She also works as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Stepanov Research Lab at the Masonic Cancer Center. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Clinical Biochemistry. Her research evaluates the toxic and carcinogenic components in tobacco products, secondhand smoke emissions, and air pollution exposures by particle size distributions. She specifically investigates how the chemical composition of hookah tobacco products affects secondhand smoke exposure in non-users, emphasizing the impacts on children in diverse populations. Itoro has presented her research at conferences and recently won first place in the School of Public Health’s 3-Minute Thesis competition.

Health, housing and media narratives: An overview, and future directions

Housing is among the most well-established determinants of health and health equity. Yet, despite this rich and growing literature, the U.S. housing system continues to expose tens of millions of people to the numerous physical and mental health consequences resulting from inadequate safe, stable and affordable housing – further entrenching the racist structuring of these health risks. In this presentation, after sharing an overview of what is currently understood about the housing-health connection, I will discuss emerging research examining media discourse about housing and homelessness, with an emphasis on how this coverage engages with broader narratives of racial justice and health equity. Next, I will introduce how tenant organizers fighting the health-harming housing system build power through establishing new narratives that reposition housing not as commodity, but as critical, life-affirming public health infrastructure.

Event Details

noon – 1 p.m.
Blegen Hall 230
RSVP recommended

About the Speaker

Yusra Murad
PhD Student, Health Services Research, Policy & Administration, School of Public Health

Yusra Murad (she/her) is a Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration PhD student, whose research interests are at the intersection of housing policy, population health and media narratives. She is interested in the political processes that shape whether research connecting housing and health is translated to policy changes which address the material conditions of racially and economically marginalized communities. These processes include dominant media narratives, community organizing, and social cohesion and solidarity among renters. She is a Research Assistant for the Collaborative on Media and Messaging for Health and Social Policy (COMMHSP) and an organizer with United Renters for Justice in Minneapolis.

Before beginning her doctoral program, Yusra worked in education and research for health systems, and prior to that, as a health policy reporter in Washington, DC. She earned her BA in Psychology and Global Health from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2018.