Emily Freedman, MPH (she/her/hers)
Contact Information: emily.freedman0003@temple.edu
Hometown: NJ
Biography: Emily graduated with her Master in Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Temple University in 2024 with a certificate in Interdisciplinary Health Communication. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Before starting her MPH, Emily worked as a Contact Tracing Supervisor for the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program. She combines marketing with her passion and curiosity about social and behavioral sciences to improve health communication, engagement, and messaging. She believes that health marketing will impact better health outcomes, beliefs, and attitudes. Emily completed her fieldwork with the Risk Communication Lab at Temple University in 2023-2024.
Favorite Quote: “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Elizabeth Knight (she/her/hers)
Contact Information: elizabeth.knight@temple.edu
Hometown: Burlington, NJ
Biography: Elizabeth graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Temple University in 2024. Her interest in public health began upon taking the course, “Disease Prevention and Control” during her sophomore year. Exploring over fifty infectious diseases and mental health disorders fascinated her; thus, leading her to switch her major. From there, Liz has been taking courses relating to public health and has discovered a newborn passion for health communication. She has worked as a dual enrollment mentor for Philadelphia high schoolers and is an active ambassador of the non-profit, Project Heal. Elizabeth is looking forward to learning more about public health and what she can do to make a difference.
Favorite Quote: “Love the life you live. Live the life you love.” –Bob Marley
Molly Kerstetter (she/her/hers)
Contact: molly.kerstetter@temple.edu
Hometown: Mifflinburg, PA
Biography: Molly is in her final year at Temple University on an accelerated 4+1 track to pursue her Master’s in Public Health in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Molly has always had a strong interest in health, safety, and education, working as a lifeguard and swim instructor for the last seven years. Her public health endeavors began at Temple where she found a passion for reducing food insecurity in Philadelphia through volunteering at the Temple Community Garden, the Temple One Health Community Fridge, and Chosen 300 events. She is also interested in HIV care and prevention. In Spring 2021, Molly received an award at the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health (ATMCH) Student Scholar Summit for best proposal, creating a multifaceted solution to a challenge within the Philadelphia Department of Health’s Perinatal HIV Prevention Project. Overall, Molly’s goals include addressing health inequities through community-engaged research and effective communication and education strategies. She completed her public health internship with the Risk Communication Lab in Spring 2024.
Favorite Quote: “Failure is a bruise, not a tattoo.” – John Sinclair
Shreya Verma (she/her/hers)
Contact Information: Shreyaverma@temple.edu
Hometown: West Chester, PA
Biography: Shreya Verma is a senior at Temple University’s College of Public Health majoring in Health Professions. She has always had a strong interest in healthcare and getting involved with the community. Personally, she has experienced the shortcomings of our country’s healthcare system due to facing a chronic jaw condition that remained undiagnosed for many years. After taking public health courses at Temple and learning about topics such as the opioid crisis and systemic inequalities, Shreya knew public health was a strong passion for her. She believes this sector of healthcare is especially important and that it provides a way to make a real difference with at risk communities as well as educating society about overlooked issues. In the past, Shreya has worked as a medical scribe, a Temple University PASS Tutor, and volunteered at local hospitals. She aspires to pursue a career in health informatics.
Favorite Quote: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” -Robert Louis Stevenson
Iris Mencher (she/her/hers)
Contact Information: tuj69329@temple.edu
Hometown: Princeton, NJ
Biography: Iris is a senior at Temple University studying public health and working as an Academic Coach at Temple as well as Studio Coordinator for a local indoor cycling studio. Her passion for public health came about while she was working in the emergency department during Covid-19 and noticed many shortcomings of the system that were highlighted by the events of the pandemic. At Temple, she took a specific interest in health education and health communication. She is passionate about empowering communities by helping them understand how to approach difficult health topics. Upon graduation, Iris will continue her studies at Johns Hopkins University, working toward her MBA with a concentration in healthcare management.
Favorite Quote: “If the path set before her feet was to be narrow, she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it. The joys of sincere work, and worthy aspiration, and congenial friendship were to be hers; nothing could rob her of her birthright of fancy or her ideal world of dreams. And there was always a bend in the road.” – Anne of Green Gables (LM Montgomery)
Molly Piacentini (She/Her/Hers)
Contact Information: molly.piacentini@temple.edu
Hometown: Bethlehem, PA
Biography: Molly Piacentini graduated with her B.S. in Public Health in May 2024. Molly became interested in public health through her older sister who has worked in cancer and pharmaceutical research. Molly’s main interests in public health are bioethics, cancer, gun violence, and overall community health. Outside of her interests in public health, Molly also has a passion for film. She was the co-creator and co-president of the Film Club of Temple University. Prior to her internship at the Risk Communications Lab, she interned at Rutgers University Dental School as a research intern. After graduating, she plans to continue her passion for public health by obtaining a job in clinical research.
Favorite Quote: “With rare exceptions, all of your most important achievements on this planet will come from working with others- or, in a word, partnership.” – Paul Farmer
Omari Coker (He/Him/His)
Contact Information: ocoker@temple.edu
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Biography: Omari Coker graduated with a B.A. in Public Health from Temple University in May 2024. Omari was raised in a working-class predominantly Caribbean community in Boston, MA. It was within this community that Omari became aware of the health disparities found within his majority Black and Brown neighborhood, thus began his work in the area of public health – heart health, food deserts, healthcare inaccessibility, and how bias plays a role in medical accessibility. Omari is passionate about researching and implementing ways to improve health equity and access. He is interested in researching and implementing ways to improve health equity and access. Omari is also passionate about finance and how a family’s financial status can affect their ability to receive care, ability to get nutritious foods, and how his findings can be implemented for the betterment of the community. Omari’s future plans include pursuing an MBA/MPH dual degree.
Favorite Quote: “Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” – Rumi
Ariel Hoadley, PhD, MPH (she/her/hers)
Contact Information: ariel.hoadley@temple.edu
Hometown: Acton, MA
Biography: Ariel is a doctoral student in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the College of Public Health at Temple University. She received her MPH from Brown University and completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology at Wheaton College (MA). Her research areas have included mechanisms of behavior change within counseling interventions for people who use alcohol and other drugs, bystander interventions for sexual violence prevention among college students, and the implementation of medications for opiate use disorders among justice-involved populations. More broadly, Ariel is interested in improving access, engagement, and satisfaction with mental health and substance use treatment among diverse and underserved populations.
Favorite Quote: “If the track is tough and the hill is rough, thinking you can just ain’t enough.” –Shel Silverstein “The Little Blue Engine”
Atharva Bidaye (he/him/his)
Contact information: aab433@drexel.edu
Hometown: South Brunswick, New Jersey
Biography: Atharva is a second year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from Drexel University. Atharva wants to practice in pediatrics someday but has also always had an interest in public health and serving underserved populations. As an undergraduate student, he pursued these interests by working with an FQHC in Philadelphia. During his time at the FQHC, he developed a particular interest in risk communication as he was a part of the COVID vaccine outreach team that worked to overcome vaccine hesitancy in Philadelphia’s communities. After graduation, Atharva hopes to use that experience as well as his time in this lab to become a healthcare provider that can empower patients and populations by meeting them where they are at.
Favorite quote: “Blessed are those who give without remembering and take without forgetting.” -Elizabeth Bibesco
Yuki Inuzuka (she/her)
Contact Information: yuki.inuzuka@temple.edu
Hometown: Victor, New York
Biography: Yuki is a senior B.S. in Public Health student earning her degree in August. Her main interests in public health are in harm reduction and health education. She is interested in looking for ways to improve health equity and access to care. Yuki has previously worked as a Temple Owl Ambassador campus tour guide and is aspiring to continue her Public Health career in research or as a community health worker.
Favorite Quote: “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” – Princess Diana
Zack Dean (he/him)
Contact Information: zachary.dean@temple.edu
Hometown: Amherst, New Hampshire
Biography: Zack is currently completing his Bachelor of Science in Public Health at Temple University. He became inspired to work in public health after seeing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on various communities and among vulnerable populations. Zack chose to intern at the Risk Comm Lab to pursue his interest in public health research and community outreach within Philadelphia. Zack previously worked at Jefferson Hospital as a scheduling coordinator in the Covid-19 Department, helping patients and hospital employees to schedule Sars-Cov-2 tests. Zack’s public health areas of interest include sexual health and HIV visibility, LGBTQIA+ health, substance use recovery, and community health. Zack’s future plans include potentially earning an MPH or an Accelerated Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.
Favorite Quote: “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t” -John Green