Overview

The Michael & Susan Dell Health Scholar program was founded in 2011 with funding from the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, part of The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston School of Public Health (UTHealth School of Public Health) Austin Campus. The Dell Health Scholar program was a merit-based pre-doctoral program for students interested in nutrition, physical activity, obesity, and /or tobacco prevention. The Dell Health Scholar program was intended to provide training and research opportunities for doctoral-level students in health research enrolled at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health Austin Campus. The Dell Health Scholar position has been under the direction of Drs. Deanna Hoelscher and Alexandra van den Berg.   

Pre-doctoral position opportunities are available through project funding, see the project listing here. Please contact the project PI should you be interested in pre-doctoral funded position availability.  Other pre-doctoral funding opportunities are available through the National Cancer Institute, please visit the School of Public Health website. 

2021-2022 Dell Health Scholar

Shelby Flores-Thorpe, MEd - Shelby is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science at the Austin Campus. A native New Mexican, Shelby received her Master of Education in Health Education from Texas State University and her bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from St. Edward’s University before starting at UTHealth School of Public Health. Between her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, Shelby worked for a non-profit in New Mexico, her home state, working to implement nutrition and wellness classes into Native American communities across the state. Her current research interests are translational research – how policy and public health can work in tandem – and food security in college students and adults. Shelby has worked on the FRESH Austin project and currently works with the Texas Research-to-Policy Collaboration (TX RPC) Project. 

Past Dell Health Scholars

• Brittany Buchanan, MPH
• Amelia Roebuck, BS
• Margaret "Marnie" Moore, JD, LLM, MPH
• Christine Jovanovic, MPH
• Allen Hallett, MS
• Leigh Ann Ganzar, MPH
• Eun Me Cha, MPH
• MeLisa Creamer, MPH, PhD
• Eileen Nehme, MPH, PhD
• Kim Wilson, MPIA, DrPH
• Meliha Salahuddin, MBBS, MPH
• Felicia Carey, MPH, BS, BA
• Anna Porter, MPH