Beginning her love for international work at a young age, Serena Rodriguez began her studies at Rice University, where she performed collaborative research with the University of Technology in Kingston, Jamaica. From that point her passion has been fueled by constant success and now she is a recent graduate of University of Texas School of Public Health with a Master of Public Health.
Serena was a recipient of the 2006 International Programs Award for her project involving a collaborative research study with the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands to study the health effects of children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nairobi, Kenya. Her main focus was analyzing a large portion of data collected and examining the nutritional status of adolescents and sexuality issues related to HIV-positive youth. She began her research in August of 2006 with an eight week trip working with the Population Council, an international nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, seeking to improve the well-being and reproductive health of people around the world.
Serena utilized the International Programs Award to fund her second trip to Kenya in March of 2007. During this trip, she continued her research and studies with the Population Council. Through her experiences, Serena gained valuable insight into the workings and structure of non-governmental organizations and learned numerous procedures for developing research proposals and establishing collaborations. |
