Fan Wu
Fan Wu is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Mental Health where she is working to earn her Master of Health Science (MHS) degree. She earned her undergraduate degree in nutritional science and clinical psychology from the Ohio State University. Fan’s research interests include dietary intervention on mental health issue and people with developmental disabilities. She hopes to gain a well-rounded exposure and learning opportunities during her internship at the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities by participating in different projects including support for parent with intellectual disabilities. She is looking forward to learning how to translate scientific evidence into practice and effectively advocate for people with disabilities and their families while building on her knowledge of health education.
Valeria Tskhay
Valeria Tskhay is a Public Health Science major, undergraduate student, at the University of Maryland with a strong interest in Genetic Counseling. She began learning more about people with disabilities while navigating the field of genetics which peaked her interest in wanting to better serve her community. Valeria hopes to expand her knowledge and skills by being a trainee at the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Center (MCDD) and getting to work on projects such as creating more inclusive spaces for people with disabilities in faith communities. She is passionate about learning how to be a better advocate for people with disabilities and their families and a better listener. After completing her undergraduate degree, Valeria plans to attend graduate school for Genetic Counseling where she can continue to work with and advocate for people with disabilities and their families.
Roseline Onwukwe
Roseline Onwukwe is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland majoring in Public Health Science. She developed in interest in people with disabilities from her previous work experiences with children with disabilities. As a trainee at the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities, she hopes to gain a more in-depth understanding of topics impacting the lives of people with disabilities and strengthen her ability to ask questions and problem solve. She aspires to engage in training and research data collection, evaluation, and dissemination of results. After completing her undergraduate degree, Roseline plans to attend graduate school to become a Physician Assistant and further work with and represent people with disabilities and their families.
Melanie Ong
WKC trainee, Spring 2023
Melanie is a graduate student completing her Master of Health Science (MHS) and a Wendy Klag Center (WKC) scholar in the department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Melanie earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor before undertaking research work at the National University of Singapore. Melanie has a keen interest in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Upon the completion of her program, Melanie hopes to pursue a PhD program after taking another year to further her research experience. Melanie is currently involved in the Faith, Disability and Inclusive Practice project at the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (MCDD), looking at how to better foster inclusive faith support in Maryland faith communities and equip faith community leaders with inclusive practice tools to better-support persons with disabilities and their families.
Martina Penalosa
Martina is a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and currently pursuing her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree with a focus on Maternal/Child/Adolescent Health. Prior to the MPH, she was involved for a year in high school special education, where she developed an interest in working with adolescents and focusing on mental health. She was a Special Olympics basketball coach for 8 years through high school and college and helped to coordinate disability inclusion lectures and self-advocate panels for her medical school’s health equity curriculum thread. Martina is currently involved in a research project that examines factors impacting health and well-being of children and adults with IDD and their families from a caregiver’s perspective at the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities. After completion of her MPH, she will return for her final year of medical school at the University of California, San Diego and plans to go into Family Medicine. Her clinical and research interests include maternal/child/adolescent health, mental health, improving health outcomes for children and adults with IDD, and community-focused research.