Thank you for your interest in UPHS! 

The 2025 application cycle is now closed. Please check back in February 2026 for the next application cycle. 

The goal of the Undergraduate Public Health Scholars program is to provide exposure to research in public health sciences, with an emphasis on studies of systemic health inequities. Students gain hands-on experience in one of the many types of research activities conducted by faculty in the department, from epidemiology of health disparities, to environmental health and health policy. Students will be appointed as a student assistant in the Department of Public Health Sciences during the summer of 2025. Students are expected to work 40 hours per week, meet weekly with faculty and supervisors, and attend weekly scientific skills seminars. 

• Eligibility: UC Davis undergraduates who have completed at least 3 years and have at least 1 more year prior to graduation. UPHS prioritizes students with a strong understanding and commitment to health equity, who are interested in pursuing careers in public health. 

Students from the following backgrounds are encouraged to apply: 

• Served by Center of the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)
• Participate in the BUSP or BUSP-STARS
• Come from a disadvantaged background, such as first generation to college, grew up in a rural and/or underserved area, coming from a community experiencing health disparities, having low family socioeconomic status in childhood or at present 
• Students do not have to be in the College of Biological Sciences. Students from ALL majors/disciplines (including non-STEM majors) are encouraged to apply. 

The Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Program is funded by the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences.

Other Undergraduate Opportunities in Public Health

UC Davis MIND Institute RISE-UP

Health Career Connection: Paid internships for rising seniors and recent graduates

"I participated in UPHS the summer of 2023 where I had the opportunity to develop HPV awareness and prevention educational material for Hispanic/Latinx community health educators with my mentor, Laura Fejerman. As a first-generation student, UPHS allowed me to explore research in public health for the first time and has provided me with mentors, resources, and knowledge that I did not have prior to the program. Today, I continue to work in the Fejerman Lab and am now helping lead the program as we prepare to pilot the materials, I developed to assess its effectiveness in reducing HPV related cancer health disparities among the Hispanic/Latinx community." - Daisy Montoya, 2023 Cohort 

"Hello, my name is Kimberly Aguirre, and I am grateful to have been part of the 2021 UPHS cohort. During the program, I conducted research with my mentor, Alda Pires, in the Department of Population Health & Reproduction at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. My project focused on evaluating whether grazing events impacted sheep facial microbiomes and pathogen shedding on mixed crop livestock systems. This program helped solidify my interests in public health and my project introduced me to new areas of focus that I hope to incorporate into my career, specifically epidemiology, livestock health, microbiology, and Zoonotics/foodborne diseases. Currently, I am a second-year veterinary student in the dual degree DVM/MPVM program at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. My goal is to become a livestock/public health veterinarian, and promote food safety through clinical work, research and academic teaching." - Kimberly Aguirre, 2021 Cohort. 

"Hello, my name is Sofia Ledesma (she/her/hers), and I am a 2020 UPHS Scholar. The UPHS program played a critical role in the trajectory of my public health academic and professional career and helped me get to where I am today! UPHS was my first experience doing public health research, and at a time when things were very uncertain due to the onset of the pandemic, Michelle Ko and the UPHS faculty adapted the program in a matter of weeks. My research project was about the readability of health communications for Spanish-speaking agricultural workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. My mentor was Kent Pinkerton, Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety Director. Pinkerton was a fantastic mentor who helped me navigate the research project and explore my interest in addressing health inequities among Latine Agricultural workers. UPHS helped me decide that I wanted to pursue a graduate degree in public health and prepared me for graduate programs. In particular, the journal clubs prepared me for graduate school seminars. Today, I am currently in my last year of graduate school at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health. In the future, I hope to use my skills to inform system-level approaches to addressing health inequities through centering community-driven programs. I would not be where I am without the UPHS program, the guidance of my faculty mentor, and Michelle Ko!" - Sofia Ledesma, 2020 Cohort. 

Undergraduate Public Health Scholars Alumni 

2024

Kennedy Barnett, Brittany Chambers Butcher. "I didn't go to the hospital for maybe three months out of my pregnancy"; Black women's access to perinatal healthcare support during COVID-19

Kaila Comerie, Brittany Chambers Butcher. "I kept hearing all these horror stories about it": Barriers and Facilitators to Black Women Actualizing Their Birth Control Desires During the Perinatal Period 

David Huynh, Ceasor Dennis, Sarah Iv. Barriers to Applying Cultural Humility Practices in the Clinical Setting and Patient Outcomes that Result

Citlally Lopez, Yury Garcia, Miriam Nuno. Assessing the Role of Social Media on Serious Psychological Distress Using the CHIS 2021 Database

Jesus O. Pizano, Ethan Wolf, Jennifer Falbe. Tobacco and Alcohol Product Prevalence in Food Store Checkouts in California 

2023

Nicole Ibewiro, Brittany Chambers. African American Birthing People's Perinatal Care Experiences during Covid-19

Ellie Lee, Debbie Fetter. Using Culturally-Inclusive Recipes to Promote Engagement with College Campus Food Access Resources

Daisy Montoya, Laura Adame, Jesus Bastian, Najla Dabbagh, Yelitza Campos, Laura Fejerman. Development of HPV Awareness and Prevention Education Materials For Hispanic/Latinx Community Health Educators

Nimra Nazar, Michelle Ko. Experiences of Low-Income Undergraduate Students with Disabilities at University of California, Davis

Isabella Pahulu, Jennifer Falbe. Reviewing the Literature of Diet-Related Chronic Disease Interventions for Native Hawaiians

Natalie Reyes, Yury Garcia, Miriam Nuno. Differences in Health Care Utilization in CA using the CHIS Database

Alejandro Tapia, Krista Thongphanh, Charles Li, and Kent E. Pinkerton. Health Implications of 4th Generation E-Cigarettes

2022 

Miriam Bermejo, Miriam Nuño, Yury Garcia. Characterizing Vaccine Missingness in Children using 2019-2020 NIS-Child Database 

Natalie Madrigal, Chase Boyer, Andrea C. Bühler-Wassmann, Leah Hibel.  Sleep and Its Effect on Emotional Regulation 

Jesús M. Magaña, Kent Pinkerton, Priya Upadhyay.  Health Implications of Engineered Silver Nanomaterials 

Elissa Perez-Rodriguez, David Seth Jabonero Carillo, Kent Pinkerton. Structural remodeling of the human lung due to inhaled particle deposition and retention 

Linda Sancrant, Caitlin Jones, Kathryn Conlon. Landscape Use and Wildfires - A Summary of the Literature and Conceptual Framework 

2021

Kimberly Aguirre (Mentor: Alda De Andrade E Pires, D.V.M, M.P.V.M, Ph.D, School of Veterinary Medicine)

Jessica Rangel (Mentor: Candice Price, Ph.D., Molecular Biosciences )

Harjeet Mann (Mentor: Leigh Ann Simmons, Ph.D., MFT, Human Ecology)

Catelyn Edwards (Mentor: Leigh Ann Simmons, Ph.D., MFT, Human Ecology)

2020 

Joan Ashby (Mentor: Miriam Nuno, Public Health Sciences and Surgery): Winner, ABRCMS Presentation Awards in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health 2020 

Sofia Ledesema (Mentor: Keny Pinkerton, Pediatrics- School of Medicine, Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine): Winner, ABRCMS Presentation Awards in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health 2020 

Bianca Puente (Mentor: Leigh Ann Simmons, Human Ecology) 

Neha Singh (Mentor: Kent Pinkerton Pediatrics- School of Medicine, Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine) 

2019 

Sheccid Torres (Mentor: Kent Pinkerton, Pediatrics- School of Medicine, Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine) 

Earl Morales (Mentor: Miriarm Nuno, Public Health Sciences and Surgery): Winner, ABRCMS Presentation Awards in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health 2019 

2018

Yemi Lawrence (Mentor: Michelle Ko, Public Health Sciences) 

Lia Lopez (Mentor: Efrain Talamantes, Internal Medicine) 

Ricky Rios (Mentor: Miriarm Nuno, Public Health Sciences and Surgery) 

Rosario Lopez (Mentor: Lorena Garcia, Public Health Sciences) 

2017

Sonam Kumari (Mentor: Michelle Ko, Public Health Sciences) 

Veronica Zepeda Pontifes (Mentor: Miriam Nuno, Public Health Sciences and Surgery)

All are welcome

UC Davis adheres to California's Proposition 209 which prohibits discrimination against or giving preferential treatment to any individual or group in public employment, public education, or public contracting on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.