Introducing the 2026 Place Project Ambassadors
The SDOH & Place Fellowship Program
The SDOH & PLACE Fellowship, sponsored by the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a part-time virtual program. It focuses on guiding ambassadors through modules to develop data-driven visualizations related to social determinants of health (SDOH), with an emphasis on human-centered and participatory design principles. Participants will present a final deliverable during the SDOH & Place Symposium.
We received nearly 70 competitive applications for the fellowship program, highlighting the desire for a program that pairs SDOH, geospatial visualizations, and community-driven design principles. After selecting 15 talented individuals, we are excited to introduce the 2026 cohort of the SDOH & Place Fellowship Program!
Come see the ambassadors share their final project prototypes at the upcoming SDOH & Place Symposium in Chicago on September 23-25, 2026. Read about the fellows below!
Alicia Adiwidjaja
Spatial Data Scientist
Alicia Adiwidjaja is a spatial data scientist whose work lies in the heart of population, health, and place. Her current role at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) leverages geospatial methods to enrich patient electronic health records with social, economic, and environmental context to advance both pediatric health system research and operations.
Potential App Type: Data Dashboard
Chinaza Aham-Neze
Wellesley College
Chinaza Aham-Neze is studying Data Science, Economics, and Africana Studies at Wellesley College with a strong interest in the intersection of public health, health equity, and data-driven analysis. Growing up in Houston as a Nigerian American, she developed an early awareness of how structural and environmental factors shape health outcomes across communities.
Potential App Type: Asset/Thematic Map
Rey Flores
Brown University, Department of Behavioral and Social Health Sciences
Rey Flores is a doctoral candidate at Brown University’s School of Public Health in the Department of Behavioral and Social Health Sciences, working on developing sustainable tools to support transgender people’s health and well-being in the South. Their dissertation examines transgender men’s ability to access sexual and reproductive healthcare in the context of their geopolitical setting by identifying community assets via qualitative interviews.
Potential App Type: Asset Map
Hayes Hart-Thompson
University of Colorado Boulder
Hayes Hart-Thompson is a human geographer and educator whose work explores the intersections of displacement, health, and education. As a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder, their research examines how young people, particularly those from immigrant and displaced communities, navigate polycrisis and construct educational futures.
Potential App Type: Story/Thematic Map
Yali He-Schaefer
University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Geography
Yali He-Schaefer conducts research focuses on internal migration in China and international migration between China and the United States, with particular attention to reproductive health, gender, and family. Her current project examines cross-border reproductive care, exploring the motivations of individuals who travel overseas for reproductive assistance.
Potential App Type: Asset Map
Die Hu
University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Geography
Die (Diane) Hu is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she works with Prof. Konstantinos Goulias in the GeoTrans Lab. Her research focuses on applying geospatial data science and spatiotemporal modeling to examine the dynamics of human mobility, travel behavior, and urban accessibility.
Potential App Type: Data Dashboard
Jarah Jacquay
Clinical Nurse Leader, Defense Health Agency
Jarah Jacquay is a Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL), civic entrepreneur, and place-based public health practitioner working at the intersection of healthcare delivery, the built environment, and community resilience in Northwest Florida. He serves as a federal civil servant within the Defense Health Agency at Naval Hospital Pensacola.
Potential App Type: Story/Thematic Map
V. Syrretta Martin
Collective Healing, Founder
Syrretta Martin, Founder of Collective Healing, is a social worker and Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) student in Health Equity and Social Justice at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Utilizing spatial design, her SDOH and place-based data project will develop a disability-centered story map that examines how neighborhood conditions shape the lived experiences of Black women living with disabilities.
*Potential App Tyle: Story Map
Lauren McCalister
Cooperative Director
Lauren McCalister has cultivated cooperative local food initiatives in the Midwest. Lauren is a Black Queer farmer, rancher, food systems researcher, and textile artist. They served as the education chair and secretary on the Board of Directors for Bloomingfoods Co-op and chairs the Bloomington Food Policy Council.
Potential App Type: Story/Asset Map
Nicole Muñoz-Berastaín
Ponce Health Sciences University
Dr. Nicole Muñoz-Berastaín is a public health epidemiologist from Ponce, Puerto Rico, whose work centers on advancing health equity through research, surveillance, and community engagement. Through her work, she aims to bridge science and practice to improve population health outcomes in Puerto Rico.
Potential App Type: Asset Map
Jodi Roberts
University of Minnesota, School of Nursing
Jodi Roberts, MS, PHIT, is a PhD student at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing. Her research on health equity focuses on informing policy changes in healthcare and social services. The goal is to ensure all children thrive, regardless of location or complexity of needs. This research focus is a culmination of Jodi’s professional and lived experiences working with children and families who have complex medical needs
Potential App Type: Data Dashboard
Sirwan Salimi
Doctoral Instructional Assistant
Sirwan Salimi is a Ph.D. student in GIScience at Texas State University whose research explores how human-centered urban design and the built environment influence health and well-being across communities. Through this research, he aims to support healthier, more inclusive, and more responsive urban environments for diverse populations.
Potential App Type: Story Map/Data Dashboard
Karla Sanabria Véaz
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Karla Sanabria Véaz's project will be an ArcGIS StoryMap of embedded maps of San Juan, PR as a case study to visualize the role of English-only, non-Hispanic and higher income households in gentrification and employment. With the tool’s storytelling features, Karla will capture organizers’ stories of their struggle against gentrification and how it impacts their overall health wellbeing.
Potential App Type: Story/Thematic Map
Meher Singh
Research Consultant
Meher Singh is an applied mixed-methods Research Consultant with a passion for advancing population health and health equity. Her work focuses on understanding the lived experiences of patients and communities and integrating qualitative and quantitative insights to help build more inclusive and responsive health systems.
Potential App Type: Asset/Thematic Map
Peijin Sun
Researcher & AI Product Manager
Dr. Peijin Sun is a researcher working at the intersection of urban spatial analytics, health-related human behavior, and health equity. Her work focuses on leveraging multimodal data and AI-driven approaches to better understand how living environments and behavioral factors jointly shape health outcomes.
Potential App Type: Story Map/Data Dashboard
