CHER Welcomes New Interns!

CHER is pleased to introduce three new interns, Brandon Osborn, Esther Minju Lee, and Raiza Parada from the CSULB Department of Health Science. As graduating seniors majoring in Community Health Education, Brandon, Esther, and Raiza will be fulfilling their HSC 485 Internship course requirements under the mentorship of CHER staff members.  

Brandon, who is very concerned about social justice, health disparities, and minority health, is excited to contribute to the health equity research process. His interests within public health include: reducing HIV/AIDS transmission among the Latino population, preventing suicide among LGBTQ adolescents, as well as improving access to quality healthcare for all.

Esther, who has been volunteering at CHER since October of 2014, remarks, “We hear about health disparities all the time. I wanted to take action and I didn’t know where to start as a busy undergraduate student with a part-time job. Being able to participate in health equity research is giving me an opportunity to take action, right here on campus.” Health-related changes she would like to see in the community include: reducing health disparities through quality education, maximizing utilization of available health resources by the marginalized population, and increasing access to healthy and affordable food.

Raiza loves working with people and has a passion for helping others. She believes that being an intern at CHER gives her the perfect opportunity to do both through health equity research. Her education at CSULB has instilled her desire to decrease health disparities and increase access to quality healthcare in minority groups. Raiza’s interests in health equity research include sexual health, oral health, and diabetes prevention.

As CHER interns, Brandon, Esther, and Raisa will assist with grant proposal writing, quantitative and qualitative data collection, and data analysis.  As the evaluation lead for Building Healthy Communities Long Beach (BHCLB), a 10-year place-based initiative funded by The California Endowment, CHER also provides the interns an opportunity to be involved with an effective developmental evaluation approach that uses local, state, and national level data, and also input from community organizations and residents involved in BHCLB. An internship at CHER provides students with valuable skills for a career in health disparities research and as preparation for graduate level study.

For internship opportunities, contact Carol Canjura at carol.canjura@csulb.edu or (562) 985-2179.