Student Experience

6 Rotary Global Grant recipients are packing their bags to study abroad

Six University of Virginia alumni will continue their research and studies in the United Kingdom and Italy, thanks to Rotary Global Grants.

The $40,000, one-year scholarships are designed for students pursuing graduate studies outside of the United States in one of Rotary International’s seven focus areas: peace and conflict prevention/resolution; disease prevention and treatment; water and sanitation; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; economic and community development; and environmental support.

Ella Reithinger

Ella Reithinger will attend the University of Cambridge in London to pursue a master’s degree in population health sciences, aiming to focus on infectious disease research.

Ella Reithinger says she plans to learn about communicable diseases and how to research them. (Contributed photograph)

Reithinger, of Falls Church, is a May graduate in biology with highest distinction in the distinguished majors program. With her background in the biological sciences, she plans to pursue a public health career.

“I aim to learn about communicable diseases, specifically how to conduct scientific research to investigate them and how to analyze data to develop potential solutions,” Reithinger said.

Following her master’s, she said she hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in the public health field. Long-term, Reithinger aims to lead research teams in global operational programs to tackle the most pressing health needs of countries and local communities.

“Since living in Ethiopia between the ages of 4 and 9, I have understood the importance of public health, witnessing how local communities were massively impacted by preventable communicable diseases – often compounded by poor infrastructure and limited resources,” she said.

She saw the impact of groundbreaking scientific research and effective countermeasures in substantially reducing infections and strengthening health care services. This initial interest in infectious diseases was confirmed during her internships with the National Institutes of Health, where she worked as a researcher in the Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology.

At UVA, Reithinger was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Raven Society, served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Biology and worked in Herve Agaisse’s laboratory in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. Additionally, she earned first place at the 41st Annual Richard D. Katz Distinguished Majors Research Symposium for her final thesis presentation.

Samantha Grace Upson

Samantha Grace Upson will attend the University College of London to get a master’s in global health and development, focusing on diabetes prevention, awareness and intervention in other countries.

Samantha Grace Upson says her long-term goal is to become a physician focused on preventing non-communicable diseases in underserved areas. (Contributed photo)

Upson, of Crimora, is a May graduate who majored in applied statistics, with a concentration in biostatistics.

“This scholarship allows for me to focus on a research topic I am passionate about before attending medical school,” Upson said. “I will get to take classes on global politics and health to expand my educational background. My long-term goal is to become a physician focused on preventing and treating non-communicable diseases in underserved areas.”

Upson was drawn to medicine while a patient at UVA Health University Medical Center.

“I was treated at UVA because of the specialists and renowned care available here,” Upson said. “This inspired me to become a physician myself. I also saw the potential for research to make a difference for a lot of patients.”

Upson was part of nephrology and metabolic dysfunction research in Dr. Uta Erdbrügger’s lab, focusing on extracellular vesicles, which are explored as novel messengers in cellular communication and as minimally invasive biomarkers in kidney disease.

Upson has presented her work at several national and international conferences. She was part of an immersive research internship in the UVA Nephrology Division funded by a NIH grant, and received a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award and multiple College of Arts & Sciences Small Travel and Research grants.

At UVA, Upson was vice president of Baking Challah for Hunger, which raises money for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, and active in the Kidney Screening Awareness and Prevention through the UVA Nephrology division. She is a member of the Raven Society and plans to keep working as a nurse assistant in the Neuroscience ICU at UVA until she leaves for London in September.

Grace Gray

Grace Gray will pursue a master’s degree in food studies, focusing on policies for sustainable production and consumption, at the American University of Rome.

Grace Gray says she wants to use her Rotary Scholarship to address structural social and economic inequalities underlying food insecurity. (Contributed photo)

Gray, of Shelburne, Vermont, is a 2024 graduate with degrees in global development studies and environmental thought and practice. While at UVA, Gray was a Jefferson and Echols scholar, part-time instructor at CBI Forest School and service chair for the UVA Outdoors Club.

Gray said she wants to address structural social and economic inequalities underlying food insecurity, both at home and abroad.

“I strive to co-create a world where nourishing, sustainable and dignified food is accessible to all, not just to the few who can afford it,” she said. “This type of unfettered food dignity should be a right, not a privilege, and I hope to globally solidify this right by reforming food access networks into places of solidarity, rather than charity.”

Gray said the American University’s program is a natural extension of Rome’s food-focused landscape and the slow-food movement.

Discovery and Innovation: Daily research. Life-changing results.

“After daily classes taught by internationally renowned food systems leaders, I’ll spend afternoons studying alongside my 12-person cohort or tending to crops at our campus experiential learning farm,” she said. “In doing so, I’ll investigate food systems at all scales, from digging my hands in the soil to drafting policy.”

After graduation, Gray moved to Vermont, where she has worked as the community-supported agriculture coordinator at Jericho Settlers Farm until April, when she became a food access fellow at the Intervale Center in Burlington.

Lydia Kim

Lydia Kim will pursue a master’s degree in global security and borders at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Lydia Kim’s research focuses on climate change migration along coastal communities. (Contributed photo)

“My research focus in the program will be on climate change migration along coastal communities, culminating in the dissertation during the summer term,” Kim said. “I aim to understand the experience of these groups and visualize a responsive framework for coastal migration and refugee displacement. I’ll be using photovoice to understand those perspectives across the Emerald Isle.”

Photovoice is a qualitative research method where people share their lived experiences through photography and collaborate to approach a community issue. A photographer, Kim believes that storytelling through imagery is a powerful way to engage with others.

Kim, of Fairfax, completed her undergraduate program in December, earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in global commerce in culture and society and in environmental thought and practice.

Kim said the Queens University program merged her interests in sustainable development and the environmental challenge of rising sea levels. She developed an interest in coastal communities and climate solutions while writing her capstone projects. The course parallels these topics and the complexities of migration and belonging, particularly through Ireland’s history with the United Kingdom.

At UVA, Kim was co-president of Simple Charity at UVA, a college chapter focused on growing in solidarity with people experiencing poverty and injustice, president of SEEK His Face Interfellowship Ministry and a contributing writer and designer for Bearings, an Augustine Collective journal.

Owen Robert Selden

Owen Robert Selden will pursue a master’s degree in global health science and epidemiology at the University of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.

Owen Robert Selden says his interest in health systems and their impact led him to pursue research on environmental health in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Contributed photo)

Selden, of Charleston, South Carolina, graduated in May with a degree in human biology, with highest distinction, and a minor in health, society and ethics. He became interested in health systems while researching a pediatric intensive care unit in Kigali, Rwanda, as a rising third-year student.

“This interest in systems and their impact on health led me to pursue research on environmental health in Kathmandu, Nepal,” he said. “The connection between the built environment, a social construction, and social problems with clinical outcomes have inspired my interest in becoming a physician-scientist and clinical ethicist. I aim to address structural problems outside of the clinic through research and ethics consultation, while combating their impact in the clinic for patients.”

Selden said he was influenced by Paul Farmer, a medical anthropologist and physician, and his writing on the role of structural violence and historic inequities in shaping global disparities in life expectancy. Selden sought to understand how violence and poverty have influenced the distribution of global mortality from preventable and treatable diseases.

Selden was an Echols Scholar, the B.H. Rutledge Moore Family Jefferson Scholar and a Paul B. Barringer II Scholar. He was a three-time Center for Global Health Equity University Scholar, and a recipient of a Burns Family Global Health scholarship, a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award, an Ingrassia Family Research Grant, and a College of Arts & Sciences Small Travel and Research grant.

A Raven Society member and a Lawn resident, Selden was the team coordinator and cofounder of the Partners in Health Engage Undergraduate Chapter, co-editor-in-chief of Grounds: The Virginia Journal of Bioethics, senior resident on the Lawn, a Center for Global Health Equity intern, a trainee on UVA’s Ethics Consult Service, a research assistant for multiple professors and a biomedical ethics intern at the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics.

Alexandra Zaffuts

Alexandra Zaffuts will pursue a Master of Science in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Alexandra Zaffuts says she wants to study in the United Kingdom due to how fundamentally its healthcare system juxtaposes the U.S.’s system. (Contributed photo)

Zaffuts, of Great Falls, graduated in May with a degree in integrated bioethics and a minor in astronomy. She said she became interested in public health and policy after becoming an emergency medical technician. “As an EMT, you see firsthand the inequities in our health system and its impact on individuals,” she said.

“Studying public health and health policy in the United Kingdom is compelling to me due to how fundamentally its health care system juxtaposes the U.S.’s system,” Zaffuts said. “I’m excited to gain new perspectives on how to begin tackling our systemic problems while deepening my research skills at the same time.”

Zaffuts said she is interested in academic medicine, where she can combine clinical care with research, teaching and community health.

“As an undergraduate at UVA, I had the opportunity to pursue all these disciplines and saw how interconnected they can be,” she said. “In the future, I hope to work in a similar environment as a physician, where I can care for individuals while also advancing the care provided in my community.”

Zaffuts was an Echols Scholar, co-head ambassador of the Echols program, two-time recipient of the Ingrassia Family Research Grant, and recipient of the Harrison Undergraduate Research Award. While at UVA, she was an EMT with the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad; a research assistant in professor Weibin Shi’s radiology and medical imaging lab; a teaching assistant in the Physics Department and the Nursing School; a clinical ethics intern at the Center for Health Humanities and Ethics; a weekly volunteer at the University Medical Center; and a member of UVA’s concert band, double-reed chamber ensemble and marching band.