Alumni honors for 2008
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A global health leader and a CDC nutrition expert received this year's alumni awards from the RSPH.
Taroub Harb Faramand, 95MPH, was honored with the Distinguished Achievement Award for her efforts to empower women in communities and guide the development of institutions to improve health nationally and globally. As senior vice president for global health programs with Project Hope, Faramand oversees a network of core and field staff responsible for more than 80 programs in 36 countries. Trained as a physician in Russia, she has 25 years of clinical and management experience in reproductive health, maternal and child health, and hiv/aids.
"She is a visionary leader and strategic thinker who puts ideas into action," said Dixie Snider, 84MPH, last year's Distinguished Achievement Award recipient. While Faramand is known for her international leadership, she never lost sight of the value of working with communities. From developing a microcredit program for women in rural Egypt to designing literacy booklets in local languages, Faramand has a gift for "lifting up those most in need," said Snider.
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| Taroub Harb Faramand | Leisel Talley |
Leisel Talley, 00MPH, has helped make a difference in the lives of people affected by human catastrophe. For these efforts, she received the Matthew Lee Girvin Award, presented to young professionals who have improved the lives and health of others. The award honors the memory of Girvin, a 1994 graduate who died in 2001 during a U.N. surveying mission.
Since Talley joined the International Emergency and Refugee Health branch of the CDC eight years ago, she has assessed the nutritional needs of populations in Sudan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Tanzania. In 2006, working with UNICEF, the World Food Program, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and the ministries of health and agriculture in Sudan, she completed an emergency food security and nutrition assessment in war-torn Darfur, which informed government and humanitarian assistance in that region. Talley also developed culturally appropriate mental health interventions for Karenni refugees in Thailand who fled there from Burma to escape civil war and persecution.
In the course of her work, she often heeds the advice of global health professor Stan Foster. "He taught us to expect the best but be prepared for the worst," said Talley, upon accepting her award. And like Foster, she shares lessons learned with her own students in the RSPH, where she teaches the course "Food and Nutrition in Humanitarian Emergencies" as an adjunct faculty member.
