Zeshan Chisty, one of 10 doctoral candidates nationwide to be named a 2023-24 APHA Kaiser Permanente Community Health Scholar, enrolled in GSU’s DrPH program to become a more effective public health leader.
Name: Zeshan Chisty
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Undergraduate and master’s degrees and institutions:
I completed my Bachelor of Science in Biology at the University of North Texas and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of the North Texas Health Science Center.
Tell us about your current position and role in public health:
Currently, I am an Epidemiologist in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I am responsible for coordinating DHQP’s efforts to prevent healthcare associated infections and antibiotic resistance within certain priority populations: US Affiliated Pacific Islands and Indian Health Services. I also have been involved in several public health emergency responses including COVID-19, mpox, Ebola and measles.
What led you to choose the Georgia State School of Public Health’s DrPH program?
I chose the GSU School of Public Health’s DrPH program because of its overarching commitment to health equity, diversity and inclusion. Additionally, it is a generalist program with several different elective courses that will allow me to improve my current set of skills and build new ones.
What’s your career aspiration, and how do you think the DrPH program will help you achieve that goal?
I believe the training from Georgia State University’s DrPH program would help make me a more effective leader and allow me to step into a leadership role at CDC. Additionally, I aspire to lead our division’s work in improving healthcare infection prevention and control and patient safety in rural and resource limited settings in a more systematic process. These settings face unique challenges when compared to larger and more urban areas, and I believe the experience and knowledge gained from the DrPH program would be extremely helpful in addressing some of these challenges.