Hello! I’m Prachi Verma (pronouns she/her), a fifth year transfer student. As a transfer student, I felt extremely pressed for time to explore different opportunities and develop both professionally and academically in my two short years. Over time though, I learned that every “lost” opportunity opened more doors than it shut. I shifted my focus more on my interests rather than what I felt professional schools would want to see from me. My firsthand experience with healthcare has driven my critical lens of pedagogy and conventional healthcare and public health practices.
Exercise has been put on the back burner for many people this year. With quarantine orders and having to stay indoors, sometimes it seems like getting through the day is a workout in itself! We, as your GDB Advising Team, want to give some recommendations for how to increase exercise time every week, and how to diversify your exercise routine (all while following safety guidelines, of course!). Daily exercise yields great physical benefits, including a healthy heart, lungs, and strong muscles that protect your bones and hold you upright.
Hello fellow GDBers! My name is Jason Singson and I am a 2019 graduate of the GDB major as well as a 2020 graduate of the MPH program at UC Davis. I currently am a CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow for COVID-19 at the California Department of Public Health. GDB provided a great foundation for my MPH and my fellowship - from LOGIC models and incident command system in GDB 102, SIR models of GDB 101 and VME 158, and the endless phylogenetic trees of EVE 100. However, I am most grateful for the 25 units of restricted electives!
My name is Paola Vidal-Espinoza and I am a first-generation student graduating this Fall. As a first-gen, like many others, I was really lost and had a hard time finding where I belonged. I switched my major three times before finally finding my fit as GDB. I am really proud to be a part of a college and major that emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to solving our world’s health challenges. I am grateful for the opportunities GDB has provided that have helped me in finding my voice.
What a year we’ve all had! I’ve just graduated in June after 3 years at Davis as a transfer student, and now I am leaving the GDB advising team after 2.5 years of advising.
Students hear all the time that sleep is important, but studies show that quality sleep for college students can be compromised by a multitude of factors, including heavy workload, family/relationship/roommate conflict, as well as anxiety and depression. Additionally, prolonged periods of screen time and low physical activity (which are especially prevalent in our lives right now as online students) can compromise college students’ sleep patterns even more.
Last Thursday, we participated in the Undergraduate Research Week with a Practicum Open House. We talked about logistics of the practicum, what it's like to mentor the practicum, and we had a showcase of previous practicum projects.
A wonderful part of UC Davis is the plethora of Student-Run Clinics on campus. They have been around for over 35 years and are scattered throughout the greater Sacramento area. All the SRCs have their niche populations but essentially operate under the same umbrella of providing free health care services to the uninsured and underserved populations in Sacramento.
Hello, current Global Disease Biology students! My name is Jackson Barr Stuart; I am currently a second year Pathobiology Ph.D. student at University of Washington, and in my former life I was the first peer adviser for GDB and a member of the 2017 graduating class. I have been so thrilled and proud to see our program grow and develop over the years, and I look forward to seeing the continued successes of all current and future students!
All good things come to an end, and I am sad to announce that my time as a peer advisor and student has too. The last four years at UC Davis have been unforgettable. I will surely miss riding my bike across our beautiful campus, catching a break to grab coffee with friends, and engaging in all things disease. Most importantly, I will miss all of the exchanges I've shared with strangers, friends, and mentors. Our diverse Global Disease Biology department has been pivotal to my growth as a student, and I want to take a moment to thank everyone.
If you are a student facing adverse circumstances due to the COVID-19 crisis, linked below are some tools, resources and information that can assist you during this challenging time. The GDB advising department will also be sending out a weekly newsletter that will have updated information on assistance programs for UC Davis students specifically.
As a GDB student, you are probably wondering what UC Davis research opportunities will look like during the COVID-19 Pandemic. If you are a GDB junior or senior, you might be thinking “How am I going to complete my Practicum Project?” As the pandemic has progressed, virtual and computer-based research opportunities have appeared in many labs around UC Davis. In this post, two of our GDB Peer Advisors will be sharing their experiences doing research from home!
