Lizbeth Alvarez, AltaMed Health Graduate Fellow
Hometown: Long Beach, California
School: The George Washington University
Degree: M.P.H. in Global Health Policy
Placement: Office of Senator Kamala Harris
Lizbeth is a first generation Mexican-American, with her parents immigrating to the United States in the late 1980s from Guadalajara, Mexico. Lizbeth earned her B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Healthcare Policy from Mount Saint Mary’s University, and her M.PH. in global health policy from The George Washington University (GWU) Milken Institute of Public Health.
During her time at GWU, she worked as a research assistant for Community Health Care for Asthma Management and Prevention of Symptoms project, and was part of the Black Public Health Student Network (BPHSN), serving first as community liaison and then president. Lizbeth also interned at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) through the Edmundo Granda Ugalde Leaders in International Health Program (LIHP). Over the past two years as a member of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA) policy committee, Lizbeth has helped develop its policy development infrastructure. She is one of the founding members of the Women’s Caucus within the LMSA Policy Committee, and is currently serving as its inaugural Vice-Chair.
Upon graduation, Lizbeth worked as a research assistant at Harder+Company Community Research, where she assisted with quantitative and qualitative primary data collection and analysis for various community health projects. She was selected as a fellow for the Mount Sinai Minority Exchange Program, working at the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) in Murcia, Spain where she researched impacts of environmental factors on the health of children. Most recently, Lizbeth was a Microbiology adjunct-professor at Mount Saint Mary’s University.
As a CHCI Health Fellow, Lizbeth is eager to gain hands-on experience on federal policy making and gain the skills necessary to pursue a public health career in the nation’s capital, while working on behalf of the underserved communities. Her parents’ work ethic and resilience have served as Lizbeth’s driving force in her passion of working towards health equity in underserved communities.