Jonathan Schultz
Jonathan Schultz is a fourth year medical student at the University of Iowa. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Burkina Faso from 2006 – 2009, and received his Master of Public Health focusing on Global Epidemiology from Emory University in 2011. While at Emory he was a Peace Corps Fellow working with underserved refugee populations in Atlanta. After receiving his MPH, he worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) STOP Polio Program in Senegal. His current areas of interest are in clinical research and epidemiology of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), specifically those in remote rural areas with limited access to healthcare. His passion for NTDs has resulted from working and living with populations while in the Peace Corps.
As a Kean Fellow, he will be working with two experts in parasitology and tropical medicine, Dr. Mary E. Wilson at the University of Iowa and collaborator Dr. Selma M.B. Jeronimo at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, Brazil. While in Brazil, Jonathan will be working clinically and studying the epidemiology of Schistosomiasis and Leishmaniasis and the effects of their co-infection. He will be exploring the environmental and patient risk factors of co-infection, and observing the clinical presentation and treatment of NTDs in Brazil. His career goals are to continue to work in global health and infectious diseases, and possibly work with the CDC or large non-governmental organization as a medical officer in a developing country.
Project: "Co-infection of Leishmania infantum and Schistosoma mansoni in Northeastern Brazil."
September 15, 2014 - October 31, 2014
Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
I am honored to be selected as a Kean Fellow. This fellowship will allow me to pursue my passions of working with patients and populations affected by NTDs.
What do you anticipate learning?
I am hoping to learn more about the clinical presentation of patients with NTDs and their appropriate treatments. I also hope to continue my ability to help conduct public health research on NTDs in settings with limited resources. Learning more about field research and global epidemiology will be helpful in pursuing my career goals of strengthening healthcare systems in developing countries.
What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
My interests in tropical medicine arose from serving as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso, West Africa. I lived in a remote rural village where many people were affected by tropical diseases. Working closely with the healthcare system and staff, I saw first hand how public health interventions and basic primary care can be effective if they are focused on the populations with the greatest need. These experiences provided the initial spark of interest that has started me down a path working with NTDs and in global health.
I am interested in learning more about NTDs and how their co-infection can possibly cause increased morbidity as well as how to help strengthen the capacity of healthcare systems affected by tropical diseases in resource limited settings.