Founder

My motto comes directly from my life experience. After getting my undergraduate degree from Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, I participated in clinical practice for two years. There was a lot to learn, but I always knew it wasn’t my end destination.

I knew my destiny in life was to have a big impact on the world.

Of course, being young, I wasn’t quite sure what that would look like—I only knew I had to constantly take steps to learn and grow into the person I knew I should be. So, I moved to the United States in 2002 with only $3,000 and a dream.

Moving to the a new country brought with it a range of challenges, such as finding a place to live, knowing how best to commute, finding the right on-campus job, the pressure of limiting my cost of living and, above all, getting my coursework started. Though these are common problems most international students encounter, my extremely limited resources meant there was no room of error.

Through every struggle, I remembered my motto: obstruction is opportunity, innovation is struggle.

It drove me to complete my Masters in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health. My goal was to promote the health of entire populations, rather than limiting myself to only patient management. I then earned my Ph.D. in Health Informatics in three years from the School of Biomedical Informatics at University of Texas, Houston by traveling between my home in Baltimore, Maryland and school in Houston, Texas.

I would describe my career journey of last 14 years as an academician, researcher, mentor, administrator, innovator and an entrepreneur.

Today, I am excited to say I’m making my ideas real.

As a Senior Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs of the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, I am committed to creating a student-centered environment, and high quality academic programs that focus on preparing the future public health workforce with the necessary 21st century skills. I’ve mentored a variety of students and helped several publish papers, including high school students.

I look forward to Reimagining Population Health IDEAS through the lens of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Sustainability. As Dean, School of Public Health at University of Memphis, my goal is to advance public health knowledge through educational excellence, innovative and scholarly research, and preparing a community of learners and leaders to improve the health and well-being of populations in the city of Memphis, the state, and around the world.