Charles H. Rhea, MPH, G3
Research Mentor: Yuri van der Heijden, M.D., M.P.H.
Thesis Topic: Infectious disease epidemiology with a focus on tuberculosis.
Biography
Charles is originally from Louisville, Kentucky and completed his Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Western Kentucky University in 2015, before going on to receive his Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Kentucky in 2018. After completing Graduate School, he began working as an Epidemiologist with the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) in Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention and Control Program. During his time in this role, he also was a part of Kentucky’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team. The experience he received as an infectious disease epidemiologist is what sparked his interest in pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology to become a more skilled and technically distinguished researcher.
Why Vanderbilt?
The Vanderbilt PhD in Epidemiology program was my top choice for two reasons. First, was their alignment with my research interest in TB epidemiology. The Vanderbilt Tuberculosis Center provides a range of unique research opportunities within the field of TB both locally and internationally. Second, was the program’s commitment to hosting students from a variety of backgrounds in their cohorts. As someone with more experience in public health practice and applied epidemiology, I was reassured by the program’s reputation for training students from these various backgrounds into successful researchers.