MPH student named national graduate student ambassador and WNY Prosperity Fellow

Srikrithi Krishnan, a second-year student in the School of Public Health and Health Professions’ Master of Public Health program, has been selected by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) for its 2023-24 This Is Public Health (TIPH) Graduate Student Ambassador Program. Krishnan is the school’s first ASPPH national public health student ambassador.

TIPH fosters connections between students from other institutions to advance public health education and broaden the pool of future public health professionals. The student ambassadors accomplish this through social media takeovers, presentations at local schools and participation as ambassadors at virtual fairs organized by TIPH. Students also gain professional development and the ability to network with professionals in their field.

Krishnan, who had the honor of introducing Vice President Kamala Harris at UB last fall and again at an event at the vice president's official residence in Washington, D.C., says that she’s looking forward to this journey and is excited to work with the other graduate ambassadors and build new connections in the community.

Krishnan was also recently chosen as part of the 2023-24 cohort of the UB Western New York (WNY) Prosperity Fellowship Program. Supported by the Prentice Family Foundation, the program recognizes graduate students with an entrepreneurial drive for economic development and growth in the Western New York area.

Krishnan first applied for the fellowship toward the end of her senior year as an undergraduate public health major and was selected in the first year of graduate school. She reapplied and was selected again the following year. Her goal through this fellowship is to create or manage a nonprofit organization to deliver affordable and equitable health care services to individuals who do not have access to it.

The fellowship provides her the opportunity to make connections both inside the cohort and in the community.

“One of the cool perks of the fellowship is an Explorer Pass to explore Buffalo. Last year we visited the Buffalo AKG Art Museum while it was under construction and got to learn about its history,” Krishnan says.