Ahana Chowdhury, who earned an MPH degree in 2025 from Mount Sinai’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, started the program with a firm belief—that public health must extend beyond the clinic.
In the following Q&A, Ms. Chowdhury discusses what she learned and how her MPH can help advance her career.
What is your academic / career background?
I earned my Bachelor of Science in Biology, with minors in Chemistry and Business, from St. John’s University, graduating summa cum laude and being inducted into several academic honor societies. My background includes extensive patient care experience from years of volunteering and working in private clinical offices. Currently, I work part-time as a Cardiology Clinical Assistant and serve as Co-Director of the Programming Team for TCY Women, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing health equity for women.
What first attracted you to this field?
Growing up in New York City, I saw how health care often failed communities like mine. Living in boroughs such as Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, I witnessed firsthand how a person’s circumstances could determine their well-being. However, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that my understanding of health, both personal and systemic, was reshaped.
During the peak of the pandemic, my mother faced a critical health scare and was placed on a ventilator. Navigating that crisis while isolated from her care team underscored the deep disconnect between patients, families, and the medical system. This combination of personal crisis and population-level devastation cemented my drive to understand how public health works.
Through my MPH at Mount Sinai, I was able to immerse myself in patient-centered roles: sitting with isolated patients as a Chemo Companion, supporting individuals through abortion care as a Doula Project volunteer, and managing referrals at the student-run, physician supervised EHHOP [East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership] Clinic. These experiences deepened my belief that public health must extend beyond the clinic and be embedded in our systems and communities. I took on leadership roles with the Student Council DEIA Committee, The Doula Project, Women in Science at Mount Sinai, and as a Student Ambassador. I also contributed to a maternal health quality initiative, developed a women’s cardiovascular health literacy program for my capstone, and revised emergency preparedness materials for dialysis patients as a North HELP Coalition intern.
Who were your mentors at Mount Sinai?
I’ve had the privilege of being mentored by several outstanding faculty members. Dr. Elizabeth Garland, [Elizabeth J. Garland, MD, MS] my track advisor, offered support and thoughtful insight throughout the MPH program. Dr. Nils Hennig’s [Nils Hennig, MD, PhD] global health course helped ground my work in equity and ethics, while Dr. Maya Korin [Maya Rom Korin, PhD] and Dr. Lauren Zajac [Lauren M. Zajac, MD, PhD] shaped my understanding of community health and student-centered teaching.
What are some of your research highlights?
My most impactful research experience was as a Quality Analyst for the Student High-Value Care Initiative at Mount Sinai Morningside. Working on a maternal health quality improvement project, I helped address alarmingly high postpartum readmission rates for patients with preeclampsia, particularly in publicly insured populations. Our team aimed to reduce these readmissions from 22.7 percent to 8.1 percent by implementing three targeted interventions: (1) a patient-facing educational video from the Preeclampsia Foundation, (2) a redesigned blood pressure tracker to promote effective home monitoring, and (3) an improved telehealth follow-up workflow. We also analyzed the impact of social determinants on postpartum care utilization. This work was accepted for presentation at the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved Conference, where it won the ACOG [American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists] District II Medical Student Poster Contest.
I also served as a Research Assistant for a retrospective cohort study on the link between first-trimester pre-diabetic hemoglobin A1c levels and gestational diabetes risk. I conducted detailed chart reviews for more than 250 high-risk obstetric patients using EPIC and ECW, contributed to statistical analysis, and co-authored a manuscript currently in preparation for submission. These experiences deepened my passion for maternal health equity and translational research that improves outcomes for communities.
What are the strong points of the program?
Mount Sinai offered me an opportunity to explore the field of public health from multiple angles. One of the greatest strengths of the program was its ability to connect me with meaningful, hands-on experiences across departments and populations. Being part of a world-renowned health system in New York City gave me direct access to diverse patient populations and real-time public health challenges. The faculty were also a major highlight as their support helped me grow not just as a student, but as a practitioner. The program’s strong research infrastructure and academic resources were also key. I gained access to mentorship and institutional support that allowed my work to be presented at national conferences and prepared for publication.