Hannah Collins grew up in East Africa, the oldest child of Christian missionaries. Though she visited the US on regular vacations, Hannah never lived here until she attended college. “It’s difficult to transition to the United States after living in a place like Kenya. You can’t expect people who have never lived abroad to understand how different this country is from other places.”

Hannah graduated from Azusa Pacific University in biology and accepted a one-year internship at the UPMC Center for Health Security. Despite its UMPC designation, the center is located in Baltimore where founder DA Henderson, a prominent physician who led the initiative to eliminate smallpox in the world, has a long affiliation with Johns Hopkins.

“Health security is bio warfare, bio terrorism, and our response to such acts. CHS studies our health policies about pandemics, explores how hospitals can be prepared, and analyzes the public health consequences that can ensure health security.”

Hannah is leaving Baltimore to begin a Master’s in Public Health at Columbia this fall, a program renowned for its focus on global health.

How will we live tomorrow?

“As a faith-based individual – I’m a Christian – I would like to see people treat each other better, to have people focus on solving our collective problems rather than focusing on our own problems. That’s what, ideally, I’d like to do.”