About the Program
The BCPH Research Scholars Program offers a strategic approach to realizing your academic and professional aspirations!
Learn how to translate your research ideas into real, published work with strategic support from the Boston Congress of Public Health Research Scholars Program (RSP). The RSP, which is now accepting applications for its Fall 2026 cohort, supports aspiring public health professionals, clinicians, and scholars in advancing their research, writing, and publication skills through one-on-one mentorship with leading faculty.
✨ Over an intensive 12 weeks, RSP scholars will:
Plan now, and walk into the new academic year with momentum, and peer-reviewed scholarship already underway.
Click here to meet past RSP scholars and learn more, and here (or the button below) to apply!
Complete one publication, one research poster, and one live webinar presentation alongside expert faculty mentorship.
Work closely with experienced faculty in the public health field through bi-weekly sessions tailored to your research goals.
Gain a meaningful edge for medical school, public health school, and residency applications through publication and presentation experience.
🎓 Are you a seasoned researcher? We’re also recruiting faculty mentors!
Help shape the next generation of public health scholars. As an RSP mentor, you’ll guide a scholar through their research and co-author work for publication in BCPHR.
👉 Apply to Be a Faculty MentorSpots are limited and strong applications take time, so start the cycle right and get yours in now. Know someone ready to make this their year? Forward this their way. 🙌
An intensive 12-week program supporting aspiring public health professionals, clinicians, and aligned scholars to advance their research, writing, and publication skills through one-on-one mentorship with leading faculty.
Catch up on our Research Scholar Program honoring webinars, where scholars present their research alongside their faculty mentors and the broader BCPH community celebrates their work. Recordings from both cohorts are available to watch now.
Spring 2026 Cohort
Three outstanding scholars conducting research in maternal and newborn health, insurance and avoidable emergency care, and the cognitive health of sexual and gender minority populations exposed to gun violence, each paired with a senior faculty mentor for one-on-one guidance through their 12-week program.
Scholar & Mentor Pairing
2026 Scholar
Felician University • Undergraduate ABSN Program
Lucy is a nursing student at Felician University dedicated to promoting equitable and culturally sensitive care in underserved communities, particularly in maternal and community health. As an aspiring Labor and Delivery nurse, she is passionate about addressing disparities in maternal and child health by examining how social determinants such as racism, stress, food insecurity, and limited prenatal access shape pregnancy outcomes.
Her research with BCPH explores how targeted education tools can improve prenatal health literacy among first-time mothers, with a focus on early recognition of complications such as preeclampsia and preterm labor. The work has reinforced her commitment to maternity and newborn health outcomes, particularly in communities where access to evidence-based prenatal information remains limited.
Faculty Mentor
Howard University • Member, BCPH Board of Directors
Dr. Kamilah Marie Woodson is a tenured Full Professor in the School of Education at Howard University, Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies, and a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience. She previously served as Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair, and Director of Training for the APA-accredited Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program at Howard University.
Dr. Woodson has published more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, served on over 100 doctoral dissertation committees, and chaired more than 40. Her scholarly work focuses on global colorism, friendship among women of color, and culturally grounded mental health interventions, including her edited volume Colorism: Investigating a Global Phenomenon, with Implications for Research, Policy and Practice (2020).
In 2024, she founded Epiphany Psychological Solutions, LLC, a psychological technology company dedicated to culturally responsive digital mental health innovation, with the Epiphany App scheduled to launch in 2026.
Scholar & Mentor Pairing
2026 Scholar
University of Southern California • Quantitative Biology, Healthcare Policy
Nickol is a public health advocate and aspiring researcher at the University of Southern California, majoring in Quantitative Biology with a minor in Healthcare Policy. Her academic background integrates scientific training with a strong focus on public health, health equity, and policy, supported by coursework in race and health, medical ethics, and the social determinants of health.
Her experiences as a healthcare interpreter, mental health curriculum developer, and youth policy leader, grounded in lived experience from South Central Los Angeles, have shaped her commitment to underserved communities. Her research examines how structural factors such as housing insecurity, language access, and systemic racism impact health outcomes, and how emerging technologies like AI can either exacerbate or mitigate health inequities.
Her research with BCPH, co-authored with Dr. Le Compte, is a three-paper series on Insurance Type, Clinical Severity, and Avoidable Emergency Department Use in New York State, drawing on more than 1.8 million SPARCS discharges. The series moves from describing the puzzle, to explaining its correlates, to decomposing it through counterfactual mediation analysis, with a headline finding that privately insured adults, not publicly insured or uninsured adults, carry the highest adjusted odds of avoidable ED use.
Faculty Mentor
Co-CEO, BCPH • Co-Editor-in-Chief, BCPHR
Dr. Circe Gray Le Compte (she/her/hers) has served as editor-in-chief and co-editor-in-chief of BCPHR since 2015, and was part of the journal's founding board, as Deputy Editor, in 2014. She is also Co-CEO of The Boston Congress of Public Health, which publishes BCPHR.
In addition to these leadership roles, she serves as Chief Technology Officer and heads BCPH Studio. She is Executive Producer of Great Health Debates and co-Producer of The Humor Scientist with Matt Kazam, and is the creator of the forthcoming Public Health History Mysteries.
Dr. Le Compte holds Master of Science and Doctor of Science degrees from Harvard University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she majored in social and behavioral sciences theory and research methods, and racial and sexual and gender minority health. Her independent research inquiries have focused on the use of novel interventions, such as soap operas and PhotoVoice, to improve the health outcomes of medically underserved populations.
Scholar & Mentor Pairing
2026 Scholar
Physician-Scientist • Neuroimmunology & Therapeutic Apheresis
Dr. Garima Siwach is a physician-researcher (MBBS, MD) with advanced training in Transfusion Medicine and a strong research focus on neuroimmunology and therapeutic apheresis. Her MD thesis and peer-reviewed publications examined plasma exchange versus IVIG in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, reflecting her interest in clinical outcomes research and evidence-based interventions.
She has presented her work at international conferences and is actively involved with the American Society for Apheresis through its research and neurological subcommittees. Her clinical observerships in neurology, internal medicine, and psychiatry across the United States and India, combined with a strong foundation in biostatistics, academic writing, and translational research, position her well to contribute meaningfully to population-based and public health research initiatives at BCPH.
Her research with BCPH is a systematic review of Gun Violence Exposure, Social Safety, and Cognitive Health Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations in the United States, examining how exposure to firearm-related violence intersects with structural safety and downstream cognitive health outcomes in SGM communities.
Faculty Mentor
Co-CEO, BCPH • Co-Editor-in-Chief, BCPHR
Dr. Le Compte mentors both Nickol Georgy and Dr. Garima Siwach this cohort, bringing her social epidemiology and mixed-methods expertise to two complementary research programs: insurance and avoidable ED use in New York State with Nickol, and the cognitive health of sexual and gender minority populations exposed to gun violence with Dr. Siwach.
Her doctoral training at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health combined social and behavioral sciences theory and research methods with racial, sexual, and gender minority health, which directly informs the systematic review framework underlying Dr. Siwach's BCPH project.
Past Cohort
Our 2025 cohort presented research at a special November 30, 2025 informational session, exploring immigrant health trajectories and emergency care utilization in New York.
University of Southern California • Health and Human Sciences, Law and Social Justice minor
Mia is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Southern California. She presented findings from her systematic literature review on Immigrant Advantage, Generational Change, and Structural Influences (2019–2025): Cardiovascular Health Trajectories of Afro-Caribbean Immigrants in the United States.
University of Southern California • Health Promotion, Quantitative Biology
Nickol is a public health advocate and aspiring researcher with academic training from the University of Southern California. Her 2025 research focused on The Association of Insurance Type with Use of Emergency Care in New York and AI Innovations to Mitigate Avoidable Emergency Department Use.
Recruitment for the Fall 2026 cohort opens this summer. Tuition for accepted scholars is $600 and covers all programmatic activities, including publication and presentation charges. We also welcome inquiries from those interested in serving as Faculty for the Research Scholar Program.
