Lincoln Scholar Rachel Cooper ’20 accepted into Johns Hopkins Global Health Economics Program

Centre College Lincoln Scholar and economics and finance major Rachel Cooper ’20 (Louisville, Kentucky), who is also on a pre-med track, has been accepted into the Global Health Economics Program at Johns Hopkins University.

This program at the Bloomberg School of Public Health is a one-year program that teaches students how to use economic tools to solve global health issues. Students focus on four core components: economics, econometrics, biostatistics and epidemiology. The program also offers a number of electives and research opportunities in international health.

“I am extremely excited to be attending the global health economics program in the fall,” Cooper said. “This program will help me further prepare myself to become a physician with a global perspective on health. I aspire to become a physician who collaborates with professionals from all over the world to provide my patients and community with the best healthcare possible.”

Cooper said she has always been interested in the intersection between economics and medicine. She believes this program in Global Health Economics is a perfect balance of the two fields.

“The program will provide me with the knowledge and skills necessary for me to achieve my future aspirations,” she added. “My passion for medicine and economics is perfectly united by the master of health science in global health economics. Johns Hopkins’ program is the ideal academic environment for me as I seek to work with others in the health field to make positive impacts across the globe. This is the perfect program for me.”

Throughout her Centre experience, Cooper said her economics and science classes have prepared her well for this opportunity.

“In fact, my project from Dr. Bruce Johnson’s ECO 390 class helped me get a research position with an environmental epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health,” she explained. “Through the support of Centre’s LUCE Grant and the Lincoln Scholars Program, I was able to travel to Hong Kong to conduct research with Dr. Tian last summer.”

As a member of the inaugural cohort of Lincoln Scholars, Robert Schalkoff, director of Lincoln Scholars Program, said Cooper has been focused and intentional in the way she’s planned her summer enrichment experiences for the program.

“She volunteered at Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children in Costa Rica for her first themed summer, combined volunteering in Argentina with a study abroad course in economics for her second summer, and then pursued her Independent Pre-professional Project in Hong Kong last summer,” Schalkoff said. “All of these experiences combined with her academic work and her incredible drive have gotten Rachel to this point. I’m really excited for her and hopeful for a future with Lincoln Scholars, like Rachel, in it.”