Congratulations to DrPH candidates Ginny McCathy, MPH, MDiv and Leslie Barnard, MPH on being selected to receive a Colorado School of Public Health Hoffman Firearm Injury and Violence Prevention Scholarship! The Hoffman Scholarship is awarded to incoming or continuing students in a masters or doctoral program at the Colorado School of Public Health. Students were selected via a faculty panel in which they demonstrated high academic potential and aspiration to work on the prevention of firearm injury and death (including suicide) in federal, state, or local public health agencies.
Ginny McCarthy, MPH, MDiv 
Ginny McCarthy is a first year DrPH student in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health. Prior to beginning doctoral studies, Ginny completed her Master of Public Health at Loyola University Chicago and her Master of Divinity from Boston College. During her time in Chicago, Ginny worked in student-facing administration at Loyola’s Health Sciences Campus while also working closely with the Public Health Sciences and Emergency Medicine departments on topics of community engagement with a specific focus on firearm injury and prevention and social enterprise. Ginny hopes through her doctoral studies to incorporate geospatial analysis and community-initiated firearm safety practices into her work of firearm injury and prevention.
Leslie Barnard, MPH 
Leslie is a second year DrPH student in the Epidemiology program. She received her MPH in Epidemiology from Tulane University and her BA in Biology from the University of Vermont. Leslie’s previous work as an epidemiologist in state and local health departments included various injury and violence prevention programs; specifically firearm injury, suicide and opioid overdose research, surveillance, and response. Currently, Leslie is working as a research assistant on several projects to understand firearm safety and prevent firearm injuries and suicide.
April 23, 2024