Samantha Grounds
Summary
MPH candidate pursuing a career in international nutrition and global health, ready to apply education to provide technical support and monitoring and evaluation of programs to address malnutrition among different populations. Offers a strong scientific background in nutrition, qualitative and quantitative research skills, and experience collaborating with local and global partners to improve maternal and child nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.
Overview
4
4
years of professional experience
Work History
Research Assistant: Somalia CashPlus for Nutrition
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, MD
08.2023 - Current
- Collaborate with partners from Save the Children to assist with a randomized controlled trial to assess the effectiveness of a cash assistance program to prevent acute malnutrition among children-under-5 and pregnant and lactating women in Somalia
- Oversee qualitative research of a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial by creating focus group discussion and key informant individual guides, transcript templates, and a data analysis plan and meeting regularly with in-country partners to discuss data collection and methods
- Participate in weekly meetings with direct supervisor and with Johns Hopkins team and in biweekly meetings with larger research group, including partners from Save the Children international and in-country partners in Somalia
Postbaccalaureate Research Fellow
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD
06.2021 - 06.2023
- Investigated the role of iron chaperone Poly-C Binding Protein 1 (PCBP1) in macrophage iron homeostasis and inflammation response through in vitro and in vivo methods
- Communicated project findings effectively through research posters and oral presentations at six meetings with various audiences, such as at an elevator pitch event, demonstrating the ability to concisely and clearly articulate complex topics
- Collaborated with research mentors to intentionally design and accurately perform experimental protocols and assays to address research questions
- Analyzed quantitative data via Microsoft Excel and GraphPad Prism and interpret experimental results to inform next steps, demonstrating evidence-based decision making
- Developed scientific writing skills through composing abstracts for NIH-affiliated and external conferences
Research Assistant
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
08.2019 - 05.2021
- Coded in-depth interviews and focus group discussion summary manuscripts in Atlas.ti 8 for studies in Kenya and Tanzania and designed and wrote honors thesis, demonstrating qualitative research experience
- Collaborated with colleagues in the U.S. and Tanzania to develop search terms and inclusion and exclusion criteria and screen 530+ abstracts and 100 full-text articles using Covidence software for a scoping review
- Coordinated an in-depth interview project by developing a codebook with 60 codes, merging coded documents from colleagues, and maintaining a spreadsheet detailing the characteristics of 21 participants
- Synthesized intervention findings from 55 articles by creating a document listing 65+ proposed strategies and detailing 12 attempted interventions through constructing informative tables, benefiting research partners
- Contributed to peer-reviewed articles, such as by summarizing and drafting findings from focus group discussions, demonstrating writing skills
Consultant- USAID Advancing Nutrition
JSI Research & Training Institute
Arlington, VA
06.2020 - 08.2020
- Contributed to a literature review for JSI’s USAID Advancing Nutrition project
- Extracted data from 40+ literature articles into a categorized Excel spreadsheet and created a detailed Excel spreadsheet summarizing one topic from the literature review
- Proposed potential search terms with Boolean operators for a literature review, attended team meetings, and read background papers for the activity
Education
Master of Public Health Candidate - Food, Nutrition, And Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD05-2024
Bachelor of Science in Public Health - Nutrition Science & Research
University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC05-2021
Skills
- Qualitative Research
- Technical Writing
- Research Paper Writing
- Statistical Analysis
- Analyzing and Synthesizing Data
- Research Methods
- Literature Searches
- Teamwork and Collaboration
- Attention to Detail
- Project Planning
- Creating Presentations
- Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
- Public Presentations
Accomplishments
- Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, Theta Chapter, 2021
- Buckley Public Service Scholar, 2021
- Carolina Research Scholar, 2021
- Phi Beta Kappa Society, 2020
Affiliations
- NIH Academy on Health Disparities
- Data Analysis Volunteer, Moveable Feast
- Co-President, Nutrition Coalition at UNC-Chapel Hill
Timeline
Research Assistant: Somalia CashPlus for Nutrition
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
08.2023 - Current
Postbaccalaureate Research Fellow
National Institutes of Health
06.2021 - 06.2023
Consultant- USAID Advancing Nutrition
JSI Research & Training Institute
06.2020 - 08.2020
Research Assistant
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
08.2019 - 05.2021
Master of Public Health Candidate - Food, Nutrition, And Health
Johns Hopkins University
Bachelor of Science in Public Health - Nutrition Science & Research
University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill
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