Melissa Galinato, PhD, MPH has over 10 years of scientific research and teaching experience on topics including public health, the neuroscience of drug use, reproductive health, and the cognitive science of infant learning. Melissa's scientific endeavors have inspired her to pursue a Master's in Public Health at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health with a concentration in Health and Social Behavior. She now works as an Epidemiologist for the County of San Diego. 

Can you describe your academic and professional background? What path led you to pursue this field? 

The short version: I got a BS in Physiology and Neuroscience from UCSD, took a year off and worked for the Stanford Newborn Screening Program - part of CA Dept of Public Health, got a PhD in Neuroscience from UCSD studying the effects of meth on the rat brain, took a year off and worked for a yoga studio, and got a MPH at UC Berkeley. Now I'm an Epidemiologist!

The long version:

My path to public health started in high school with Science Olympiad competitions as a "Disease Detective." My love for public health became concrete in undergrad at UCSD as a Student Health Advocate (SHA). I was pre-med for a year when I saw many of my peers calling themselves pre-med - seemed like the cool thing to do. So I desperately sought out pre-med extracurriculars on top of working part time. I had 2 public health volunteer opportunities: 1) as a peer health educator (SHA) and 2) as a research associate in an emergency department. As a peer educator/SHA, I really enjoyed working on teams and forming partnerships for planning health events and training peers to educate college students on sexual health. I developed a broader appreciation for folks working to increase access to reproductive and sexual health education and care. This program would be key in connecting me to folks for informational interviews when I prepared my MPH applications.

When I was an undergrad, the public health major did not exist, and I majored in physiology and neuroscience. I also pursued opportunities in neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science research. There was also the year when I attempted to be a marine biologist, but I learned that I got seasick on boats and had a deep fear of drowning. Lots of layers to my undergrad journey. In 2010, I got accepted into the Howard Hughes Summer Scholars program to do biology research, which connected me with neuroscience labs and ultimately the Leutgeb lab where I spent my senior year learning about techniques to study learning and memory. My mentors encouraged me to apply to top neuroscience PhD programs and offered their support - thanks again Stefan and Jill!

After graduating, I followed my boyfriend who went to Stanford University for grad school, and I looked for jobs in health and biology research. My first job out of college was as a Community Liaison for the Stanford Newborn Screening Program, which is part of the CA Dept of Public Health. At the same time, I applied for PhD programs in Neuroscience, with a plan to apply to MPH programs if I didn't get any interviews. As you know, I chose UCSD (the only school to accept me) and got a PhD after working in Chitra Mandyam's Lab at The Scripps Research Institute and the VA. I wrote my dissertation and explored post-PhD careers in 2016, when the election and the opioid crisis motivated me to pursue a career in public health to address health inequity.

After my dissertation defense, I moved back to the Bay area and worked a bunch of odd jobs while waiting to start an MPH program. I worked at a yoga studio, volunteered for a mental health start up, and did freelance science writing and editing. To give you a sense of my timeline, I defended Jan 2017, I applied to MPH programs fall 2017, started my MPH fall 2018, and I graduated last May.

How did you find this particular position, and what was the hiring process like? Is there a typical structure for this in your field?

When I moved back to San Diego, I started reconnecting with my old networks, including an alumni association from high school. I told the director of the association that I was looking for work in public health and she offered to connect me with her old colleagues who she worked with at the County of San Diego Public Health Service. During the informational interview, they offered to connect me with someone in their branch who was recruiting for a temporary position. After sending my CV and an interview, I was hired as an Epidemiologist through a temp agency/contractor with the County. Hiring through the county is a lengthier process that I am still trying to learn more about.

Can you tell us about your current responsibilities? What is a typical day or week like in your role?

Everyday is a little different. I work on three different projects, each with its own set of weekly and monthly meetings with internal county staff, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) staff, and various community partners. The partners include leaders in health care systems, community-based organizations, schools, research, media, and child care. When I'm not in meetings, I collect data for reports to send to CDC, develop plans for evaluating health programs, develop data collection tools like surveys or interview guides, read/watch CDC guidance on best practices for planning and evaluating health programs, and read internal reports on how health programs are making progress.

What do you enjoy about your current job and work environment?

Since I joined during the summer of 2020, I am most grateful to be surrounded by people who genuinely care and believe in public health, social justice, and science. I felt safe working on-site knowing my coworkers were heavily involved in the county's response to COVID 19 while also having active conversations about racial injustice in and out of the workplace.

What are some of the challenging aspects of your job? Is there anything you wish you had known about your job or industry before joining?

Right now my challenges are mostly related to COVID 19. I find it challenging to get to know my coworkers virtually. Having fewer opportunities to interact in person makes it harder to ask a quick question or hear a story that teaches me something about the workplace culture.

Do you have any professional plans for the future? What are some future career paths that could open up for someone in your position, 5-10 years down the road?

Since I'm working a temporary position, I'm looking at full time positions with the county in epidemiology and evaluations. Folks who work in public health evaluations also work for non-profits, health care systems, and consulting firms.

What’s changing in your industry? Are there any future trends we should be aware of?

There are a few things I'm seeing on the horizon where I'm at:

- Greater access to Electronic Health Records that will hopefully improve surveillance of chronic diseases and conditions.

- Better ways to measure experience of racism and impacts of racism on health.

- More communication between public health efforts and housing efforts.

What activities, internships, or organizations would you recommend someone get involved with to help them break into this field?

I like to think everything is public health related. I would encourage folks to explore their personal and professional interests and ask themselves - how is this related to public health, and how can I serve the public doing what I do? Personally, I gravitated towards projects related to sexual health, family health, mental health, and substance use.

During and right after undergrad, my "pre-med" activities got me involved in public health:

- volunteered as Student Health advocate doing advising, event planning, and teaching related to sexual health and nutrition

- volunteered as research associate conducting surveys in emergency departments and supervised by an MD/MPH (how I first became a co-author on a manuscript - happened to be in public health and not neuroscience)

- worked as Community Liaison for Stanford Newborn Screening Program

During my PhD, I did a lot of career exploring. The following are most related to my public health career.

- did writing, editing, event planning with NeuWriteSD

- volunteered with the Outreach committee

- worked as a TA for an intro to stats course (Psych dept) and a chronic disease course (Public Health dept)

- took science communication workshops, including a 4-day workshop with theater dept (highly recommend!)

- did the 1-year teamwork, leadership, and project management course and did project with UCSD Career Services

Before and during my MPH, I did the following activities and classes that ultimately help me do evaluations today:

- did internship as project manager for a mental health start up

- public health courses: Mass Communications/media advocacy, Program Planning, Evaluations, Intro to Qualitative Research Methods, Policy Advocacy, Epidemiology, Biostatistics

- worked as a grad student instructor for 1 public health course: Poverty and Population, and 2 psychology courses: Brain, Mind, & Behavior and Drugs & the Brain.

- did my summer internship as an evaluator for a family resource center in San Francisco called the Homeless Prenatal Program

- joined the public health dept Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Prevention committee

Is it common for people in your field to have a scientific/academic background (i.e. have PhDs)? Can you think of any advantages or disadvantages someone with a PhD might experience while pursuing or working in your field?

Common degrees in public health include: PhDs, DrPH, MPH, MD, lots of nursing degrees, dietician degrees, lots of variation.

Having a PhD in Neuroscience and working in Public health is not super common, which is why I chose to get an MPH. I knew if I wanted to work at the county level or other government level, I would benefit from having a public health degree.

Do you have any final words of advice for those navigating these career questions? Is there anything you would have done differently given what you know now?

I want to add that I was fortunate to have family support and other support networks that allowed me to transition to public health. I think it's important to consider your resources, needs, and motivations while navigating these career questions.

Sometimes I wonder what things would be like if I skipped the neuro PhD and went straight to MPH, but I like to think being "Dr. Galinato" will have some benefits down the road.