Achievement

Cassandra Thiel made strides in her research, preparing and organizing the data collection phase of the medical Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) project. In addition to presenting research at conferences and writing conference proceedings, Cassandra published her first journal article. Cassandra planned her remaining path towards her PhD, choosing committee members, creating a research timeline, and passing her proposal in December. In addition to article and proposal writing, Cassandra also helped write grant applications for seed funding for the medical LCA project, and the project team received a $25,000 award through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In fulfillment of the University of Pittsburgh IGERT Fellowship requirements, Cassandra moved to Brazil in January and has been learning about the Brazilian healthcare system, establishing connections for future research, and will be teaching a course at the Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES).