SOPH celebrates student achievement at honors and awards ceremony
The John D. Bower School of Population Health celebrated academic excellence, service, leadership and research achievement during its 2026 Honors and Awards Day Ceremony. The event brought together students, faculty, staff, families and special guests to recognize the accomplishments of SOPH students and graduates across programs in data science, population health science and preventive medicine. The ceremony also included recognition of student leaders, ambassadors, health policy fellows, honor society inductees, research awardees, commencement marshals and graduates.
Student body representatives
Each academic year, John D. Bower School of Population Health student body representatives are nominated and elected by their peers to serve SOPH by leading student activities and events, representing the school in the Associated Student Body and, when called upon, representing SOPH on institutional committees.
Student body president: Sachin Karki
Student body vice president: Torrey Robinson
Population Health Science representative: Salit Chakma
Data Science representative: Rokibul Hasan
SOPH student ambassadors
The SOPH Student Ambassador Program draws on the enthusiasm and experiences of current students to help attract and retain prospective students. The following students were recognized as SOPH student ambassadors:
McKing Amedari
Minhazul Abedin
Angela Garrett
Sachin Karki
Torrey Robinson
Mickel Sandifer
Health Policy Fellows
The Health Policy Fellowship is a partnership between the Center for Mississippi Health Policy and SOPH. The fellowship is designed to train students, residents and faculty about health care policy and the legislative process, preparing them to use that knowledge in future scholarship and practice to positively impact the health of populations.
The 2025 to 2026 Health Policy Fellows were:
Shakir Hossen
Leslie Musshafen
Jake Johnson
Alex Tomar
Indu Anand
Hien Piotrowski
Md Minhazul Abedin
Luiz Nascimento Campedelli
Honor society recognition
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, founded in 1897, recognizes academic distinction across all disciplines. The University of Mississippi Chapter 077 was established in 1959, and membership is by invitation only.
SOPH recognized the following student selected for membership:
Brian Christman
Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence
The Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence recognizes Bower School of Population Health students who have earned a 4.0 cumulative grade point average for the current academic year.
Recipients were:
Anthony Walters
Aryanna Grace Yarbrough
Bidhayak Roy
Brian Christman
Brittany Byrd
Brittney Tate
Changhong Wen
Charles Ayo Adedara
Sanzida Swarna
Emma McNeill
Hunter Sylvester
Jane Border
Kerri Ivey
Luressie Jones-Lee
Mark Reddington
McKing Amedari
Md Abu Yusuf Ansari
Md Mushfiqur Rahman
Megan Horne
Mickel Sandifer
Quest Whalen
Robert Pennell
Sabrina Alam
Shelby Travis
Tapan Rajguru
Tasnim Tabassum
Torrey Robinson
Tory Corley
Tyus Wilson
Scholastic Award
The Scholastic Award is presented to graduating Bower School of Population Health students with the highest cumulative average.
Recipients were:
Aryanna Grace Yarbrough
Brian Christman
Hunter Sylvester
Mark Reddington
Md Mushfiqur Rahman
Sabrina Alam
Sanzida Swarna
Tyus Wilson
SOPH Student Service Award
The SOPH Student Service Award is presented to Bower School of Population Health students who have demonstrated leadership in school and institutional committees, student organizations and service activities. This award includes a cash prize.
Recipient:
Tasnim Tabassum
Regions Research Award
The Regions Research Award is presented to Bower School of Population Health students who have demonstrated exceptional potential in population health research. This award includes a cash prize.
Recipient:
Kerri Ivey
John D. Bower Award
The John D. Bower Award is presented to a graduating Bower School of Population Health student in recognition of exceptional potential in the field of population health.
Recipient:
Hunter Sylvester
2025-2026 graduates
Department of Data Science
Brian Christman, PhD in Biostatistics and Data Science
Hunter Sylvester, PhD in Biostatistics and Data Science
Mushfiqur Rahman, MS in Biostatistics and Data Science
Rokibul Hasan, MS in Biostatistics and Data Science
Department of Population Health Science
Aryanna Grace Yarbrough, Executive Master of Science in Population Health Science
Saad Alshahrani, Executive Master of Science in Population Health Science
Mark Reddington, Executive Master of Science in Population Health Science
Angela Filzen, Executive Master of Science in Population Health Science
Annie Ross, Executive Master of Science in Population Health Science
Lauren Pongetti, PhD in Population Health Science
Sabrina Alam, PhD in Population Health Science
Cierra Abernathy, MS in Population Health Science
David Sandy, MS in Population Health Science
Sanzida Swarna, MS in Population Health Science
Tyus Wilson, MS in Population Health Science