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Graduate and Professional Student Spotlight: Reflections from the Class of 2026

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Graduate and professional school students are important members of Bass Connections teams, often serving as project managers, subteam leaders, subject area experts and mentors for undergraduates.

Over 150 graduate and professional school students participated in Bass Connections this year. Their experiences on project teams built career-enhancing skills and strengthened their master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, while encouraging meaningful relationships with faculty and community partners.

We're excited to share a sampling of reflections from the Class of 2026, which show the many facets of the Bass Connections experience and the impact it can have on students' lives at all levels of their Duke careers.

Congratulations to all of this year’s graduates!

Lana Abusalem

Master of Global Health

Antimicrobial Resistance in a Changing Climate: One Health Policy Framework (2025-2026)

A young woman in a white doctor's coat standing against a blue background

“My Bass Connections experience was one of the most meaningful parts of my time at Duke. This project allowed me to expand beyond clinical and traditional perspectives and engage deeply with climate science and policy. What stands out most is the opportunity to work across disciplines, collaborating with colleagues in policy, environmental science and global health to highlight the critical links between climate change and antimicrobial resistance.”

Abusalem plans to pursue a clinical position in infectious diseases where she can integrate patient care with advocacy, and pursue more research around antimicrobial resistance and global health policy. Ultimately, she'd like to combine clinical work, research, and policy engagement to address cross-border health challenges through a multidisciplinary approach.

Emily Gebhardt

Ph.D. in History

Ethical Consumption Before Capitalism (2024-2025)
Ethical Consumption Before Capitalism (2023-2024)

A woman in a blue and white striped shirt standing against the wall of a white building

“Bass Connections fundamentally changed how I approach both teaching and research. It showed me what happens when students are treated as collaborators rather than just learners, and that model has deeply influenced my own course design. Moving forward, I plan to carry that emphasis on experiential, project-based learning into my career. The most meaningful takeaway was seeing how powerful interdisciplinary teamwork can be when everyone is invested in a shared question.”

Emily is pursuing opportunities in higher education where she can continue to develop innovative, student-centered teaching alongside her research. She is also expanding her dissertation into a book project.

Jasmyne Hinson

Juris Doctor

Evidence-Based Humanitarian Aid Delivery for South Sudan (2024-2025)

Headshot of a woman in a dark jacket.

“Bass Connections reminded me that we, as emerging scholars and lawyers, have the opportunity to participate in research that is bigger than ourselves. We can and should use our resources to help people. My team not only pushed me to grow academically, but it allowed me to apply what I've learned in more traditional courses to a real humanitarian effort.”

After graduation, Hinson will be working at a private firm in Texas.

Teresa Meloni

Master of Public Policy

Community-Engaged Approaches to Climate Change and Mental Health (2025-2026)

Headshot of a woman in a white shirt and rose colored jacket

“My Bass Connections experience has shaped how I think about research and its role in the real world. The skills I developed in systematic review, semi-structured interviewing and community engagement have given me a strong foundation for pursuing work at the intersection of environmental justice and public health. What stands out most to me is learning the importance of cultural humility and listening before acting. When I started, I expected the research process to be about finding answers; instead, I found it was equally about asking the right questions alongside community partners — and being open to having my assumptions challenged.”

Meloni would like to work in economic development or human capital expansion in the United States after graduation.

Daniela Nakinoja

Master of Global Health

Equitable Access to Monoclonal Antibodies for Low- and Middle-Income Countries (2024-2025)

“This experience fundamentally shaped how I think about the relationship between research and impact. Working on equitable access to trastuzumab in middle-income countries taught me that the gap between an evidence-based intervention and the people who need it is rarely just scientific: it is systemic, political and deeply human. Conducting stakeholder interviews across health systems revealed how policy, supply chains and institutional priorities interact in ways that no single dataset can capture, and pushed me to think as both a researcher and an advocate.”

Four students stand in front of a research poster about cancer care
Nakinoja (second from left) and members of her Bass Connections team

Nakinoja intends to apply the approaches she learned through Bass Connections to program coordination and research roles centered on health equity, whether in global health contexts or underserved communities within the United States.

Christian Noval

Ph.D. in Nursing

Empowering Family Caregiving Research in the Philippines (2024-2025)

“This project was special for me because I had the chance to visit the Philippines (after almost a decade) and give back to my community through research. I had the opportunity to develop a perspective on the differences in older adults and caregiving practices between a high-income (USA) and a middle-income (Philippines) country. Our trip to the Philippines included presenting our analysis results, meeting with government agencies and community partners, and visiting nursing homes. What stood out to me is that caring for older adults transcends economic, cultural and social differences.”

A group of people standing in a line under a screen that reads "Empowering Family Caregiving Research in the Philippines"
Noval (right of center in a suit and tie) with members of his Bass Connections team and community partners in the Philippines.

After graduation, Noval will be starting a two-year postdoctoral fellowship with the National Clinicians Scholarship Program (NCSP).

Diandre’ Richie

Master of Environmental Management

Climate Change Impacts on Farmed and Wild Oysters (2025-2026)

Two men and a woman stand in shallow water examining a tub of oysters
Richie (center) conducted research on oysters at the Duke University Marine Lab.

“One of the most meaningful lessons I learned from this experience was the value of working with different scientists who specialize in various topics, and collaborating with undergraduates to tell the complete story of our project. My work is driven by the belief that for coastal and marine strategies to be successful, they must be technically rigorous, legally sound and socially equitable. I've found that the most effective solutions exist at the intersection of quantitative modeling and community-driven advocacy.”

Richie is considering pursuing a Ph.D. in quantitative fisheries or embarking on a career in applied marine ecology that focuses on helping fisheries and coastal communities adapt to a changing climate.

Asreeta Ushasri

Master of Environmental Management

Using Drones To Monitor the Health of Endangered Elephants (2024-2025)

A woman stands on the savannah amid bushes with elephants in the background
Ushasri conducting fieldwork with elephants in Zambia.

“This project was by far the most influential and impactful part of my experience at Duke. In addition to learning valuable technical skills, working with a passionate team of graduate, undergraduate and PhD students helped me develop an understanding of interdisciplinary approaches to conservation by combining aspects of engineering, environmental studies and social sciences. Working in Zambia gave me the chance to meet rescued and rehabilitated orphaned elephants while contributing to strong international partnerships.”

Ushasri will pursue a career in applied environmental and energy sector research, combining her skills in quantitative and qualitative methods to support program evaluation.

Madison Wilson

Master of Liberal Studies

Reproductive Healthcare Post-Roe (2025-2026)

A woman in a dark shirt and gray blazer is standing next to a fence

“My Bass Connections experience has been one of the most meaningful parts of my time at Duke. It pushed me beyond theory and into the real-world consequences of policy where laws aren’t just ideas but forces that shape who gets care, when and at what cost. Through interviewing providers and working closely with my team, I saw how quickly policy translates into lived experience for both patients and clinicians … Those conversations made the stakes of my work feel immediate and deeply human.”

After graduation, Madison plans to pursue a career in healthcare fundraising, focusing on reproductive and maternal health foundations and nonprofits.

Xukun Zhu

Master of Statistical Science

Deep Multi-Modal Detection of Early Alzheimer’s Disease (2025-2026)

“My Bass Connections experience profoundly shaped my time at Duke by allowing me to apply statistical methods to the real-world challenge of early disease diagnosis. Rather than working in isolation, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse, interdisciplinary team. What stands out to me as most meaningful was the process of jointly exploring research ideas and engaging in team-based problem-solving. Discussing methodologies with team members from computer science, engineering and neurology backgrounds taught me how to effectively communicate complex statistical concepts across different fields.”

A man and a woman are examining a scientific poster
Zhu (right) explains his research on early disease detection.

Zhu will continue his research in statistics, focusing on Bayesian statistics and developing robust methodological frameworks for complex applications.

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