Alumna Lands Prestigious State Fellowship

Madison “Madi” Sisk (MPH Class of 2024) was selected this spring as a 2024-2025 Cal-EIS Fellow with the California Department of Public Health Epidemiologic Investigation Service.

Sisk will work with the Napa County Public Health Department studying both chronic and infectious diseases in the local area. She is among a select few Cal-EIS Fellows statewide.

Public Health Journey Began as an Undergrad

Her path to the Public Health field got its start when Sisk was an undergraduate student at Linfield University in Oregon, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology.

“When I was a senior in college, I took a Global Health elective and that was first sort of what opened my eyes into the Public Health field, which is partially why I chose the Global Health track here at Touro, and I was able to live in Nepal for three months last summer studying HPV and cervical cancer over there,” Sisk says.

“I think that is what drew me to epidemiology,” she says. “After being in Nepal and working with the local communities and just studying the spread of HPV there, it got me more interested in how we can prevent that here in our own communities even if it’s not HPV-related specifically.”

Cal-EIS is a one-year program for people the state describes as “promising epidemiologists.” It’s designed to give each Fellow hands-on experience working with an epidemiologist preceptor in either local or state health departments in California. The program is open to epidemiologists who have recently graduated from a qualifying master’s degree program.

“The Cal-EIS program is a very competitive fellowship that allows participants the opportunity to work alongside an epidemiologist preceptor in either local or state health departments in California to gain the experience needed to be successful,” Sisk says.

Alumna to Integrate What She’s Learned to Benefit Others

Sisk will perform data analysis on different statistical computing programs to model, study, and track the spread of disease. Information gathered from county clinics and hospitals helps Public Health officials determine the best course of action to contain and address infectious and chronic diseases.

In addition to infectious diseases, Napa County focuses on obesity and cancer, both of which fall under the umbrella of epidemiology and appear in higher rates in Napa County when compared to other Bay Area counties.

“The field of epidemiology is wide, but I am especially interested in infectious diseases, which is why I was so excited to be matched at the Napa County Health Department because that is one of their main priorities,” Sisk says.

She began working at Touro University California in January, serving part-time as both a consultant and as a Research Coordinator.

Sisk is not the first recent MPH graduate from Touro University California to earn the Cal-EIS fellowship.

Melinda “Mindi” Martinez (MPH Class of 2021) was a Fellow in 2021-2022, also assigned to the Napa County Public Health Department. Catalina Reinhart (MPH Class of 2022) was a Fellow in 2022-2023. She served with El Dorado County Health and Human Services, in the Public Health Department.