A multidisciplinary team that includes SPH students Spencer Cahoon and Noureldin Saad placed first in the U of M Global Health Case Competition on Jan. 28, 2017. The team, coached by Assistant Professor Linda Bane Frizell, now moves onto the International Global Health Case Competition held at Emory University in Atlanta on March 24.

“I’m very proud to coach this group,” says Frizzell. “They are so smart and articulate.”

The team was one of 13 teams tasked with providing a solution to the sex trafficking epidemic in Atlanta. The U of M group designed an after-school cooking program aimed at reducing risk factors for children aged 11-14, who are at risk for recruitment into sex trafficking.

The members of the winning team are Cahoon and Saad, Mara Smith and Iana Panovkina from the School of Nursing; Brendan Coutu from the Medical School; and Yasmeen Saad from the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences.

SPH faculty Professor William Toscano (coach) and Assistant Professor Zobeida Bonilla (judge) also participated in the competition.