Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month 2023: Meet Full Scholarship Recipient Daniela Sanclemente

ALBANY, NY (Oct. 6, 2023) -- As an immigrant to the United States from Colombia, Master of Public Health (MPH) student Daniela Sanclemente’s upbringing led her to pursue public health so she could create meaningful change in terms of health equity.

“Having lived in so many different places and encountered so many people throughout my life, I see the importance of public health and how different communities do not have the same resources and tools to ensure their health,” Sanclemente explains.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology from UAlbany in 2019, Sanclemente returned to UAlbany to pursue her MPH.

“I found that UAlbany had many resources and support to excel both academically and professionally. UAlbany's diversity and location provide students with a well-rounded community that has niches for all people,” she says.

Sanclemente was awarded a Strengthening the Public Health Workforce scholarship, which covers full tuition and fees for the MPH program, along with a graduate certificate in either health disparities or maternal and child health.

“Receiving the scholarship was the best news of my collegiate career. It gave me a sense of comfort in knowing that I could focus 100 percent on my academics knowing that my tuition was paid for. Continuing education as a lower income student can be a huge feat,” she says.

As a part of the scholarship program, Sanclemente attends training seminars created to enhance students’ ability to address health disparities and public health crises. She has also completed her first internship placement required for her academic program at the New York State Department of Health’s Cancer Registry, where she helped with the RESPOND study, a large study that aims to understand factors related to disproportionately high diagnoses of aggressive prostate cancer in African American men.

“The best part of my internship was being able to speak with patients; hearing their theories behind why they think the African American male population suffers from such high rates of prostate cancer. I am a huge people person, so being able to speak with participants and get to know them a little more than just names on a screen was extremely rewarding,” she says.

Outside of her academic program, Sanclemente is vice president of the Graduate Student Association, a student-run, non-profit governing body that provides resources for UAlbany graduate students and workers.

“I love being involved on campus,” she says. “Working with the various graduate student organizations allows me to see the different graduate members on our campus and how each department has their own unique needs.”

Sanclemente is on track to graduate in May 2024, and plans to work in public health for a few years before applying to medical school.

“I would love to help marginalized populations with the goal of tackling preventable non communicable diseases through epidemiological research and education,” she says. “Then, as a clinician, I'd use my public health expertise to improve community relations. The first step to a better world is a healthier society.”