This annual $1,500 travel award supports one medical, public health or doctoral level student to gain experience in global health while they are enrolled in their academic program in VUSM. Funding can be used to support their global health research, service, or training travel-related costs.
2026 Award Recipient: Tatiana Ximena Solis-Montenegro
Tatiana Ximena Solis-Montenegro is an exceptional first year student in the Global Health Track of the Vanderbilt University Master of Public Health (MPH) Program. Ximena has a deep passion for and dedication to advocating for health for across the world. A native of Peru, Ximena is bilingual in English and Spanish and speaks French. Ximena graduated cum laude from Baylor University, with a major in neuroscience and minors in biology and biochemistry. She is currently a research assistant in the Shibao Lab within Vanderbilt’s Division of Genetic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. There she is investigating autonomic dysfunction with an emphasis on long-COVID POTS inflammatory pathways and therapeutic interventions.
Ximena is partnering with Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) on the World Health Organization's Global HEARTS initiative. The initiative promotes global best practices in the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), with an emphasis on primary health care and control of hypertension. HEARTS in the Americas Region is a country-led initiative, spearheaded by Ministries of Health with the participation of local stakeholders and technical support from PAHO. Ximena has been working remotely with PAHO on qualitative analyses of HEARTS workshops.
This summer, Ximena will travel to Lima, Peru to work on implementation projects for this initiative as part of her MPH practicum requirements. She has several aims for her practicum. First, she aims to develop a set of culturally and linguistically tailored communication materials in Spanish and Portuguese, as well as work with local translators in creating materials for Indigenous communities (as appropriate) for hypertension awareness and CVD prevention. She plans to create these materials and provide training in collaboration with local healthcare providers and community leaders, with an aim of at least 80% of participating providers reporting improved preparedness to use culturally competent language and translation resources in patient interactions. Second, she plans to work directly with community members to provide blood pressure screenings, education on hypertension management, and referrals for follow-up care as part of the HEARTS in the Americas initiative. She will document screening participation, referral uptake, and community feedback, with the goal of improving awareness and engagement in CVD prevention.
As an aspiring global health leader, Ximena has a strong, demonstrated interest in building a career focused on improving primary health care access and decreasing CVD rates locally and globally, especially among at-risk population groups in Latin America. Her commitment to improving global health through public health practice, research, and service is reflective of Dr. Vermund’s work, and we are confident she will use her training to impact the health and wellbeing of populations globally.
Below is a picture of Ximena.
