Joint Team from Northwestern and Stellenbosch University Wins Intramural Global Health Case Competition

October 2026

A joint team from Northwestern University and Stellenbosch University won this year’s Intramural Global Health Case Competition, held on September 29 at the Norris University Center on the Evanston Campus.  

It was the first time since the competition launched in 2014 that it included students from outside Northwestern. Because it took place during the SU/NU Global Health Knowledge Hub Conference, which brought 44 researchers, students and administrators from South Africa to Northwestern to expand and explore research collaborations, students from Stellenbosch University could join their Northwestern peers. 

Hosted jointly by the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Global Health Studies Program, the competition featured six multidisciplinary teams representing Northwestern undergraduate and graduate students from the Feinberg School of Medicine, The Graduate School, McCormick School of Engineering, Kellogg School of Management, Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. They were joined by two master’s students and two PhD students from Stellenbosch University. 

Participants from six multidisciplinary teams competed at the inaugural joint competition on Tuesday, September 29 in Evanston. 

Teams received a global health case and were given one week to develop a solution, which they presented in 12-minute presentations to a panel of faculty judges. This year’s case was set in Bolivia, where the Indigenous population faces high rates of maternal mortality. The prompt read: "The Ministry of Health in Bolivia released a call for proposals for a five-year grant of 10 million dollars to support innovative programs to decrease maternal mortality for Indigenous women in Bolivia."  

William Leonard, PhD, Watkins Family Professor of Global Health in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and co-director of the Center for Global Health Education at the Havey Institute for Global Health, was one of five competition judges.  

“The judges were impressed with presentations of all six groups on their proposals for reducing maternal mortality among Indigenous women of Bolivia,” Leonard said. “The winning team included graduate students from Stellenbosch and undergraduates from Northwestern, showcasing the strong global health collaboration between SU and NU. This group proposed a novel multi-faceted intervention to address the high rates of maternal mortality among Indigenous women of the altiplano region of Bolivia.” 

In the winning team’s proposal “MAMA (Mujeres Apoyando a Madres): An integrated, community-led maternal care intervention,” the six-member team presented innovative solutions, including a clinical risk-based approach and creative use of existing community resources, such as alpacas for transport. Their proposal also emphasized the critical role of community engagement and education in improving maternal health outcomes.

Team 3 presents their work during the Global Health Case Competition. 

Five faculty members from both Northwestern and Stellenbosch University judged this year’s competition:  

• Jessica George, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology 
• Jamie Hamil, DrPH, MPH, research assistant professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences and director of innovation and implementation for the Mothers and Babies team 
• William Leonard, PhD, Watkins Family Professor of Global Health and co-director of the Center for Global Health Education at the Havey Institute for Global Health 
• Robert Mash, PhD, distinguished professor and executive head of the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University 
• Monique de Wit, PhD, lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University 

A panel of faculty member judges ask teams questions about their presentations.  

Faculty lead Amelia Van Pelt, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of Medical Social Sciences and associate director of research at the Ryan Family Center for Global Primary Care at the Havey Institute for Global Health, praised the event as an opportunity to bring multidisciplinary students together.   

“We were thrilled to extend participation to our colleagues at Stellenbosch University,” Van Pelt said. “Each year, students propose innovative, evidence-based solutions to complex global health challenges, demonstrating the value of collaboration across disciplines and institutions and the potential of the next generation to drive meaningful global health impact.” 

Team 3 won first place: Samya Singh, Mandisa Mashaba, Caitlin October, Erika Ruiz-Yamamoto, Bethaba Shazi and Tasha Ainsworth. 

Global Health Case Competition Teams:   

TEAM 1 

• Soshana Bar-Meir - Feinberg (MD)  
• Katie Fu - Weinberg (BA) 
• Adeline Jung - Weinberg (BA) 
• Carl Morison - Kellogg (MBA) 
• Sage Morison - Graduate (MD/PhD) 
• Meadow Zhang - Weinberg (BA) 

TEAM 2 Second Place 

• Diya Bhakta - Weinberg (BA)
• Alexander Evenchik - McCormick (PhD/MPH)

TEAM 3 First Place 

• Tasha Ainsworth - Stellenbosch (MS) 
• Mandisa Mashaba - Stellenbosch (PhD) 
• Caitlin October - Stellenbosch (PhD) 
• Bethaba Shazi - Stellenbosch (MS) 
• Samya Singh - Weinberg (BA) 
• Erika Ruiz-Yamamoto- Weinberg (BA) 

TEAM 4 

• Ankit Chhajed - Feinberg (MD) 
• Sneha Guha - Weinberg (BA) 
• Aman Keshwani - Graduate (BA/MPH) 
• Joseph Biju - Weinberg (BA) 
• Preena Shroff - Graduate (MPH) 
• Mira Sundar - Weinberg (BS) 

TEAM 5 Third Place 

• Christopher Eyo - Graduate (PhD/MD) 
• Kishen Mitra - Feinberg (MD) 
• Mercy Olaniyan - Weinberg (BA) 
• Precious Olaniyan - Weinberg (BS) 
• Renee Wen - Feinberg (MD) 
• William Xu - Weinberg (BS) 

TEAM 6 

• Alberto Najera - McCormick (BS) 
• Deren Qian - Weinberg (BS) 
• Maya Raman -Weinberg (BA) 
• Sophia Sanchez -Weinberg (BS) 
• Lucy Yao - Medill (BA) 
• Elise Yu - Weinberg (BS) 

To learn about the SU/NU Global Health Knowledge Hub Conference, visit their website. 

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