Upstate Medical University will award 406 degrees, and certificates during Commencement May 4.

The event will be held at the SRC Arena and Events Center, 4585 W Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. and ceremony starts at 10 a.m. Live stream of the Commencement will be available here.

Katelyn K. Jetelina, MPH, PhD, founder and publisher of “Your Local Epidemiologist” and a former senior scientific consultant at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will address graduates and receive an honorary degree.

Upstate will confer degrees on graduates from all four Upstate colleges: Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine and Nursing.

Upstate President Mantosh Dewan, MD, will preside over the Commencement ceremonies and be assisted in awarding the degrees by the college deans: Mark Schmitt, PhD, Graduate Studies; Katherine Beissner, PT, PhD, Health Professions; Lawrence Chin, MD, FAANS, FACS, Norton College of Medicine; Tammy Austin-Ketch, PhD, FNP-BC, FAANP, College of Nursing.

The College of Graduate Studies will award 23 degrees, including eight in biochemistry and one master’s degree.

The College of Health Professions will award 164 degrees. (53 bachelor of science, 8 bachelor of professional studies, 67 master of science and 36 doctorate of physical therapy). Programs in the college include behavior analysis studies, clinical perfusion, medical imaging and radiation sciences, medical technology, medical biotechnology, respiratory care, physical therapy, physician assistant and radiation therapy.

The Norton College of Medicine will award 172 degrees. (156 doctor of medicine and 15 master of public health degrees and one public health certificate. Three students will receive both an MD and MPH degree.)

Akshay Patel and Adam Wegman will receive both an MD and a PhD degree.

The College of Nursing will award 42 degrees and certificates (19 doctorate in nursing, 6 master of science, 15 bachelor of science degrees and two post-graduate certificates).

Honorary degree recipient

Katelyn K. Jetelina, MPH, PhD, founder and publisher of “Your Local Epidemiologist” and a former senior scientific consultant at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will address graduates and receive an honorary degree.

Jetelina is an epidemiologist, data scientist and a skilled scientific communicator, with expertise in health outcomes among vulnerable populations, diffusion of innovations in diverse community settings, stakeholder engagement, and scientific communication and knowledge translation.

She previously has served as director of Population Health Analytics at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, as an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and as scientific advisor to the White House.

Over the past decade, Jetelina has conducted research on topics with vulnerable populations exposed to violence: victims of child abuse, human trafficking, intimate partner violence, gun violence, and police officers.

As part of her research portfolio, she has developed interventions using smart and personal technology and analyzed “big data” from health systems. Her current research interests are improving health access and outcomes for vulnerable populations, characterizing social factors related to healthcare quality outcomes, scientific communication, and combating misinformation and disinformation.

Jetelina started a public health blog/newsletter in March 2020 to update students, faculty, and staff on developments of the COVID-19 pandemic. She posted about topics including epidemic modeling, vaccine mechanisms and approval processes, the utility of masks, policy decisions, variant monitoring, the genetic and biological features of the SARS-COV2 virus and antiviral medication. Millions of followers were drawn to the broad, deep and accessible-to-the-lay-public blog.

Jetelina’s e-newsletter “Your Local Epidemiologist” has grown to serve an international audience of more than 200,000 subscribers.

She has been invited to share information and discuss approaches to communication at the White House, in interviews on the PBS News Hour, the New York Times Ezra Klein Show, “When Science Speaks” and other public outlets, as well as at numerous universities and at conferences across the country.

She has served as an invited panelist at the National Academy of Medicine and Science meetings, one on scientific translation, and another on addressing inaccurate and misleading information. She served on the board of directors for the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research and as an expert advisor to the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

Jetelina most recently served as senior scientific advisor to several government and non-profit agencies, including the White House, the CDC, and Resolve to Save Lives. She has received numerous national awards for her communication through “Your Local Epidemiologist,” including the National Academies Award for Scientific Communication, the Public Health Practice Award from the American Public Health Association, and the Emergency Management and Medical Operations Field Operations and Response Medal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Caption: Katelyn K. Jetelina, MPH, PhD, founder and publisher of “Your Local Epidemiologist” and a former senior scientific consultant at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will address graduates and receive an honorary degree.