Joint Doctoral Program scholar receives Global Grant Scholarship from Rotary Club

Vanessa Davila Conn, a joint doctoral program (JDP) scholar at San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego, recently received a Global Grant Scholarship from the Rotary Club of Del Mar.

The scholarship supports graduate students studying abroad and their respective projects, according to Rotary. Davila Conn’s scholarship is in partnership with the Rotary Club of Tijuana; she has spent much of her career as a physician in Mexico, where she received a master’s in public health from the National Institute of Public Health.

“[The scholarship] reflects support for my academic direction and reinforces my responsibility as a PhD student to produce work that can influence population health,” Davila Conn said.

She is currently in her second year of the JDP epidemiology track. While her experience spans from molecular biology to implementation research, the scholarship will focus on her research into HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV), and other infectious diseases, according to Rotary. The scholarship, she said, will relieve financial pressure and allow her to devote more time to this research.

“It also gives me room to pursue methods training that strengthens my projects and moves me closer to dissertation progress,” she said. “I aim to apply what I’m learning to strengthen my research and serve as a link between clinical practice and public health.”

She considers her HCV research especially relevant during the Direct Acting Antivirals era, in which “treatment can cure infection but reinfection remains a concern,” she said. A 2024 study found that HCV reinfection rates were as high as 11.4 per 100 person-years.

Prior to becoming a JDP scholar, she worked at an HIV research center in Mexico City. During the pandemic, she worked as both a public health advisor at Mexico’s General Directorate of Epidemiology and a general practitioner at the largest COVID-19 center in Mexico City.

Her current plan is to complete her doctorate and continue working in infectious disease epidemiology, she said.