"I enjoy seeing students grow and become health education professionals," explains Lynn Waishwell, PhD, MHE, SPH assistant professor and chair, health education and behavioral science. She recalls her first job after college as an employment counselor for migrant farmworkers. "I was sitting with a young girl, about 16 years old, who was holding her baby. Disfigured with large facial keloid scars from working in the corn fields, this girl dreamed of a job inside, perhaps as a waitress. But her environment, the poor educational system, and the farming culture were all working against her. She had so many barriers to success. That's when focusing on public health systems, not just individuals, really clicked for me. To support human potential, we need to look at a person's larger environment."

Public health educator, pediatrician, pathologist, wife, mother, Maywood Board of Health member, English-Spanish translator, domestic violence consultant, recipient of the UMDNJ-School of Public Health Student Community Service Award and the Bernard D. Goldstein, MD, Award, she is an Argentinean-born phenomenon who has been involved in projects in Jersey City, New Brunswick, Union City, Edison, and Camden. Some of her favorite programs, like the Bergen County Task Force for Obesity, Physical Activity and Nutrition, are ongoing. Yet, if she hadn’t fallen in love in Hawaii, she might never have come to New Jersey.

Biggest Challenge: To live in and adapt to a new country, new culture, and new language. I was born and grew up in Santa Fe, Argentina, where I became a pediatrician. On a Hawaiian sailing vacation, I met my husband, Daniel, an accountant and healthcare executive who was from the New York area but had been born in Argentina, too. He proposed two years later. I passed the three medical licensing exams to practice here on my first try. Thank goodness. After I arrived in the U.S., I did a residency in pathology at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City but soon realized that I wanted to impact people’s health earlier in their lives, not diagnose the final consequences by performing autopsies.

Turning Point: When I decided to study for my MPH at UMDNJ’s School of Public Health. I want to save lives by promoting healthy lifestyle changes before it’s too late. I realized that as a public health practitioner I could reach not only individuals but populations. As a health educator, I have the opportunity to influence people’s everyday lives and environments — something that would have been difficult for me to do as a physician. So, earning this degree in May 2006 is my dream come true. UMDNJ is such a prestigious institution, right here in my state and it offers the career in health education I want to pursue.

Toughest Working Conditions: Back in Argentina as a pediatrics resident at the Hospital de Niños Ricardo Gutierrez, where I would have to be on call for 60 straight hours. Later, after being certified, I was the only pediatrician in an underserved emergency ward once a week where I might have 120 patients a day.

Current Research Project: Conducting fieldwork at New Brunswick Tomorrow on assessing the level of childhood obesity in the New Brunswick school district and identifying evidence-based, preventive interventions.

On My Wish List: To find more time and resources for “Una Vida Sana y Activa” (A Healthy and Active Life), a free program that I started for the Hispanic community of Union City. Latinos have the highest rate of obesity in the U.S. So, working with a physical therapist and a phys ed teacher in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, we offer classes and conduct follow-up weight checkups.

Happiest Times: My wedding day and the days my two children were born. Pablo is 8 and Aileen is 4.

 My story. Our university.