Introducing Five Rising Stars of Public Health
Media Contact: Christopher Bloom, cbloom@nchh.org
COLUMBIA, MD (July 8, 2025) — The National Center for Healthy Housing is excited to welcome and work with two interns and three fellows this summer.
NCHH’s shared Children’s Environmental Health and Healthy Housing Fellowship program with the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN) reached new highs in terms of outreach in 2025, its third year. Staff from NCHH and CEHN reviewed 138 eligible applications from all over the world. The team received submissions from applicants in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe on the African continent; from Bangladesh, Japan, India, Iran, and Pakistan in Asia; and from Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom in Europe. Representing North America were applicants from Canada, Honduras, and the United States; 100 of the applicants hailed from the U.S., across 26 states and the District of Columbia.
In addition to the fellowship program, NCHH accepts internship applications on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Whether a fellow or an intern, all five individuals are highly qualified and accomplished. All will bring their passion, energy, and expertise to multiple environmental health and healthy housing-related projects this summer. While they’re learning from our team of experts, we’ll be learning from them as well.
Without further ado, we’re pleased to introduce our summer 2025 fellows and interns.
Emmanuel Benyeogor, summer fellow
Emmanuel Benyeogor is a 2025 Children’s Environmental Health and Healthy Housing Summer Fellow and a Doctor of Public Health candidate at Interfaculty Initiative for Planetary Health, Nagasaki University, Japan. He previously led emergency operations at the Nigeria CDC, where he witnessed firsthand how deeply environmental and health risks are connected. Now, he explores how nature-based solutions can strengthen public health systems, especially for children and vulnerable populations. As an Impact Fellow with the Planetary Health Alliance, Emmanuel supports regional collaboration to advance resilience and sustainability in health. He is especially curious about where the biggest opportunities lie to align healthy housing with climate and environmental goals. Emmanuel has a Master of Science in Public Health (epidemiology track) from the University of Lagos.
Cayce James, summer intern
Summer policy intern Cayce James is an MPH student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her dedication to improving the lives of the maternal, child, and family health population has driven her to pursue academic and professional changes. With her prior research assistant role analyzing the impacts of heat adversities on specific populations, she began to explore her passion for improving healthy housing.
Jamilah Maronde, summer fellow
Jamilah Maronde is also a 2025 Children’s Environmental Health and Healthy Housing Summer Fellow for NCHH and the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN). Ms. Maronde is a public health communicator primarily interested in the way that our environment, both indoor and outdoor, impact our health. She is a recent graduate of the Master of Public Health program at NYU, where she was a William N. Rom Climate Change and Health Fellow. Her notable past work includes working with the nonprofit Pure Earth in creating a virtual reality experience showcasing routes of lead and mercury exposure in various industries in Ghana. In addition, she worked at the NYU Office of Sustainability as a communications coordinator. She strongly believes in the power of coalition and that we can achieve health for all when we bring our voices together to enact change.
Rosebell Onuma, summer intern
Originally from Nigeria, Rosebell Onuma is passionate about making environmental research accessible to impacted communities and informing policy that protects vulnerable populations. Her academic and research interests focus on environmental toxicology, health disparities, and children’s environmental health, and her recent work investigated the bioaccumulation and immunological effects of microplastics in amphibian models. A McNair and Posse Scholar, she is a recent graduate of the University of Rochester, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in environmental health. This fall she’ll pursue her PhD in toxicology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. This summer; however, she’s interning at NCHH and supporting the Translating Cancer Research project in partnership with ASTHO, CEHN, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Janet Ortiz, summer fellow
Janet Ortiz is the third Children’s Environmental Health and Healthy Housing Summer Fellow for NCHH and CEHN. Ms. Ortiz is a dedicated public health professional with a strong background in health equity, community engagement, and data-driven strategy. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science in health science, community health education from California State University, Long Beach. Janet specializes in using policy, research, and technology to drive equitable health outcomes. Her work is deeply informed by her interests in healthy housing, urban planning, environmental sustainability, and the social determinants of health. She is passionate about translating complex data into actionable insights and building bridges between communities and systems of care to create healthier, more resilient environments.
NCHH welcomes these five highly qualified health professionals to the organization and looks forward to following their bright futures.
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About the National Center for Healthy Housing
The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) is a national nonprofit dedicated to transforming lives by transforming housing. Since 1992, NCHH has served as a highly regarded and credible change agent, successfully integrating healthy housing advocacy, research, and capacity building under one roof to reduce health disparities nationwide. Follow NCHH on Bluesky, on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, or X, or subscribe to NCHH’s YouTube channel.
About the Children’s Environmental Health Network
The Children’s Environmental Health Network is a national multidisciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the developing child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthier environment. Today, CEHN is the voice of children’s environmental health in the nation’s capital, one that is uniquely informed by a strong basis in pediatric and environmental health science. Follow CEHN on Twitter (@CEHN), Instagram (@cehnetwork), or LinkedIn, become a fan on Facebook, or subscribe to CEHN’s YouTube channel.