Morgen Alexander-Young [Alumni]

Morgen Alexander-Young was a Population Health Service Fellow from 2006 through 2008, placed at the City of Milwaukee Health Department. Prior to the Fellowship, she received a degree in Government from Smith College and an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan. She became certified in Public Health through the National Board of Public Health Examiners in 2008 and also completed the Clinical Trial Management and Regulatory Compliance certificate program through the University of Chicago Graham School in 2011.

Morgen is currently the Associate Director for Protocol Operations for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a part of the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network. In this position, she leads a team that develops cancer clinical trials and implements these trials in a nationwide network of community and academic cancer centers. Morgen is proud to have worked with University of Chicago researchers on an article published in the Journal of Pediatrics on the topic of health disparities in children’s health. She is also lucky to have worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Chicago researchers to administer research grants for health disparities research in chronic disease care all over the country. Since completing the Fellowship, Morgen has also become a mother to two boys who are now 4 years old and 1 year old.

Morgen shared that the Fellowship program gave her confidence in her ability to lead and complete projects to help answer very important public health questions. The respect given to her by her mentors demonstrated that she had valuable skills and experience to contribute. Morgen’s words of wisdom for prospective Fellows: “The experience of a Fellowship is a once in a career opportunity to jump on. There may not be many other opportunities in your career when you will be paid to learn, explore, make mistakes, and focus on what you love to do (or figure out what it is that you love to do). I loved the mix of no-pressure academic learning coupled with professional exploration.” As for current Fellows, Morgen explains, “The professional network of connections that you are currently building is immensely valuable. If you are considering where to go next, staying in Wisconsin and in the area you are working is an important consideration, as you’ve had a jump start in building crucial professional connections.”