Meet DIP-IN student employees, Asuka and McKenzie

We frequently feature DIP-IN partners and team members that are out in the community, doing the boots-on-the-ground work that is essential to moving the needle forward for health and quality of life in the DIP-IN communities.

Every now and then, we also feature some DIP-IN team members that are working behind the scenes and highlight how they contribute to the project. However, we have never featured our very important DIP-IN student employees that are doing some behind the scenes work as well and getting hands-on experience with a community-engaged project like DIP-IN.

With DIP-IN embedded at the Fairbanks School of Public Health at IU Indianapolis, the project has had many engaged student employees since 2018, completing tasks like typing up transcripts, conducting literature reviews, analyzing data, planning meetings, and so much more.

We are excited for you to get to know our two current DIP-IN student employees, Asuka Elms and McKenzie Altman, and the valuable work they are doing on the project.

What made you decide to pursue a public health degree?

A: Two experiences inspired me to pursue public health. Volunteering as a birth doula, I supported an incarcerated woman in labor whose wishes were ignored by the system—highlighting how inequities affect health outcomes. As an Asian American immigrant, I have also seen the importance of culturally and linguistically relevant care to build trust and improve community health.

M: I’m doing my MPH to get better at supporting communities and addressing the barriers in the places people live, work, and play that make health harder than it should be. 

How did you get involved with DIP-IN and why did you want to be involved?

A: Before graduate school, I worked for four years as a community health worker, helping clients manage diabetes through goal setting and motivational interviewing at a local health department. I connected with Dr. Lisa Staten about DIP-IN’s community-driven approach and was drawn to its focus on empowering residents and strengthening social determinants of health through trusted relationships.

M: I first got involved with DIP-IN as an intern during my undergraduate public health program at FSPH. Tess Weathers was my instructor, and once I learned about the social drivers of health in her class, I knew DIP-IN would be a great opportunity to learn more about how to help improve people’s lives.

M: I’m a research assistant on the evaluation team. I help evaluate DIP-IN and work on making the data more generalizable so other communities can use it to support and empower their own residents.

What has been your favorite part about DIP-IN?

A: I love learning from the diverse skills of our team and seeing how DIP-IN has strengthened relationships across neighborhoods. It is inspiring to witness how these connections expand beyond individual communities to create county-level impact in diabetes prevention and management.

M: My favorite part is that DIP-IN focuses on improving quality of life by putting decision-making power into the hands of residents. DIP-IN taught me that no one understands a community’s needs better than the people who live there, and that lesson is something I will carry with me throughout my career and in my life decisions.