Chan School grad returns to Alaska and is ready to clear the air
This is one in a series of profiles showcasing some of Harvard’s stellar graduates. Asked about her new job as a health communications specialist for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Alicia Nelson, M.P.H. ’20, hesitated. “I was hired to do substance abuse messaging,” she said after a moment. “Then COVID happened.” Nelson started work at the consortium — a nonprofit aimed at addressing the health needs of Alaska Native and American Indian people — in late January, after earning a degree in health policy from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s M.P.H.-65 program. Now she’s working in the organization’s so-called “situation unit,” a team that helps manage the response to the fast-moving pandemic. Nelson said that her Harvard Chan School training in risk communication is proving invaluable. “Before coming to Harvard Chan School, I didn’t know there was a science to it,” she said. “But when it comes to COVID, setting up...