Student Spotlight: Amr Zein
Amr Zein is a graduate student in the Master of Public Health program at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Amr recently had the opportunity to attend and present at the International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, an experience that was both professionally transformative and personally meaningful. At IAS, Amr presented his research on HIV care and treatment outcomes, with a focus on treatment initiation and health system challenges in resource-limited settings. Engaging with researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and advocates from around the world allowed him to see how locally generated data and community-informed research can directly shape global HIV policy and practice.
In addition to presenting at IAS, Amr is the first MPH student to complete a master’s thesis in collaboration with the CSULB Center for Global Health and the first MPH student within the Center to conduct advanced data analysis using R. His thesis analyzes national-level HIV data to examine disparities in time to antiretroviral therapy initiation before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reflecting on his experience, Amr shared, “Attending a global conference in Africa was incredibly meaningful to me, especially as someone who was born and raised in Egypt and Sudan. I was excited to be in my motherland (Africa) and to witness public health professionals from all over the world come together around one shared goal: ending the HIV epidemic. Seeing such diverse presenters, perspectives, and approaches, and learning how different countries are working to combat HIV, was both inspiring and informative. It reaffirmed why global collaboration and equity-driven research are essential to ending the epidemic worldwide.”
