YEREVAN, Armenia – From November 28-30, Shahane Mnatsakanyan, a 2017 alumna from the American University of Armenia (AUA)’s Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health, presented part of her thesis project at the MediPIET (Mediterranean Program for Intervention Epidemiology Training) annual scientific conference in Brussels, Belgium. The theme of this year’s conference was “Regional contributions and synergies for Global Health Security,” and welcomed over 200 participants from the Mediterranean and Black Sea region, India and Africa.
The conference was devoted to several topics including antimicrobial resistance, vaccine preventable diseases, zoonosis and vector borne diseases, Hepatitis B, C and HIV, outbreak investigation, and surveillance of non-communicable diseases. Mnatsakanyan presented her thesis project, “Hepatitis B and C infection-related knowledge attitude and practices of dentists practicing in Yerevan (Armenia) 2017: a cross sectional survey” via poster presentation. She also made an oral presentation about Armenia’s experience in field epidemiology training programs. During the closing ceremony, Armenia was officially appointed as a training site, which means that during the next two years Armenian epidemiologists and public health specialists will have a chance to attend training of trainers (TOT) sessions in different European Union countries on nine training modules covering a wide range of interventional epidemiology competencies.
Shahane Mnatsakanyan is currently a Quality Assurance Manager in the Reference Laboratory Center of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia. She received her MPH degree from the AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health in 2017. She earned a bachelor’s degree in medical sciences from Yerevan State Medical University. In 2017, Mnatsakanyan was appointed as the Young Ambassador to Armenia from the American Society of Microbiology.
The AUA Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
