Health Sciences Professor Among Connecticut Magazine's 2020 Class of Influential Up-and-Comers

Alvin Tran, Sc.D., MPH, an assistant professor of health administration and policy, was recognized as part of Connecticut Magazine's latest 40 Under 40 group. It is the second year in a row that the School of Health Sciences has been represented on this influential list.

February 5, 2020

Alvin Tran, Sc.D., MPH was in a coffee shop in Seattle over winter break when he received an email stating he'd been recognized by Connecticut Magazine. At first, he thought it was a joke or a spam email, but after rereading, he realized it was the real thing.

"I was ecstatic and overjoyed," said Tran, 32, an assistant professor in the School of Health Sciences' Health Administration and Policy Department. "I never thought I would ever make it on such a list. It's an honor to be recognized for my work around eating disorders prevention and health advocacy."

Recently awarded a President's Discretionary Grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation, an independent and private foundation dedicated to improving health equity in the state, Tran is using the funding to launch a new student-centered fellowship training program. He is the first faculty member at the University to receive a grant from the foundation.

The fellowship will enable University of New Haven students to engage in important research opportunities and advocacy initiatives around mental health care. It will operate under the University's School of Health Sciences and its WeEmbody Lab, a research working group Tran launched last fall.

Tran, whose work focuses on body image, disordered eating behaviors, and minority health and health policy, endeavors to empower and inspire his students to become change agents.

"Dr. Tran exemplifies everything that a junior faculty member should be – a prolific scholar, an excellent teacher, and a committed servant-leader with both his colleagues and his students."Summer McGee, Ph.D.

"My research is primarily student-centered," he said. "Students are involved in all phases of my work and health advocacy-related projects. I encourage, and often require, them to take the skills they've learned and apply them in real-world settings."

Connecticut Magazine's 2020 40 Under 40 list, which includes artists, entrepreneurs, and social change agents, highlights influential up-and-comers across the state. This is the second year in a row that the University's School of Health Sciences was represented on the list, as dean Summer McGee, Ph.D. was a member of the 2019 class.

"Dr. Tran exemplifies everything that a junior faculty member should be – a prolific scholar, an excellent teacher, and a committed servant-leader with both his colleagues and his students," said Dr. McGee. "The University of New Haven School of Health Sciences is fortunate to have him as a faculty member. He is exceptionally deserving of this recognition."

The first in his family to attend college, Tran is committed to his students' success. He endeavors to serve as a mentor and to provide the guidance that, he says, was instrumental to his own success.

"It was hard for me to navigate through college without parents who had gone through the process," he said. "I often had to figure things out on my own. I got to where I am today because I had great mentors who were genuinely invested in my success and were willing to keep me focused and grounded."