USF College of Public Health (COPH) graduate Aditi Desai has visited all seven continents—and learned about public health along the way.

As the daughter of immigrants, she caught the travel bug early.

Desai, who grew up in Orlando, spent summers visiting family in India and Canada, where an uncle who worked in the medical field gave her a glimpse into how a universal health care system worked.

As an undergraduate at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., she completed a study abroad program in Australia, where she learned about how climate change impacted the environment.

Her love of science and health was burgeoning, and Desai knew she wanted to work in a field that would help people optimize their health.

But public health wasn’t really in the picture.

The plan, Desai said, was to attend medical school after graduation, but her grades weren’t where they should be. What if she pursued another degree while studying for the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), she wondered. Would that make her more attractive to medical schools?

She embraced the idea and began looking into degree programs USF—and, in particular, the COPH—offered.

“I chose the COPH because it was close to home and a top-ranked school with a top-ranked program,” Desai, who graduated with her MPH in global health practice in 2013, said. “Unbeknownst to me, I would fall in love with my public health studies and pursue work within the field rather than pursue medical school. I really came into public health completely by accident. I enjoy feeling like an investigator, trying to understand the source of many diseases and understanding ways to prevent them from spreading in the first place.”

While at the COPH, Desai was able to travel to China, where she gained firsthand knowledge about the differences between rural and urban health care systems. She also took part in the now-defunct Peace Corps Master’s International Program, which took her to Uganda where she worked on HIV, malaria and tuberculosis prevention and education. 

“This gave families resources that would allow the young women to continue attending school [while menstruating],” Desai remarked. “Previously, they would miss school because they didn’t have money for pads or tampons.”

Desai said that the program, which is still being facilitated today, is one of her greatest professional achievements.

“The COPH allowed me to learn about international health, to see public health in action in other countries and to acquire the humbling knowledge that the U.S. is not as ahead in public health as we might think,” she said.

In the years between graduation and now, Desai has held a variety of jobs. She’s worked locally in HIV and hepatitis C prevention, built an outpatient medication-assisted treatment program in California and used yoga and art therapy as a healing mechanism for incarcerated youth and adults in outpatient behavioral health and addiction programs. She’s also worked with the California Department of Health promoting equity and increased access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Today, she is a program manager for Richard Health and Associates, a California-based company that works to protect the environment and advance equitable access to services. She’s currently working on an initiative with the California governor’s office that focuses on equity and access to public health resources and messaging.

“While my role is based in California, I work remotely,” Desai said. “I love that I can travel and work. I have recently been able to meet my goal of traveling to all seven continents, reaching Antarctica in 2022. While my travels to some of the continents were for pleasure, my interest in health care often drove conversations, whether in Portugal learning about people’s access to health care services and their work against COVID-19 or learning about research in Antarctica that’s impacting medicine every day. And this isn’t the end. I know I have much more to learn and do to support equity and justice in health care across the world.”

Alumni Fast Five:

What did you dream of becoming when you were young?

An astronaut!

Where would we find you on the weekend?

At the park doing yoga or volunteering at the Friends of Oakland Library Bookstore.

What is the last book you read?

“What the Eyes Don’t See,” by Mona Hanna-Attisha

What superpower would you like to have?

Flight

What’s your all-time favorite movie?

My favorite English-language movie is “I Love You, Man.” My favorite Hindi movie is “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health