Global health PhD grad gains perspective through real-world health care experience
Photo by ASU
Editor’s note: This story is part of a series of profiles of notable spring 2026 graduates.
Instead of relying solely on the classroom to learn about global health systems, Adrienne Madhavpeddi took a different route during her time in graduate school, working with multiple organizations to gain real-world experience in the health care field.
Originally from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Madhavpeddi will be graduating from Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change with her PhD in global health this May.
While at ASU, Madhavpeddi served as director of ASU’s Project ECHO programs, a Continuing Medical Education (CME) platform, as well as working with ASU’s Center for Healthcare Delivery and Policy, experiences she said deeply shaped her research by grounding it in real-world implementation.
“Rather than studying health systems in theory, I’ve been embedded in the day-to-day challenges of scaling evidence-based practices across diverse and often under-resourced settings,” Madhavpeddi said. “This parallel experience, as both graduate researcher and real-world CME programmer, has given perspective to ensure that interventions are feasible and meaningful in practice. It has also strengthened my commitment to designing research that is immediately actionable for health systems and communities.”
After graduating from ASU, Madhavpeddi will work as an assistant teaching professor in Northern Arizona University’s Doctor of Medical Science program within its Department of Physician Assistant Studies. In the role, she will work alongside an interdisciplinary team to teach a health systems science-focused curriculum to practicing physician assistants, while also serving as director of multiple Project ECHO programs.
“Through this work, my goal is to expand the capacity of the health care workforce to drive systems change and improve access to care, especially in underserved communities,” Madhavpeddi said.
In the following Q&A, Madhavpeddi spoke more about her interest in studying global health and lessons learned during her time at ASU.
Question: What was your “aha” moment when you realized you wanted to study global health?
Answer: My “aha” moment came when I recognized that many barriers to care — whether in rural Arizona or low-resource settings globally — are rooted in similar structural challenges such as workforce shortages, limited access to specialty care and fragmented systems. Seeing how models like Project ECHO could bridge these gaps at scale made me realize that global health isn’t confined by geography, but rather about solving shared problems with scalable solutions. That realization shifted my focus from local impact to systems-level change with a more global relevance.
Q: What’s something you learned while at ASU — in the classroom or otherwise — that surprised you or changed your perspective?
A: One of the most surprising lessons I learned was how much I came to enjoy learning theory and the data analysis side of my research. I initially approached both with some hesitation, largely due to a lack of confidence and interest. But once I immersed myself — especially in the context of a topic I truly care about — I found the experience unexpectedly engaging and rewarding. What started as a challenge quickly became an area of growth that I now value deeply.
Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?
A: Megan Jehn. I had the privilege of working under Dr. Jehn’s mentorship for nearly the entirety of my graduate studies, an experience for which I am incredibly grateful. She has a unique ability to balance rigorous expectations with the support and guidance necessary to help students reach their potential. Dr. Jehn is a highly engaged, hands-on mentor who is deeply committed to developing actionable, real-world solutions through her own work. That mindset carries over to her students, not only shaping us to become better researchers, but also more thoughtful and engaged members of our communities.
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to those still in school?
A: Never be afraid to admit what you don’t know, don’t understand or need further clarification around. I have found that so many times we limit our own potential to grow because we are too afraid to expose the boundaries of our own knowledge or skills. Be unapologetically curious.
Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?
A: The one systems-level change I hope to see in my lifetime is universal health insurance coverage here in the United States. The collective agreement across a society that everyone has the fundamental right to affordable health care services, regardless of individual circumstance, says a lot about that society — and that is a society that I would love to be a part of someday.
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