Sadia Afrin credits her strong research experience at NIU for helping her land a recent role at one of the premier cancer research hospitals in the world. Afrin, who earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) from NIU in 2023, is a research data coordinator at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
“In this role, I support Dr. Dede Teteh-Brooks in the Department of Health Disparities Research
on projects that focus on tailored interventions to promote health equity and improve quality of life for under-resourced communities, especially Black populations across the African diaspora,” Afrin said. “My duties include managing research databases, designing program evaluations, and assisting with grants and community programs.”
Afrin grew up in a small suburban town near the capital city of Bangladesh.
“My parents always dreamed that we would go into medicine to help people in rural communities,” she said. “My sister became a medical doctor, and I went on to study dental surgery and practiced for a couple of years before moving to the U.S. with my husband.”
After earning her Bachelor of Dental Surgery at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh, she pursued her master’s degree in public health at NIU.
“Public health was always a sweet spot for me, even during my dental studies, because I loved the idea of helping communities on a broader scale,” she said.
Afrin said landing a job at MD Anderson was a highly competitive process, and she credits her NIU experience for making her stand out.
“What gave me an edge was the strong, continuous two years of hands-on research experience, including writing and publishing journal articles,” Afrin said.
“That level of experience really made me a unique and competitive candidate for my role supporting a principal investigator’s research work.”
