Alumni Profiles Series: Hannah Mahoney

Hannah Mahoney received her B.S. in health science from the University of Florida and her M.S. in population health sciences from Duke University. After graduating, she became an associate in research in Duke’s Department of Population Health Sciences, where she works on multiple projects focused on identifying health disparities and analyzing outcomes among Medicare recipients. Currently, she is involved in two key projects. In one, her team collaborates with the Orthopedic Department to use the Area Deprivation Index to examine differences in mortality and hospital readmission rates between individuals living in more deprived areas compared to those in less deprived areas. In the other project, she works within Duke Health’s Collaborative to Advance Clinical Health Equity (CACHE), a community-driven initiative evaluating hypertension outcomes over the past decade. While improvements have been observed, the team continues to investigate the underlying causes of persistent disparities.

What inspired you to pursue a master’s in population health sciences?

Growing up, I always knew I wanted to work in healthcare. Honestly, I was initially inspired by [the television show] Grey’s Anatomy. I thought I wanted to go to dental school and had even started the application process. But during the spring semester of my senior year of college, right in the middle of the pandemic, I took a public health class that completely changed my perspective. Seeing the gaps in our healthcare system during that time made me realize I wanted to have a broader impact. I wasn’t fully committed to the idea of dental school, and then I found the population health sciences program at Duke just two days before the application deadline. I scrambled to get my letters of recommendation and application materials together and hoped for the best. Thankfully, I got in. Once I started learning more about population health, I realized it felt like the backbone of the healthcare system. I still wanted to improve health, but I wasn’t sure how. This path gave me the opportunity to do that on a larger, systemic level rather than through direct patient care. It felt like the right way for me to pursue my goal of improving health outcomes from a different angle.

Did you have any doubts about whether a master’s was the right next step for you?

Honestly, I kind of just trusted my instincts. I knew I had an interest in public health, and I was aware that Duke has a really strong healthcare system. I also knew the program was new, and while there was some uncertainty around that, I saw it as a unique opportunity. I was part of the third cohort, and I thought it was really cool to be able to help build something more or less from the ground up.

How did your understanding of public and population health evolve during your time at Duke?

I would say I had a very basic understanding going into the program. I had only taken one public health class, and I had never taken a biostatistics course. I didn’t know anything about data, and I hadn’t even heard of Statistical Analysis System (SAS) before starting. So, when I got to Duke, it was incredibly eye-opening. Once I started learning more, it all just clicked, and I was really amazed by what you can do with data in the population health space. That was a whole side of population health I didn’t even know existed. Before, I was only familiar with the more traditional aspects of public health like epidemiology and tracking disease. The program introduced me to a completely new dimension of the field, and it’s something I ended up loving and still love today.

Tell me about your favorite class(es) and about a mentor who had a lasting impact on you.

My favorite class was “Applied Analytic Methods” with Dr. Brad Hammill during my first year. It made me realize how much I enjoyed working with data, which led me to shift away from qualitative research and focus more on quantitative methods. I also really enjoyed a “Data Science and Data Visualization with R” course taught by Dr. Eric Green in the Duke Global Health Institute. Both classes were incredibly valuable, and I still apply what I learned in them today. As for a mentor, Brad Hammill supported me through my capstone project, which focused on a measure called “days alive and out of the hospital.” It was my first time working with Medicare data and also my first experience designing and running my own analysis. That project opened my eyes to how much you can learn from large datasets and how meaningful that work can be. At first glance, the data looks like a spreadsheet full of meaningless numbers, but once you start analyzing it, there's so much to uncover. It was the first major project I completed independently, and it made me want to keep doing that kind of work.

What’s one non-academic lesson you took away from your time at Duke?

Meet as many people as you can. Don’t be afraid to talk to your professors after class and really get to know them. They are great resources, and you might end up working with one of them later on in your career. Also, take advantage of everything Duke has to offer. There are so many opportunities, from guest lectures to skill-building workshops, and they are always sending out information about ways to grow and improve your skills. Make the most of it, especially since we are investing in our education.

What did graduating feel like?

I was pretty excited, honestly. I had been in school for years without a break, going directly from high school to undergrad and then into the master’s program, so I was ready to be done with the academic side of things and start my career. I felt confident because I knew I was doing something I genuinely enjoyed.

Do you still feel connected to the reasons that brought you to graduate school?

I do. I actually feel even more connected now that I have found my niche. I have such a great team that I work with, even though I am working from out of state now. We meet two or three times a week, and I genuinely look forward to those meetings. I also still feel very connected to Duke as a whole. I watch all the basketball games, and although the one in March was a heartbreaker, I am also a University of Florida alum, so I was happy with the final result. We were so close to having a Duke versus Florida matchup, which would have been amazing.

Image

How do you define fulfillment in your work and life now, compared to when you were a student?

I would say in two ways. First, I’ve been able to become a published author on several projects, so now I find myself looking forward to the next publication as a way to track my growth. In a sense, it’s become a measure of success for me. Beyond that, I find a lot of fulfillment in the process of starting a new analysis. Each analysis presents its own challenges, and I enjoy working through them step by step, whether it’s figuring out how to structure a table or getting the code to run without any errors. Those small wins feel really rewarding. When I finish an analysis on my own it feels like a real accomplishment. I’m also currently working on my first first-author paper, which was one of my goals for 2025. I’ve slowly been moving up the author line, from further down, to third author, to second, and now hopefully first. That progression has been really meaningful for me, and I’m excited about what’s ahead.

What is something that most students often overlook or underestimate about graduate school?

How much you get out of grad school depends on what you put into it. It’s easy to skip the readings or put in minimal effort when life gets busy, but staying connected to why you’re in the program and what your goals are really helps you stay focused and make the most of the experience. I also think it’s important to find mentors who not only share your interests but also bring different perspectives. For example, my capstone committee included Dr. Brad Hammill and Dr. Emily O’Brien, who both have strong quantitative backgrounds, and Dr. Megan E. Shepherd-Banigan, who focuses more on qualitative work. When Megan reviewed my master’s paper, she gave feedback on how to make the language more approachable for readers who aren’t statistics experts. That was a helpful reminder that our work should be accessible to a broader audience. Having that range of mentorship made a real impact on how I communicate my research.

What was your favorite event and favorite memory at Duke?

Honestly, both my favorite event and memory are sports related. My best overall memory was the Duke vs. UNC game during my second year of grad school in 2023. I can still picture it clearly: there was about a minute and a half left in the game, and we tied it up. UNC called a timeout, and as the game resumed, the student section got so loud. We were all chanting to the tune of “Seven Nation Army,” and it completely threw UNC off. Duke ended up winning the game. That was such a great moment, especially after losing to them the year before during Coach K’s last game. It felt like redemption.

As for my favorite event, I would say Campout. I participated and was actually successful in getting tickets. It was one of the few times I was surrounded by that many Duke students all at once, and it was so much fun meeting people from different schools and programs. It was a lot, especially since we had just gotten our dog, Rosie, and we were juggling Campout with taking care of her. It felt chaotic, but in the best way. I would definitely say it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

---

Image

Author

Stanysha Lowery, M.S.

Recent M.S. graduate, Population Health Sciences

Stanysha Lowery received her M.S. from the Department of Population Health Sciences at Duke University in May 2025. She received her B.A. in psychology with a minor in human development and family studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She currently serves as an NC Medicaid Fellow with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Outside of her academic and professional pursuits, Stanysha enjoys painting, playing board games, and traveling.