About Grace Karikari

Grace Karikari is in the third year of pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Health (Health Behavior) at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health. Grace has a profound service, teaching, and research background in maternal and child health, gerontology education, stress prevention and management among college students, community-based participatory research, rural community engagement, global health education, and promoting dementia-friendly institutions and communities. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in public health, and a professional certificate as a certified health education specialist. With the goal to graduate by May 2020, Grace is energetically working on her dissertation which focuses on understanding medical and nursing students’ geriatric specialization intentions and the factors that influence their willingness to work with the aging population in Ghana.

Grace Karikari is one of the two recipients of the John H. Edwards Fellowship for the 2019/2020 academic year. The John H. Edwards Fellowship is one of the university’s most prestigious fellowships in the amount of $25,000. It is awarded to students who have exhibited excellent qualities in the following areas: good citizenship, character, especially attitude toward public service and the likelihood of future usefulness to society, scholastic ability and intellectual capacity.

In applying for the John H. Edwards Fellowship, the GradGrants Center was very helpful throughout the process. Their willingness to work with me, the resources they shared, and the professional feedback they provided were instrumental to my success in attaining this fellowship. I am very appreciative of the center and their commitment to graduate students’ success.