University of Oklahoma

Norman, Oklahoma

AMWHO University of Oklahoma

The American Mock World Health Organization, Inc. (AMWHO) was created on January 10th, 2014 on a plane ride home from the Ontario Model World Health Organization Simulation (OMWHO) in Toronto, Canada. With the help of UNC Chapel Hill, the first international simulation of the World Health Assembly occurred in October 2014.

The University of Oklahoma chapter was founded in 2017. Since then, the chapter has promoted public health education through weekly general body meetings, hosting four regional summits and conferences, and mentoring new AMWHO chapters.

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Vision

We envision a generation of global public health students equipped with the diplomatic skills to pursue Health for All.

Mission

Our mission is to develop experiences that advance the understanding of the World Health Assembly in order to empower future leaders in global health policy.

Team

Lydia Burger

President
Bio

Lydia Burger

Lydia is a senior double majoring in Microbiology and Public and Nonprofit Administration. While their research interests are at the microscopic level, they enjoy AMWHO because it gives them a chance to learn on a global scale. In addition to AMWHO, Lydia manages social media for a local nonprofit, serves as a resident advisor, and is raising two pet shrimp.

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Julia Naifeh

President
Bio

Julia Naifeh

Julia is a sophomore double-majoring in Piano and Public Health! She is in OU Chorale and works in health promotion at Goddard Clinic. She has 3 little dachshunds!

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Christopher Sipols

Director of Logistics
Bio

Christopher Sipols

Chris is a junior from Edmond, Oklahoma, majoring in Microbiology with a minor in Spanish on the pre-med track. He enjoys the outdoors, warm weather, most things edible, plants, and his pet snail, Legolas.

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Abigail Ren

Director of Logistics
Bio

Abigail Ren

Abigail is a sophomore from Tulsa, Oklahoma who is majoring in biochemistry. She joined AMWHO to learn about global public health issues and was surprised by how much fun conferences can be. Abby has played over 200 hours of Stardew Valley without completing the Community Center. Do better, Abby!

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August Limvaree

Director of Finance
Bio

August Limvaree

August is a junior from Warr Acres, Oklahoma majoring in Biomedical Engineering on the pre-med track. In his free time, he likes to play video games and think about learning a new language. 

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Raifa Riza

Director of Media
Bio

Raifa Riza

Raifa is a sophomore majoring in Psychology with a minor in Visual Art. She is a proud citizen of the Maldives. Raifa is an avid feminist who likes to paint, listen to Bossa Nova jazz, and learn about geopolitical issues impacting the world.

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Mandinyara Kanhema

Director of Public Relations
Bio

Mandinyara Kanhema

Mandinyara is a junior majoring in Public Health and on the pre-med track. She was born and raised in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Mandi joined AMWHO because she wants to focus on healthcare inequality in impoverished areas and AMWHO encouraged her to research more about these issues and look at different approaches to finding solutions. Did you know Mandi can't drive OR ride a bike?

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Sweta Chataut

Director of Public Relations
Bio

Sweta Chataut

Sweta is a junior from Edmond, Oklahoma, majoring in Public Health with a minor in Psychology. She joined AMWHO due to an interest in engaging in conversations about global health policy. Sweta loves cooking and taking her crusty white dog on walks!

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Ryna Zubair

Secretary
Bio

Ryna Zubair

Ryna is a senior from Edmond, Oklahoma majoring in Biology and on the pre-med track. She serves as a resident advisor and is also involved with MSA and WHA. In her free time, Ryna enjoys baking and reading mystery.

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Sam Hopper

Director of Service
Bio

Sam Hopper

Sam is a senior majoring in Public Health with a minor in International Studies on the pre-med track. Sam hopes to become a physician committed to the medically underserved. In her free-time, Sam enjoys jiu-jitsu and listening to K-pop. 

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Kristina Calvin

First-Year Liaison
Bio

Kristina Calvin

Kristina is a freshman from Norman, Oklahoma majoring in Biology on a pre-med track. Her hobbies outside of academics include reading, painting, and baking. She joined AMWHO to combine her two joys of researching global health issues and debate. 

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Lauren Clary

First-Year Liaison
Bio

Lauren Clary

Lauren is a freshman from Tulsa, Oklahoma double majoring in International Business and Finance and minoring in Chinese. She loves watching Glee has two cats. 

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Sydney Gutwein

First-Year Liaison
Bio

Sydney Gutwein

Sydney is a freshman from Dallas, TX, double majoring in Biology and Psychology on the pre-med track. She hopes to go into medicine with a focus on medical psychology and neuroscience and currently volunteers in the ER at Norman Regional Hospital. She plays violin and works at Starbucks, and she loves to crochet in her free time.

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Saam Ashenayi

Oklahoma Regional Liaison
Bio

Saam Ashenayi

Saam is a senior studying Biology at the University of Tulsa. He is involved on campus as a resident advisor and plays video games in his free time.

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Director's Letter

Dear Prospective Delegates and Esteemed Colleagues,

We are honored and excited to welcome you to the 2022 American Mock World Health Organization Oklahoma Regional Conference Food Insecurity: Thought for Food. As an established chapter in the region, we are excited to bring together delegates from across the state and across all areas of study for an interdisciplinary discussion on a facet of our health that is so easily taken for granted. We look forward to seeing delegates’ solutions to some of the most urgent global health issues of our time: climate change, conflict between nations, food-borne illnesses, and maternal and child malnutrition. 


The irony is not lost on us that a conference on global food insecurity is being hosted in Oklahoma, the fifth hungriest state in the US. Our motto of “think global, act local” is especially important given the situation right here at home. As we discuss food insecurity at the international policy level, we also act to promote food security in our own backyards by partnering with local food pantries, food banks, and grassroots mutual aid organizations to serve the food insecure in our own communities. 


As a delegate, you have the opportunity to discuss solutions to food insecurity with representatives of nations against the world in our World Health Assembly simulation and connect with professionals fighting for health equity in our world. Whether you’re a future clinician, policymaker, agricultural worker, lawyer, health professional, advocate, activist, volunteer—the power to fight against food insecurity is in your hands now. We hope that our conference and your further involvement in AMWHO help grow not only your passion for public health, but also your desire to create meaningful change toward bettering health outcomes in your community.


Our sincerest appreciation goes out to our past and current executive teams for their work in creating a space for discussions on global health policy; to the Student Government Association of the University of Oklahoma for their financial support, and to the Hudson College of Public Health for their ongoing support for our chapter of AMWHO.


Sincerely,
Julia Naifeh & Lydia Burger
Co-Directors, AMWHO University of Oklahoma

Registration

Resources

Speakers

Bailey Ashbaker

Panelist
Bio

Bailey Ashbaker

Bailey Ashbaker serves as Senior Policy Analyst at the nonrprofit Hunger Free Oklahoma. She is an Oklahoma native who is passionate about policy, community development, and sustainable solutions to poverty and inequality. Bailey graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor and Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Oklahoma, with minors in Spanish and Arabic. 

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Ian Carrillo

Panelist
Bio

Ian Carrillo

Dr. Ian Carrillo, assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma, examines how race and racism shape the formation of environmental practices and policies in multi-racial societies, such as Brazil and the U.S. His research on the US engages the intersection of race, environment, and the state. In this conceptual work, he seeks to advance the frameworks for studying how race and racism serve as building blocks for environmental policy formation. His two papers from this research area bring race to bear on the political economy of environmental change, where debates have largely focused on class, labor, and markets. In doing so, Ian argues that race is not a peripheral feature of the political economy, but rather is central to the politics that underpin policy formation. 

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Divya Patel

Panelist
Bio

Divya Patel

Divya Patel is a doctoral candidate and a researcher at OU Health Sciences Center, where she works as Assistant Lab Director in the Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Lab (BNPAL) and a Study Coordinator for a USDA funded intervention study. She is passionate about improving mealtime environments and overall health in young children to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity.

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Stephanie DeBerry

Panelist
Bio

Stephanie DeBerry

Stephanie DeBerry is a doctoral candidate at OU Health Sciences Center and a researcher in the Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Lab (BNPAL).

Additionally, she is the Nutrition Project Manager at the Oklahoma Nutrition Information & Education Project, where she enjoys being active in implementing policy to protect and improve the health of Oklahomans. Stephanie believes she is able to do her part saving the world through nutrition and physical activity, one day at a time.

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Colin Sage

Keynote Speaker
Bio

Colin Sage

Dr. Colin Sage, author of Environment and Food, is an independent scholar based in Portugal, where he conducts theoretically informed, socially engaged and policy relevant research in food systems, environmental policy and civic initiatives for social change.

Having worked in the field as a consultant responsible for undertaking project evaluations of food security initiatives (in Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Central America) he has some understanding of the practical circumstances on the ground.  Today he confines himself to desk research, looking to better understand the ways that food security is tied to other environmental, societal and economic dynamics.

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Activities

Scroll through our most recent activies here:
2021 Regional Conference - Drugs: Global Harm Reduction in Action
Back in person for the first time since 2019, the 2021 Oklahoma Conference hosted over 25 delegates from the University of Oklahoma for a discussion on global harm reduction with subthemes of mental health, pharmaceutical development, essential medicines, and more.
2021 Western Regional Conference - The Future of Global Food Security
With over 50 delegates from 13 universities, most of whom did not come from schools with an AMWHO chapter, the Western Regional Conference was a virtual collaboration between the University of Oklahoma, the University of Tulsa, and the University of California, San Diego. 
2020 Virtual Regional Conference - Environmental Public Health: Many Nations, One Earth
Hosted in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Regional Conference was transformed to a virtual format to follow all public safety guidelines. 20 delegates from two universities joined together to discuss public health and the environment as the threat of climate change looms over the world.
2019 Regional Conference - Global Mental Health: From Silence to Solutions
The 2019 Regional Conference was a huge success, with over 40 students in attendance representing five local universities. Delegates debated mental health on a global scale to develop solutions to one of the world's most pressing public health issues.
2018 Summit - Health and Education: A Global Perspective
We appreciate having all of the delegates and staff there at our first annual One-Day summit to represent your delegations and talk about our theme, Impacting Health Through Education. It was an honor hosting all of you and we hope that all those involved will join us again next year to do it all over again!

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Get In Touch

Thank you for your interest in the American Mock World Health Organization, Inc. For any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this chapter, please fill out the form below.

Address & Map

University of Oklahoma

Norman, Oklahoma