Shepard Award Winners

The Charles C. Shepard Award is given to one master's student each year in recognition of a well-researched thesis. Each department nominates top theses, which are then presented by student nominees before a faculty committee. As of 2018, biographies of recipients will be featured here.

Martha Wetzel

2018 Recipient, Martha Wetzel, MSPH, HPM

Martha Wetzel graduated as an MSPH student from the Department of Health Policy and Management in 2018. Her thesis examined the effects of prescription drug monitoring programs on patients’ health outcomes related to pain and disability. Prior to the MSPH program, she worked for 5 years as a data analyst in the field of health care quality improvement. Martha is currently a biostatistician with the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University. Her research interests include controlled substance policy and health care quality improvement.