Faculty: Medicine
Program: Master of Public Health
Year: 2018
Country: Gambia
Balanding has made a life-long commitment to getting more knowledgeable on the topics of malnutrition, hunger, and disease. Balanding is a recent graduate of Arizona State University, where he pursed an honors degree in Biological Sciences (Genetics, Cell, and Developmental Biology) and a minor in Sustainability. He is described by his supervisors as being immensely talented, hardworking, and passionate. His strong commitment to alleviate poverty and hunger stems from his personal experience growing up in the Gambia. This motivated him to get heavily involved in various projects and organizations as well as establish his own organization in 2014 focused on helping rural farmers in the Gambia fight hunger and poverty through agriculture, called Rural Impact. In recognition of his effort, Balanding was awarded the President William Jefferson Clinton Global Hunger Leadership Award by Stop Hunger Now in 2016.
In pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) at UBC, Balanding hopes to explore and understand how to better promote and contribute to the public health sector in his community and around the world. He is looking forward to participating in a practicum which will give him a chance to apply the concepts and theories learned in the classroom.