Student Spotlight: Shanthia Espinosa
Meet Shanthia Espinosa, a student at OHSU-PSU School of Public Health (SPH) in the master’s in public health program. Espinosa is focusing on health management and policy in the M.P.H. program after first earning her B.S. in community health promotion from SPH.
Espinosa is a first-generation Chamorro-Dominican woman from Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and chose to pursue a career in health care and policy to help her community at home. Born in Salem, Ore., she spent 23 years in Saipan before returning to Oregon for her academic career.
“I first saw the health challenges my family and community face as a young girl,” said Espinosa. “At a young age I was already exposed to public health [struggles], maybe not necessarily knowing it. Many of my [community members] struggle with chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes or high blood pressure and this made me realize how urgently we needed health systems on the island.”
With only one hospital and several clinics available to the community, Espinosa first considered nursing. She completed a two-year nursing program in high school and even earned an academic award but felt more drawn to human health services.
She pivoted to public health programs and participated in the Portland State University (PSU) BUILD EXITO Scholar & Research Trainee program while studying at Northern Marianas College (NMC). The program introduced her to SPH and that confirmed her career choice.
After enrolling in SPH and earning her undergraduate degree, Espinosa began working as a research assistant for the SPH Marriott Lab to leverage inclusive data science and build community-engaged partnerships. Espinosa worked there until June of 2025.
Espinosa has been involved in leadership roles throughout her academic career, including serving as president of the student government at NMC. She is also a proud College to County (C2C) intern with Multnomah County and a former APIA Scholar Advisory Committee Member. Before the BUILD EXITO grant funding ended, Espinosa also worked as an Enrichment Specialist and Peer Mentor for undergrad students at the PSU Center for Internship, Mentoring and Research (CIMR) and called that her “dream job.”
Espinosa also served as a mentor for Project PROA Pathways, a similar program run by NMC designed to increase STEM career interest in partnership with PSU. Effective Sept. 2025, Espinosa will work as an anti-racism graduate administrative assistant and is also a co-lead for BREATHE at SPH.
“Mentorship plays a big role in my career as well as in my life, I really enjoy helping students, and I am so grateful to all my mentors who continue to root for me,” said Espinosa.
Espinosa begins her M.P.H. studies this fall as a member of the 2027 cohort and hopes to use her knowledge to improve her community outcomes in Saipan someday.
Espinosa is already dreaming about earning a Ph.D. from SPH in the future, working on policy in Washington, D.C., with the CNMI delegate, or building policies and supporting STEM programs back home in Saipan.
“There are so many programs here in Oregon that we could use – a lot of those, like the Get Healthy initiative, are what drew me to Dr. Marriott’s lab,” said Espinosa. “I want to be an expert in my field in health management and policy especially. I was drawn to that because you have a chance to move beyond individual care and create system-level solutions, especially in underserved communities.”
Written by Seth Preuss, OHSU Senior Communications Specialist