Since graduation, Phillips has dedicated herself to improving public health and safety, especially by combating deadly and devastating diseases around the world.
After completing Peace Corps tours in Namibia and Uganda, working on HIV prevention and other issues, she returned to the U.S. to get her master’s in public health. The young advocate and researcher then took a leadership position at the Carter Center, working in South Sudan on the campaign to make guinea worm disease only the second human disease in history to be eradicated. In March, Phillips traveled to Nigeria as a Fulbright scholar to research women’s health issues.