Carnegie Mellon University

Who We Are

Peer Health Advocates (PHAs) are a team of NASPA-Certified Peer Educators supporting and encouraging holistic student health and well-being across campus through culturally responsive programming, projects, and one-on-one meetings. Email us at cmupha@andrew.cmu.edu


SCHEDULE WITH A PHA
Our guiding values are:

Honesty
Empathy
Autonomy
Respect
Teamwork

Peer Support Meetings

Students can schedule to meet with a Peer Health Advocate for things like:

  • Practice setting and communicating boundaries
  • Navigating on and off campus resources 
  • Brainstorming mindfulness and meditation tools
  • Reviewing and demonstrating safer sex tools 
  • Generating tasty, satisfying, and accessible meal and snack ideas 

PHAs can meet wherever feels most comfortable for you - be it a coffee shop, walking around the track, a private room in the Health Promotion office, or on Zoom.


SCHEDULE WITH A PHA

 

Meet the Undergraduate PHAs

Undergraduate and graduate students can schedule with whomever they prefer. Undergrads can schedule with grads and vice versa!

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Amara Vergara Agyakwa (she/her)
Sophmore, Business Administration
Languages: English
Interests: Gym, Baking, Walks
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Ashley (Ash) Gelber (they/them)
Senior, Psychology
Languages: English
InterestsTheater, Video Games, Cooking, Mental Health Advocacy
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Mani Chinesom
Junior, Business Administration
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Yuxi 'Sissi' Zhen (she/her)
First Year, Dietrich
Languages: Mandarin Chinese, English
InterestsSinging, Dancing, Muscials, Crochet, Watching movies
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Eshita Solanki (she/her)
Junior, Biology
Languages: Gujarati, English
InterestsFootball fan, Watching movies
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Xochitl Zazueta (she/her)
Senior, CIT - Mechanical Engineering
Languages: English, Spanish
InterestsRobotics, Biology, Dancing, Art

Meet the Graduate PHAs

Graduate and undergraduate students can schedule with whomever they prefer. Grads can schedule with undergrads and vice versa!

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Sai Ghule (she/her)
Heinz - Information Systems Management
Languages: English, Hindi, Marathi
Interests: Traveling, Fashion, Archaeology

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Siva Komaragiri (he/him)
Heinz - Health Care Analytics and Information Technology
LanguagesEnglish, Hindi, Telugu
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Anushka Mehta (she/her)
Heinz - Information Systems Management
Languages: English, Hindi

Interests: Art, History, Philosophy, Bollywood
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Harsh Vaibhav Nallanthighal (he/him)
College of Engineering - Energy Science, Technology and Policy
Languages: English, Hindi, Telugu
Interests: Reading, Music, Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Baking
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Hossein Khoshhal (he/him)
Heinz - Public Policy and Management - Data Analytics
Languages
: Farsi, English
Interests: Classical guitar, Sketching, Tea Brewing
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Aasdeep Singh (he/him)
MS Business Analytics
Languages: English, Hindi, Punjabi
Interests: Cooking, Soccer
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Enora (she/her)
Master of Computational Data Science
Languages: English, French
Interests: Hiking, Horse-riding, Animals

Highlights of the PHA Program

The PHA program began as a student organization and has evolved over the years with input from students. PHAs are now paid employees of University Health Services, working as liaisons and a resource for campus health and well-being. 

Additionally, the program has shifted from group education to a one-on-one support model, including text support, drop-in visits, and scheduled consultations.

The PHAs engage in their support of students using a specialist model, including but not limited to the following areas:

  • Disability Resources
  • Sexual Health
  • Mindfulness and Mental Health
  • Nutrition

In addition to the undergraduate program, graduate students are now active in PHA roles to support graduate student health and wellbeing.

The PHA program offers a credited mini-course that teaches the foundations of peer education (99-121). Course enrollment is open to all students and required for PHAs.