UMN Case Competition Winners Move on to International Round in Atlanta

A multidisciplinary team of University of Minnesota students won the Center For Global Health and Social Responsibility’s Global Health Case Competition and will advance to the international round of the competition in Atlanta. 

This year’s winning team members are: 

  • Amal Suri, UMN Medical School
  • Jasmine Adam, UMN Humphrey School of Public Affairs
  • Annie Griebie, UMN Medical School
  • Afra Suri, UMN College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Erica Rapheal, UMN School of Public Health
  • Zaynab Somani, UMN Medical School

The winning team’s coach was Mateo Frumholtz MPH ‘19. 

This year’s second place team consisted of Noor Ibrahim, UMN Medical School; Sanjana Molleti, UMN Medical School; Rohan Raikar, UMN Medical School; Sajel Dutt, UMN Medical School; Bianca Turman, UMN Carlson School of Management and College of Liberal Arts (undergraduate dual degree); and Vishnu Kilambi, UMN School of Public Health. 

Winners of this year's Global Health Case Competition and their presentation pictured with CGHSR staff. 

The Global Health Case Competition is an opportunity for UMN students to respond to a hypothetical “case” involving timely issues in global health and present solutions to a panel of expert judges. 

The Global Health Case Competition allows for interdisciplinary collaboration between students. There were 64 UMN students from 13 different colleges who took part in the competition this year. 

This year’s case revolved around providing mental health services to children in China while also reducing the stigma surrounding mood disorders. As part of the case, the teams acted as consultants to government officials in Jiangsu, China, who wanted to provide more mental health resources for school-aged children. 

Teams presented their solutions — which, among other things, required a budget, evidence-based strategies and monitoring and evaluation processes to ensure success — to judges on Saturday, Jan. 27, during the UMN competition’s final round. 

Joan Brzezinski, Weihong Tang, PhD, and Rebecca Wurtz, MD, MPH, were this year’s final round judges. 

While 10 teams took part in the UMN case competition, only four made it to the final round. This year’s winning team will now travel to Atlanta, Georgia, in March to compete at the international competition at Emory University. 

“Our team had a lot of fun competing together! We were all super passionate about our initiatives, which showed through in our presentation. We dedicated ourselves to ensuring every aspect, from in-depth research to the visual appeal of our presentation, was thorough and impactful,” said Amal Suri, a UMN Medical Student and captain of the winning team.

“We're so excited to go to Atlanta for the international competition and showcase our commitment to addressing global health challenges on a larger stage!”

Interested in applying for next year’s Global Health Case Competition? Learn more about the competition and how to apply. Applications for the 2025 competition will open in the fall of 2024. The competition is open to UMN undergraduate, graduate and professional students.