Kizil Yusoof is a doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr. Purnima Madhivanan in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. Kizil earned an MS in immunology and infection from UT Health San Antonio in 2018. Her graduate research focused on the development of point-of-care diagnostics for drug-resistant tuberculosis. Following her master’s degree, Kizil continued working in biomedical research, investigating the neuroimmune mechanisms of chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain.
In 2024, Kizil transitioned into the field of public health where her research interests expanded to cancer prevention, health promotion, and epidemiology. Her current work focuses on understanding the prevention of cervical cancer through community-centered and population health approaches, with an emphasis on improving awareness, access, and preventive care.
For her Fulbright-Nehru project, Kizil is examining the influence of religious and cultural beliefs on cervical cancer prevention and HPV vaccine decision-making in the urban communities of Mysuru, India. Specifically, she is using a community-based participatory research approach, including focus group discussions and photovoice, to understand how cultural and religious values impact attitudes toward cervical cancer prevention and vaccine uptake. The study is being conducted in collaboration with the JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research and the Public Health Research Institute of India, an NIH training site for global health research. The overall goal is to deploy culturally relevant strategies to improve HPV vaccine rollout and uptake in order to address the 2030 WHO strategic target of eliminating cervical cancer.