LGS Student Spotlight | Noah Mancuso
By Kia Lisby
The Point Foundation recently named first-year Laney Graduate School PhD student Noah Mancuso as a Point Flagship Scholar and recipient of the John M. Deciccio Scholarship. This scholarship is for LGBTQ students earning a degree who partake in leadership and community involvement, academic achievement, LGBTQ advocacy, and more.
Point Foundation is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students. They support students from high school seniors to higher grades in undergrad, graduate, or doctoral programs.
Mancuso's background is in HIV prevention and treatment and LGBTQ health. In 2023, he completed his Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) degree in Global Epidemiology at Emory and is now pursuing his PhD in epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health.
Mancuso always had an interest in health, initially majoring in global health and chemistry. After working for a couple of years following undergrad, Mancuso realized he was interested in population-level health impacts and preventative care, leading him to epidemiology.
Receiving this award means a lot to Mancuso. As an LGBTQ advocate, “It’s a validation of my identity and my work so far. And it’s an encouraging investment for me to continue down this path, combining my queer identity with my public health research interests,” he said.
“I think it’s going to provide a cool network of other queer scholars across the country, in addition to their mentoring program. I’m excited to partake in those.”
Mancuso previously applied for this scholarship during his master’s program and received a smaller community grant from the Point Foundation.
This time, Mancuso had a bigger mission in mind in the PhD program – applying again to get the Point Flagship Scholarship.
After graduation, Mancuso will continue working in the health research field and continue building the Queer Health Collaborative (QHC), his own LGBTQ health consulting company.
According to Mancuso, the Rollins School of Public Health and the broader university support him in his research interests and help to advance health for queer people further.