Student Spotlight: Moumini Niaoné

Meet Moumini Niaoné

Moumini Niaoné is a physician from Burkina Faso and a third-year PhD student in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He co-founded Pull for Progress and later served as director of community health at the National Agency for Primary Health Care Management in Burkina Faso, leading community-anchored programs in fragile, conflict-affected settings. His country and other countries in West Africa face an unprecedented and complex social and humanitarian crisis, which motivated his focus on trauma and primary health care resilience in his research.

What sparked your interest in public health?

Seeing preventable illness present late—when patients could no longer afford or access care—convinced me that hospital-only responses were not enough. I wanted to “light a candle” by moving upstream: theory-informed, evidence-driven prevention, and community action that change conditions, not just treat consequences.

What is your dissertation research on?

I am developing a multilevel framework for PTSD in conflict-displaced populations that integrates pre-trauma (prior adversity, baseline mental health, and social capital), peri-trauma (exposure severity/proximity and peritraumatic distress), and post-trauma factors (displacement context, safety, social support, and the continuity/quality of primary health care). I’m aiming to contribute to the better understanding of PTSD and the design of interventions that can prevent and/or take better care of the victims of forced displacement.

You were recently awarded the Community Health and Humanitarian Impact Award given by the International Conference on Primary Health Care—what are your interests in primary health care and community health? 

I believe primary health care—grounded in Alma-Ata/Astana principles—is the most equitable platform for prevention, trust, and continuity. After scaling community health clubs nationwide and confronting system constraints, I joined HBS to gain the knowledge and skills to pair rigorous behavioral and social science with implementation and communication expertise so that trauma-informed, community-based solutions can be designed, tested, and sustained.

What are some research and/or academic highlights that stand out during your time as an HBS student?

Graduate and doctoral seminars are pure intellectual joy: we dissect research with rigor, stress-test our own questions, and learn to unlearn so we can rebuild stronger arguments. A highlight has been serving as a NextGen Scholar with the Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict and Forced Displacement, an exceptional opportunity to learn and contribute alongside leading researchers from top institutions worldwide.

What advice do you have for prospective students interested in joining the HBS community?

The Bloomberg School, and HBS in particular, is really the place for those who are looking for a unique learning experience.

I am surrounded by exceptionally bright public health minds, including faculty with deep field experience in intervention and research and students with remarkably diverse backgrounds. Being in this community makes it clear I am in the right place to learn and grow into an impactful public health leader.

I am inspired by the rigor of the coursework, the range of seminars, and the supportive environment that enables real academic success.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Views expressed are the subject's own.