Celebrating Public Health and Pride Month with Shawna Hui, Epi MS Graduate and Cheer Seattle – Seattle Pride Grand Marshal

Shawna Hui is a master’s of science (MS) student and class of 2025 graduate in the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology (UW Epi), and a proud member of Cheer Seattle — one of the 2025 Seattle Pride Parade Grand Marshals. 

In honor of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, Shawna (pictured below) shares more about her experiences in the UW Epi MS program, her research interests in the social and structural determinants of health, and her involvement in Cheer Seattle.

What led you to pursue your Master of Science with the UW Epidemiology? 

As I was wrapping up my bachelor of science (BS) in Public Health Sciences at the University of Vermont (UVM), I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to return to the West Coast since I’m originally from California. I had taken a course in epidemics that had made an impression on me. And since COVID hit during my first year of undergrad, I had been really interested in how the pandemic unfolded. Because I had the BS undergrad background and knew I wanted to go into research. I decided to apply to the University of Washington Department of Epidemiology and pursue my master of science (MS), and here I am. 

What are some of those research interests?  

My thesis is looking at how educational attainment affects substance use disorder from ages 33 to 47, and seeing if perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion, or the strengths of relationships among neighbors or members of a community and sense of belonging, affect that association. I am particularly interested in understanding how a sense of community can help protect against low socioeconomic status, and I have a variety of interests in vaccines, infectious disease, substance use, and injury and violence prevention, all of which I’ve been able to explore through the UW Epi MS program. 

Outside the classroom, you’re active in Cheer Seattle! Can you tell us about that organization and how you got involved? 

Yes! Cheer Seattle is an adult non-profit cheerleading team that helps raise funds and awareness for the LGBTQIA+ community. We are made up of three squads — a stunt team, pom team, and production team. We are available for hire to perform and help at local events — such as, the Seattle Pride Parade, Mariner’s games, roller derby bouts, and fun runs and walks. We also host our own fundraisers to support causes, like Queer Sick Pay Fund (QSPF), which allows Queer performers in nightlife spaces to be able to take a night off if they’re sick, because health is a right and not a privilege.  

I cheered for three years in college at UVM, and after recovering from injuries, I wanted to find a way back into the sport. I Googled “adult cheer Seattle” after moving here, and found Cheer Seattle — I tried out in October 2023, and I’ve been on the team since. 

Congratulations on Cheer Seattle being named one of the Grand Marshals for Seattle Pride 2025! What activities will Cheer Seattle be involved in this month? 

Thank you, we do a bunch of events during Pride Month — we performed at a Mariner’s game on June 4 and at Pride at the Park. We’ll of course march in the Seattle Pride Parade on June 29, and perform at PrideFest. I’m also excited that we’ll be performing the Pride Deadlift Party again on June 21. It’s a deadlift party and fundraiser that’s open to all identities, which I think is really unique and awesome.

Do you see any connections between your work in public health and your role with Cheer Seattle? 

I think it’s really interesting that on the cheer team, we’re from all walks of life. There are some other UW students, or people who are either familiar with the public health field or work in public health or healthcare, which I think is really awesome.  

I really just like the opportunity to connect with other members of the Queer community in Seattle and support local organizations.  

Do you have any plans after graduation?  

I have an internship for the summer where I will be building dashboards using clinical trial data to allow providers to make more real-time decisions instead of having to go through a statistician or data analyst. These types of systems help providers get a better understanding of what’s going on with a patient in the clinical trial and make decisions. I’m still figuring out what’s ahead after that.  

Cheer Seattle has another big drag and talent show event in July, called SPLITZ, that was a huge success last year, and I’m excited about for this year!  

What advice would you give to new students in Epi? 

I think something I would tell new students is just to be open to new opportunities. You don’t know what opportunities will fall in your lap and even coming into the program, if it’s not necessarily your research interest – I encourage people to be open-minded. Even if you’re slightly interested in it, go learn more. Go take a class. You’ll never know what connections you’ll make or what you’ll learn.  

I came in wanting to understand more about trends in substance use, and I did end up doing my thesis on that topic. But I also discovered that I have so many more interests in infectious disease, vaccines, injury and violence, and medicine.  

I think also finding a good balance between taking classes, working on your thesis, and everything. For me, for example, fitting my commitments to Cheer Seattle into my schedule was really important.  

Anything else you’d like to share? 

I’ve learned a lot through the UW Epi MS program, and I’m excited to see what I can do with this degree! I’m hoping I can still be able to commit time to Cheer Seattle as well. I’m so grateful for all of the amazing communities I’ve found through both.  

And for anyone who is interested in joining Cheer Seattle, we hold open practices on a monthly basis from August to November for people to come try out our different squads, or for volunteers to be part of our production team or support individual events like the Pride Parade.