Pageants, parasites and public health: Dahlhoff seeks to inspire future scientists, pageant participants to dream big
Haley Dahlhoff calls it “divine intervention.”
Whether fate or providence played a role may be a secret the universe chooses to keep its own, but one thing is certain: a chance meeting at a beauty pageant brought a self-professed “science geek” to the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH), and the result is something she feels was absolutely meant to be.
Under the microscope
Dahlhoff grew up in Louisiana and from a very young age developed an affinity for the types of things from which most people would consider running away – or, at the very least, running to see a medical professional at the first hint of their presence.
“I was obsessed with parasites,” Dahlhoff said with a laugh. “I’ve always been a science kid; I like microbiology and studying disease. Parasites, specifically, are my thing.”
If there was ever any doubt, she can point to her mosquito tattoo and a collection of plush facsimiles of protozoa, helminths, and the like as evidence that parasitology is in her blood.
“I love parasites; I’m a geek for them,” Dahlhoff said.
One bachelor’s and one master’s degree later, Dahlhoff has extensively studied the most co-dependent creepy-crawlies of just about every sort, all in the name of helping people across the world – from Southeast Asia to Africa to her new home in Indiana – avoid illness and disease.
Dahlhoff said she initially took an interest in heartworm, a parasitic affliction that primarily affects dogs, and followed her own heart into STEM studies at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Specifically, she studied biology and chemistry en route to earning her bachelor’s degree in her home state. When it came time to apply for graduate school, Dahlhoff found a great opportunity at the University of Notre Dame, so she and her husband, Jacob, packed up and headed 16 hours from home to chart a new course in South Bend.
Photo caption: Haley Dahlhoff joined the Indiana Department of Health in July. She earned her master’s in chemistry and biology at the University of Notre Dame. Credit: Lauren Smith Weddings + Portraits
‘Cage fighting’
Moving several hundred miles across the country to continue one’s education is a bold step all its own but doing so just prior to the start of a worldwide pandemic presents entirely different challenges. The Dahlhoffs went to work on their next chapter, with Haley studying drug-resistant malaria at the Notre Dame campus. Jacob began teaching science at a school in South Bend, and even though the “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic led to periods of health-minded isolation and maybe even a bit of homesickness, they soon found that Indiana fit them to a “T.”
Photo caption: Jacob and Haley Dahlhoff moved from Louisiana to Indiana in 2020 when Haley began pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Notre Dame. Credit: Lauren Smith Weddings + Portraits
Haley’s status as a member of the “Fighting Irish” proved apt as she and other grad students worked in small groups to make genetic crosses of malaria isolates found in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa, with the latter being some degrees more deadly than the former, then pitted them against one another in a sort of wrestling match.
“It’s competitive fitness, where we take two different strains and ‘cage fight’ them and see who won,” Dahlhoff explained.
The work is vital, as the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region accounted for 95 percent of all malaria cases and 96 percent of all malaria-related deaths in 2020, according to the WHO. Malaria is transmitted to people through parasites that are spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes. In 2020 an estimated 627,000 people died of malaria, a marked increase from the year before.
Around that time, Dahlhoff and her fellow grad students were tasked with studying how and why malaria-carrying parasites have been able to become resistant to antimalarial drugs. Dahlhoff said her studies involved artemisinin, a key component of the most effective antimalarial medications.
Mentors and role models
Dahlhoff cites a professor and a fellow student at Notre Dame as helping her forge a path in a field she already knew she loved but wasn’t immediately aware of the sheer number of career possibilities that lay ahead for her.
“Dr. Cynthia Doffitt let me start my research,” Dahlhoff said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without her.”
Likewise, Dr. Kate Brenneman was Dahlhoff’s lab mate at Notre Dame, and she called her “a really dedicated scientist” who helped her see how many career opportunities were available in science and STEM fields.
Having an interest in science since childhood, Dahlhoff hopes to share her passion for STEM with other young women with similar dreams. Her platforms for doing so are about as different as the landscapes of the Louisiana bayou and Hoosier farm fields, but both are effective in inspiring the next generation of scientists and public health workers.
Outside of her role within the Health Innovations Partnerships and Programs (HIPP) area, which administers Health Issues and Challenges Grants, Dahlhoff is a veteran of the pageant stage. She currently serves as the reigning United States of America Pageants Mrs. Indiana and has utilized that platform to mentor girls dreaming of a STEM career or those who wish to find empowerment and inspiration through pageant competition.
“I’ve been a ‘pageant person’ my entire life,” Dahlhoff said. “I never went on to a state level until moving [to Indiana]. I really like being in the community and I’ve always really enjoyed that aspect of it, but after marriage I thought that chapter was over.”
The USOA pageant features multiple contestant categories, one of which is specifically for married competitors. This opened the door for Dahlhoff to continue her pageant work, and through that, she’s hoping to have a positive impact on others.
“I really enjoy getting to meet younger pageant girls and seeing where I can help lead them,” Dahlhoff said. Her charitable organization is Project Lead the Way (PLTW), which is centered on STEM and develops such curricula for K-12 schools, so the connection between two of her passions is clear.
Photo caption: Haley Dahlhoff is the current United States of America Pageants Mrs. Indiana. Credit: Grant Foto Photography
Meant to be
Though she’s an accomplished competitor on her own, Dahlhoff’s experiences in pageants allow her to serve as a judge as well. She met Regina Smith, director of the IDOH HIPP division, when the two served as judges at an Indianapolis pageant last summer. That’s where fate and happenstance happily collided. The two struck up a conversation, with Dahlhoff relating her desire to work in public health and Smith detailing her division’s need for an epidemiologist.
“I told her about our Health Issues and Challenges Grant program and invited her to apply for our epidemiologist position,” Smith said. She was overjoyed about the opportunity, and the rest is history.”
Dahlhoff began her work with IDOH in July. She said she loves her job, which allows her to see actual results of the division’s work and how it’s directly impacting Hoosiers. In a lab setting, she noted, that’s not always the case.
“We put ‘innovative’ in our name, and I think we’re really trying to be,” Dahlhoff said. “I’m really proud to be a part of something like that, getting to go into our communities. I feel like here at IDOH, I can actually get to see those end goals.”
Her job takes her throughout the state and involves defining metrics for program grantees and making sure those entities are meeting HIPP requirements. She evaluates programs, gathers data, and serves as her division’s link to Indiana’s Management Performance Hub as well. Connecting with people is key to her work and is part of why she finds it so rewarding.
“I consider [Indiana] to be my new home, and you have to know the people around you for it to really be your home,” she said.
She names Deputy Commissioner of Local Health Services Pam Pontones among those who inspire her. Dahlhoff cited Pontones’ previous position as State Epidemiologist as proof that big dreams can come true.
“Because of her, I know that that path is open to me,” she said.
Smith said that chance meeting with Dahlhoff at the pageant is already paying dividends for IDOH.
“Haley brings the ‘secret sauce’ to our Health Innovation Partnerships and Programs division,” Smith said.
Story by Brent Brown, Indiana Department of Health