Tolentino wins Fulbright

A third Cornellian, Lucio Tolentino ’09, has won a Fulbright grant this year.

Tolentino, who majored in computer science and mathematics at Cornell and is now pursuing a doctorate in computer science at the University of Iowa, will spend next year in South Africa, working with statistical modeling to help predict and prevent the spread of HIV. His fellowship will take place at  South Africa Centre for Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis at Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape, South Africa.

“My work will explore different intervention methods and the ways in which they affect HIV prevalence, averted HIV infections and HIV-related deaths, and years of life saved within the modeling program,” Tolentino said. “The ultimate goal of the project is an enhanced version of a software model that allows a user to explore the short- medium- and long-term health and budget consequences of alternative HIV combination prevention strategies.”

He credits his Cornell education and the college’s encouraging faculty with his success in graduate school. He said that while at Cornell he took an independent study course that showed him how much he enjoyed research.

When he earns his doctorate in approximately two years, Tolentino hopes to work at a research center or health organization.