• Fall 2024 Fellowship

  • In our Fall 2024 Fellowship, we are excited to announce...

    13

    Policy Fellows

    48

    Research Fellows

    8

    Topics

    3

    Tracks

  • Research Topics

    Cancer

    Cancer outcomes vary significantly across different populations and can be linked to various disparities. By addressing these disparities, we can improve access to care and impact health outcomes.

    Diabetes & Obesity

    Diabetes and obesity disproportionately affect certain populations. By identifying root causes, risk factors, prevention methods, and other factors, we aim to address diabetes and obesity's effects.

    Cardiovascular Health

    Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the global leading cause of death, but its impact is not equivalent across different populations. We aim to address related disparities to understand CVD's impact on minoritized or underserved communities.

    Respiratory Health

    Asthma, lung cancer, and other respiratory diseases greatly affect minoritized and low-income, communities, as well as those living in densely polluted areas. By understanding causes, we aim to address prevention, diagnosis, and treatment methods.

    Maternal and Child Health

    We aim to uncover the causes behind disparities in maternal and infant mortality rates, preterm births, and other events among minoritized, low-income, and underserved communities in order to ensure all mothers and children have the opportunity for healthy outcomes.

    HIV/AIDS

    We aim to address why certain communities are at high risk for HIV/AIDS infection, as well as what can be done to improve public health, health education, and other factors impacting HIV/AIDS. By addressing disparities related to HIV/AIDS, we aim to improve these areas.

    Environmental Health

    Air and water pollution, toxic waste, unsafe housing conditions, and other environmental factors disproportionately affect the health of minoritized, low-income, and underserved communities. We aim to address these disparities to improve life quality and expectancy.

    Rare Diseases

    Individuals with rare diseases may face delays in diagnosis and limited access to specialized treatment. These challenges are exacerbated for people from marginalized communities because of a lack of access to health care, language barriers, geographic isolation, and other factors. We aim to address these disparities to ensure all patients receive timely and accurate diagnoses, as well as appropriate care.

  • Research Tracks

    Data Analysis

    Students will propose a data-driven research question, identify a dataset that can provide an answer to the question, and perform data analysis to identify trends that inform health disparities. Students will be matched with a mentor who can assist with technical aspects of the project or help the student access private databases. The end goal is to publish an original research paper or research letter in a scholarly journal or in the Journal of the Health Disparities Think.

    Review/ Editorial

    Similar to the summer fellowship, students will conduct a thorough literature review of a particular health disparity, analyze it with a unique lens, and write a review paper or editorial to synthesize novel arguments from the existing literature. Students will be matched with a mentor to revise their paper, ultimately for publication in a scholarly journal or in the Reviews or Perspectives section of the Journal of the Health Disparities Think Tank.

    Science Writing

    Students will identify a health disparity that they aim to spotlight in the popular press and report on it through a critical, journalistic lens. Alternatively, students can choose to write an op-ed taking a stance in relation to a health disparity of interest. The goal of this track is to produce a journalist or opinion piece understandable to the lay audience, ultimately for publication in the popular press or in the News or Opinion section of the Journal of the Health Disparities Think Tank.

    Policy Report

    Students will work in groups of two to build a policy report/presentation on the status of health disparities in their assigned topic. Coordinating with policy advisors and research fellows, students will set up meetings for respective deadlines, develop policy advisor networks, and maintain current organization relationships. The goal of this track is to provide policy leadership for the health disparities research produced. Specifically, the policy report will insure the production of translational and policy informed research.

  • Research Fellows

    Data Analysis

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    Perisa Ashar

    Cardiovascular Health

    Duke '25

    Biomedical Engineering; Biology

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    Minh Pham

    Cardiovascular Health

    UCLA '16

    SAC/SCC '25

    Biochemistry; Political Science; Public Policy

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    Joseph Awad

    HIV/AIDS

    UCLA '26

    Psychology

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    Alice Finkelstein

    Rare Diseases

    Stanford '27

    Bioengineering

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    Arthur Musinguzi

    Respiratory Health

    UMass Lowell '25

    MPH & Epidemiology

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    Sara Mohamed

    Cancer

    Univ. of Mass. '26

    Pharmaceutical Science

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    Rohan Murali

    Diabetes & Obesity

    Harvard '27

    Human Developmental & Regenerative Biology

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    Jacqueline Zhu

    Respiratory Health

    Univ. of Toronto

    Biomedical & Electrical Engineering

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    Anirudh Mazumder

    Computer Science

    Texas Academy of Math '25

    Environmental Health

  • Review/Editorial

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    Tsering Yangchen

    Maternal & Child Health

    Harvard '26

    Anthropology, Global Health & Health Policy

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    Audrey Todd

    Cardiovascular Health

    Stanford School of Medicine '27

    MD Candidate

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    Mason Raymond

    HIV/AIDS

    Steel Canyon HS

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    Fatima Elmenshawy

    Cardiovascular Health

    Washington University '27

    Computer Science; Computational Biology

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    Kassidi Thompson

    Maternal & Child Health

    Bentley University '27

    Economics: Finance & Public Policy

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    Monique Santoso

    Rare Diseases

    Stanford

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    Varun Jalapati

    Diabetes & Obesity

    UT Dallas '26

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    Elizabeth Hong

    Cancer

    Stanford '27

    Bioengineering

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    Walaa Ouf

    HIV/AIDS

    UMass Lowell '25

    Pharmaceutical Science

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    Shivani Babu

    Rare Diseases

    Stanford '27

    Human Biology

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    Jenaysha Williams

    Maternal & Child Health

    Stanford '27

    Psychology

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    Esther Clayton

    Maternal & Child Health

    Harvard College

    Molecular & Cellular Biology

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    Komal Thandi

    Rare Diseases

    Stanford '28

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    Ijebusonma Agundu

    Maternal & Child Health

    UMass Lowell '24

    Master of Public Health

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    Johanna Vu

    Cardiovascular Health

    UCLA '26

    Sociology; Evolutionary Medicine

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    Bjorn Bjornsen

    Environmental Health

    Neuroscience & Environmental Science

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    Aayushi Gandhi

    Maternal & Child Health

    Stanford '27

    Biology, Medical Humanities

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    Claire Zhu

    HIV/AIDS

    Columbia '27

    Neuroscience & Behavior

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    David Kim

    Cardiovascular Health

    Harvard '27

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    Andria Escobar

    HIV/AIDS

    UCR '27

    Medicine

  • Science Writing

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    Rina Matsunaga

    Cancer

    Harvard '28

    Economics & Global Health/Health Policy

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    Maisa Ali

    Diabetes & Obesity

    Harvard '27

    Biomedical Engineering

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    Diala Ajaero

    Cardiovascular Health

    University of Michigan Ann Arbor '26

    Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

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    Salma Ngokila

    Diabetes & Obesity

    UMass Lowell '28

    Applied Biomedical Sciences

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    Victory Ikpea

    Respiratory Health

    UMass Lowell '26

    Public Health Epidemiology

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    Raina Lakhani

    Respiratory Health

    Univ. of Delaware '28

    Biological Sciences

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    Caden Wang

    Cancer

    Seven Lakes HS

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    Alyza Sokla

    Environmental Health

    UMass Lowell '28

    Nursing

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    Raghav Thakur

    Cancer

    UMass Lowell '28

    Applied Biomedical Sciences

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    Nikhil Damera

    Diabetes & Obesity

    Univ. of Texas at Dallas '25

    Neuroscience

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    Anika Christensen

    Rare Diseases

    Harvard '26

    Human Evolutionary Biology & Music

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    Aarush Kaboo

    Respiratory Health

    Univ. of Texas at Austin '27

    Applied Biomedical Sciences

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    Chris Collado

    Environmental Health

    Columbia '26

    Public Health

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    Neel Youts

    Cancer

    UT Austin '27

    Health and Society

  • Policy Fellows

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    Kendra Viloria

    Maternal & Child Health

    OSU '24

    Public Health

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    Mariya Meleganich

    Cardiovascular Health

    Harvard '26

    Chemistry & Government; Statistics

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    Kyle Phong

    Cancer

    UCLA '27

    Pyschology & Public Health

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    Nicole Dye

    Maternal & Child Health

    Stanford '26

    Biology-Neuroscience

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    Arham Kundi

    Rare Diseases

    Neuroscience

    UT Dallas '25

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    Shakeng Moua

    Respiratory Health

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    Jeel Shah

    HIV/AIDS

    UMass Lowell '26

    M.S. Pharmaceutical Science

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    Anoop Kaur Phul

    Respiratory Health

    UMass Lowell '24

    MPH - Healthcare Management

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    Emily Wang

    Diabetes & Obesity

    MIT '26

    Computer Science; Biology; Political Science

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    Christie Beckley

    Harvard '27

    Neuroscience & Economics

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    Martin Orea

    HIV/AIDS

    Santa Monica College '26

    Public Policy, Political Science, Social & Behavioral Sciences

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    Ashley Huerta

    Diabetes & Obesity

    UC Berkeley

    Public Health and Public Policy

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    Emily Oh

    Cardiovascular Health

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    Ryan Whalen

    Diabetes & Obesity

    Harvard '28

    Applied Mathematics & Economics