Summer 2024 Interns

My public health research goal is to investigate how evidence-informed and community driven strategies can address the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality, with an emphasis on reducing disparities across populations. The Global Health Research and Training in Non-Communicable Diseases and Perinatal Epidemiology (GRAPE) at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health is my host site. I will be working on the Pregnancy Outcomes, Maternal, and Infant Study (PROMIS), a longitudinal cohort study, investigating how maternal experiences of stress and trauma across the lifespan affect infant health outcomes. At the Lee Kum Sheung Center, I would like to gain insights on coping strategies for individuals and families transitioning to new cultures and experiences while navigating happiness, wellness, thriving, and health. I also hope to improve my skills in literature review, data analysis, and manuscript development, while networking extensively with members of the Harvard Chan and Harvard Medical School communities.

I am a second-year MPH candidate with certificates in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Mental Health and Substance Use. My overarching goal in public health is to use evidence-based research to inform public policy and improve mental health care access, particularly for marginalized populations. This summer, I will be working at the Mental Health for All Lab with Dr. Gloria Pedersen on the SAMARTH project, a five-year randomized controlled trial. This project aims to design, implement, and evaluate a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program for schizophrenia care in rural India, leveraging a digital smartphone application. Through this internship, I am eager to gain valuable experience in implementation science and public mental health research. I aim to enhance my skills in conducting comprehensive literature reviews, navigating IRB documentation, and exploring digital mental health interventions.

I am an undergraduate student at Kenyon College studying Psychology, with a minor in Anthropology. Using these focuses, my past and continuing research has been centered on conceptualizing and testing interventions to improve psychological well-being, especially for queer populations. This summer, I am working with Dr. Leslie John of the Harvard Business School to review literature about the benefits of self-disclosure for her upcoming book. I am looking forward to developing skills relevant to disseminating psychological research in a popular and engaging format, as well as advancing my skills in collaborative review.

I am an MPH candidate at Brown University concentrating in maternal and child health. My research interests lie in improving maternal and child health globally, focusing on addressing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. This summer I will be collaborating with Dr. Elizabeth Levey and the GRAPE Team aiming to enhance the understanding of global epidemiology and the effectiveness of interventions for preventing maternal, perinatal, and non-communicable conditions. Our research will concentrate on evaluating maternal and child health outcomes for adolescent mothers in Perú, comparing the results from in-person and remote interventions. I aim to integrate this knowledge into my clinical practice as an aspiring physician, enhancing the standard of care for diverse populations. Through this program, I hope to strengthen my quantitative and qualitative analytical skills and make meaningful connections with my peers and my team.

I am an undergraduate student at Case Western Reserve University in the combined Bachelor’s and Master’s program, studying Neuroscience, Bioethics, and Health Communication. I’m interested in neuropsychiatry and health equity research, with the goal of uplifting patients who have systemically fallen through the cracks of the healthcare system. This summer, I am excited to be working with Dr. Ava Kikut-Stein on Youth Action Participatory Research (YPAR) in the context of cancer prevention, and promoting post-traumatic growth in young adult cancer survivors. I am looking forward to learning from everyone at the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness and getting involved in community-based action research!

My primary research interests, broadly speaking, are investigating the various factors that impact health and well-being in underrepresented or disadvantaged populations. My current research involves studying opioid abuse prevention strategies and health promotion techniques in the Hispanic population using a family-based approach which examines the roles of parents and adolescents. This summer, I am excited to work under the mentorship of Dr. Susan Peters on her Thriving Workers, Thriving Workplaces study, which aims to explore how work experiences and working conditions affect the mental, physical, and social well-being of workers. Through our collaboration this summer, I hope to gain valuable skills and insights on improving partnership recruitment outreach, learning implementation strategies, and applying translational research principles.

I am an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University studying Psychology and Medicine, Health, and Society. I am passionate about researching about how health inequity affects minoritized and vulnerable groups. I hope my research can transform health policy and work to address healthcare disparities. I am excited to be interning in Dr. K. “Vish” Viswanath’s lab under the mentorship of Dr. Dhriti Dhawan, on a project partnering with the Salaam Bombay Foundation. In this project, our lab will be investigating how school and community connectedness and health promotion behaviors support the health and well-being of schoolchildren in Mumbai, India. I am looking forward to strengthening my qualitative research skills and contributing to project development. Through this internship, I will build a greater understanding of how evidence-based strategies support the well-being and resilience of vulnerable populations. Ultimately, I will learn how applied research is actively shaping people’s lives.

I am a fourth-year undergraduate at the University of Virginia studying Public Health and Kinesiology. I am especially interested in chronic disease, intervention development, and implementation, health behaviors, and mental wellbeing and resiliency and their interrelation with physical health. With all of the research I undertake, I prioritize conducting intentional, community-informed research; and ensuring that research goes beyond a paper, and informs policy or initiatives that are effectively and meaningfully implemented. This summer, I am excited to work with Dr. Christopher Celano through the Cardiac Psychiatry Research Program (CPRP) at Massachusetts General Hospital. I’ll be primarily working on an NIH study (BEHOLD) which examines a novel psychological-behavioral intervention to promote physical activity in patients with type 2 diabetes. The intervention is a combined positive psychology/ motivational interviewing program. I look forward to engaging with the CPRP team, deepening my knowledge in the topic area, and advancing the work of the project.

My main goal in public health research is to contribute to the conceptualization, development, and implementation of interventions that improve health and well-being for everyone in an equitable manner. This summer, I will be working with Dr. Gloria Pedersen and my fellow intern Lekha Amin in the Mental Health for All Lab. I will assist with the preparatory phase of a randomized clinical trial for a community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program designed for schizophrenia care in rural India, that also involves a digital mental health app. Through this program, I hope to learn more about global mental health issues and how to design and conduct effective and equitable interventions for these issues. I also hope to further develop my research skills (e.g., conducting literature reviews, preparing protocol documents) and my scientific thinking skills.

I am a medical sociologist and mixed-methods researcher, with strong interests in health inequalities and a particular focus on disasters, gender, and aging. I study health disparities in gender, race, rural-urban contexts, and social capital, situating them within the expansive realm of the region’s socio-political economy. Currently, my regional focus is the United States and South Asia (primarily India). This summer, I will be collaborating with Dr. Ashley Whillans of the Harvard Business School to investigate how alleviating time poverty can lead to sustained psychological, economic, and health benefits for girls and women in Rajasthan, India. Through this internship, I seek to broaden my networks and collaborations while honing my quantitative skills within an enriching interdisciplinary space.

My research interests encompass well-being, information processing, and mental health. I am currently collaborating with Dr. Marciano on an NIH-funded project that examines loneliness and social media use behaviors among adolescents. In addition, we are involved in other projects focus on well-being, biomarkers, and media-related addiction behaviors. Through this collaboration, I can gain valuable experience in data collection for human experiments, systematic review writing, and brainstorming research directions. Working with Dr. Marciano has provided me with an enriching learning environment and various opportunities for professional growth in the field of psychological and public health research.