Emily is a sophomore from Fairfax, Virginia who is interested in promoting health and wellness through education and community outreach. This summer she worked as a contact tracer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, where she conducted outreach to those who tested positive for or were exposed to COVID-19. She helped connect those most impacted by the pandemic to quarantine and isolation guidelines, employment and housing resources, and community service ideas. Through this experience, she saw the widespread healthcare disparities and inequities created by race and ethnicity, language and culture, and age. She hopes to continue building trust between healthcare systems and individuals from all backgrounds as she pursues her goal of becoming a physician.
At Penn, Emily tutors local youth through the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project and creates free educational science magazines with UnEarthed. She seeks to blend her interests by simplifying topics like vaccine design and the immune response to convey information to younger audiences. Additionally, she looks forward to dermatology research to understand the scientific method and biology techniques.
In her free time, Emily enjoys running on nature trails, spending time with her eight-year-old rabbit, and growing a sustainable garden.