Established in 2020 by Thomas A. Bersani '78, this fund supports experiential learning including but not limited to: internships or fellowships in public health, research opportunities, off-campus travel, academic and professional conferences or campus and community-based public health campaigns or research presentations.
I am proud to be able to reflect on my time volunteering at the Hospeace House, where I was able to dedicate six weeks to helping with its mission. This experience has allowed me to grow both personally and professionally.
For each of my internships I worked with a supervisor to complete research over the course of the summer. For my research with Johns Hopkins I worked remotely with Professor Haneefa Saleem on one of her existing projects which is the adaptation of a Social Network Drug Use intervention to be implemented in Tanzania. Professor Saleem and her team have completed the collection of qualitative data, my responsibilities were to organize and analyze the data collected into an adaptation paper.
As a legislative intern under the Capitol office of Assembly Member Miguel Santiago, I performed a variety of tasks for the office and Assembly Member Santiago. A highlight of my experiences was briefing the Assembly Member on a variety of bills. One bill I spent a considerable amount of time on was AB2242. This bill was led by the Assembly Member and it focused on mental health care for underserved communities. I led meetings with lobbyists on this bill as well as conducted research and vetted letters.
