A small group of juniors is chosen each year for the program through a rigorous application and selection process focusing on both academic performance and plans for work and research on health policy issues.

The scholars are supported by the program through their junior and senior years. Scholars receive financial support to engage in health-related internships or independent research on health-related topics in the summer before the senior year, and are expected to write senior theses with a health policy dimension.

The scholars may also participate in planning health policy seminars and lectures, and they have the opportunity to interact with distinguished speakers during their campus visits.

This initiative is part of the Center for Health and Wellbeing’s Global Health Program. The program’s key elements all relate to domestic and international health care and health policy, and include seed grants to support innovative faculty research; conferences, workshops and policy forums; and grants for student research and internships.

The six Class of 2020 Health Scholars are:

• Chisom Chigozie-Nwosu ’20, a Psychology concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate. Chisom is interested in conducting interdisciplinary research using psychological techniques to investigate the connections between poverty and reproductive outcomes.
• Grace Guan ’20, a Computer Science concentrator pursuing certificates in GHP, Statistics & Machine Learning, and Engineering Biology. She is interested in using machine learning techniques to optimize hospital staffing and reduce wait times, and in developing data-driven incentives to discourage insurers from dropping less profitable patients. 
• Sirad Hassan ’20, a Woodrow Wilson School concentrator pursuing certificates in GHP, Cognitive Science, and African American Studies. Sirad is interested in examining Somali refugee women’s access to mental health care in Kenya.
• Rachel Kasdin ’20, a Sociology concentrator pursuing certificates in GHP and Latin American Studies. She is interested in exploring how recent expansions in Medicaid coverage in New York City impact how women perceive and make decisions about doula use, and how doulas think about and serve Medicaid recipients.
• Gabriela Oseguera Serra ’20, a Politics concentrator pursuing a GHP certificate. Gabriela is interested in researching indigenous populations’ access to healthcare in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the effect that migration patterns have on the spread of AIDS.
• Elisabeth Slighton ’20, an Anthropology concentrator pursuing a certificate in GHP. She is interested in conducting ethnographic research to document the lives and experiences of people living with inflammatory bowel disease.

The Center for Health and Wellbeing is an interdisciplinary center within the Woodrow Wilson School, which seeks to foster research and teaching on the multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in both developed and developing countries.