Meet the 2026 Health Equity Fellows

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio

Major: Premedicine with a concentration in community health

Pronouns: he/him

Tell us about you. 

I’m a part of UD’s Boxing Club, so I like to box. I watch all sports because I like seeing great athletes succeed. I always tell people that I’m a fan of greatness. But I’m also interested in more artistic things, like movies. My favorite superhero movies are Batman: The Dark Knight and [the 2002] Spider-Man, specifically the one with Tobey Maguire. I also enjoy watching movies from the ’80s and ’90s.

What do you see yourself doing in your future career?

I hope to be doing something with health administration — maybe I can be on the executive board of a hospital or something like that. My work in [this program] introduced me to thinking about all the types of reasons why people can’t get the health care they need. I’d like to be in service to low-income, underserved communities.

How did you learn about the the program, and why did you apply?

Ms. Sharon Hawkins (Del Mar Encore Fellow at The Dayton Foundation) introduced it to me during her presentation on the Fitz Center and its programs. My friend encouraged me to talk to Ms. Sharon to learn more about the program. We ended up relating to each other a lot because we’re both from Cleveland [where she worked as a nurse], and [that] drew my interest in the program. When I got through the interview, I thought, “This is the place for me.”

What were your expectations going into the program?

Since we’re the first cohort, I knew there’d be bumps in the road, but that’s also what helped draw me to it because I’m like, “Oh, I’m actually kind of like a founder in this program,” and I thought that was really cool.

What is a standout moment or memory from your first year in the program?

The very first day was pretty standout. We had team exercises where we had to walk a tight rope, and that was kind of scary, but it actually really helped us because we were all encouraging each other and had a lot of fun. The cohort bonded that day by cheering one another on. I feel like we have a pretty tight group now.

How do you anticipate that the program will influence your professional and personal goals?

It showed me a lot of different avenues of health care, and it helped me look at health care differently because, coming into college, I didn’t realize there was so much to it. Especially people who do research, decide where the money goes, work on policies and determine how patients are going to be treated — the “business” side of running a hospital. 

And then as far as personal growth, it really changed my outlook on how I see people who are not getting the help that they deserve. When I was younger, I thought, “You got to try hard. You got to build yourself up.” And now, I believe we need to help people more and help build them up … get them in a situation where they can be helped.

Hometown: Olmstead Falls, Ohio

Major: Premedicine with a minor in psychology 

Pronouns: she/her

Tell us about you.

I’m [a resident assistant] at Marycrest. I’ve met a lot of great people there, but you can also imagine I’ve dealt with a lot of things, being in a first-year dorm. I'm an ambassador for the Asian American Association. I was also the Asian Pacific Islander Culture Chair for the Multicultural Programming Council and a Diversity Peer Educator. In my free time, I nap a lot, hang out with friends and read fantasy books. I like to drive around and listen to K-pop.

What do you see yourself doing in your future career?

I’m hoping to work in dermatology. I’m not exactly sure right now if I’d like to be a physician or physician assistant. My family doesn’t have good skin genetics and [seeing some of my family] go through bad acne and struggling with self-esteem made a big impact on me. I got interested in doing my own skincare research and learning the basics. I became really interested in Asian skincare because Eastern skincare is different than Western.

How did you learn about the program, and why did you apply?

I first heard about the program through our [Arts and Sciences interdisciplinary] class for the premed majors. I thought it sounded interesting and decided to apply and see what happens. They had a lot of benefits like scholarships, and you were able to learn about the different sides of health care. Being premed and trying to go to medical school, [we are all] trying to get volunteer and clinical hours, taking a lot of hard classes, and studying a ton, and I wanted something more than that. I wanted to stand out from other applicants. 

But more than that, I was interested in learning about equities in health care because not a lot of people have the financial means or access to get the care they need. Getting your degree, you’re taught how to administer treatment, what the parts of the body are and stuff like that, but they don’t really teach you how people are going to get this care in the first place, which is what we’re learning in this program.

What awareness did you have of concepts like “social determinants of health” (the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status) and “health equity” coming into this program?

I only knew the difference between “equality” and “equity.” We’ve done a lot of activities like taking zip codes from different areas and comparing infant mortality rates and life expectancies and food deserts, and we found that [people] in certain areas did not have access to adequate care or even cheap, healthy food. We really focused on how where you can live determines how good your health is or what resources you have access to, which is something I didn’t think about before.

What’s one of your biggest takeaways from your first year in this program?

It’s taught me a lot that I never would’ve expected, but I think something irreplaceable is learning to be empathetic with myself and others. That’s huge not only with a future in health care and providing care but also in our day-to-day lives as students and human beings. 

Hometown: Greenwood, Indiana

Major: Predentistry with a minor in fine arts

Pronouns: she/her

Tell us about you.

I’ve been involved in art my whole life. I'm minoring in fine arts, so I’ll have time to continue that hobby. I really like ceramics, so I’m hoping to take some courses and keep up with my artistic side. Over the summer, I’ve always done tennis camps, so I’m pretty excited to pick that back up.

What do you see yourself doing in your future career?

My goal is to be a dentist. I wasn’t initially interested in that but toward my senior year [of high school], I started looking at options and thought dentistry looked cool and hands-on. I was also able to shadow one of my family members who is a dentist, and I liked the work she was doing. It seemed interesting. My relatives also kind of serve populations who we’re going to be interacting with — like low-income or immigrant populations — so, it just all kind of worked out.

How did you learn about the program, and why did you apply?

I really wanted an internship throughout the summer and experience in health care ... . I’m excited to learn more about the population we’re going to be working with, and this [experience] has made me more interested in equity in health care.

What projects or initiatives from the program stood out to you?

Comparing two zip codes next to each other and what accessibility one has versus the other. I thought it was crazy that some [people] — probably a street away — had no grocery stores, no bus system, nothing … while the other side had so much more access to care and food and other stuff. That shocked me. 

How has this program impacted your personal and professional development?

It’s given me a new perspective on health care. I think it’ll shape my career in the theme of health equity in dentistry. I definitely think it’s made me a lot more humble and grateful in my life. To be in a position to provide someone care is a privilege, so this program has helped me to be more empathetic toward the people I’ve come across. 

Hometown: Kettering, Ohio

Major: Premedicine

Pronouns: she/her

Tell us about yourself.

I’m learning how to crochet. I’m not that good at it yet, but that’s one thing I’ve done. I made my grandma a little cat for Christmas, and that’s my favorite thing I’ve made so far. I have an orange cat named Zed that I love to play with so I’m constantly buying new toys. I listen to electric dance music (EDM) music; it’s a great way to let go and relax. I went to my first EDM festival in Philadelphia and got to see Skrillex and Porter Robinson, that was great.

What do you see yourself doing in your future career?

I want to go to medical school and be a physician, but I also want to pursue a master’s in public health. I’d like to be some sort of primary care physician, but I think I want to collaborate in some sort of way with the public – Montgomery County Public Health preferably because I really don’t want to leave the area. I like the idea of being a part of things both clinically and administratively. But I’ve always wanted to do health care. Initially, I started at UD as a health science major, and I wanted to go to physical therapy school. My plan was to go to school and open my own practices with affordable care so people wouldn’t necessarily need insurance to do it — they’d just have an affordable flat rate.

How did you learn about the program, and why did you apply?

I’m a patient at Dayton Children’s Hospital, so my experience with wanting to become a fellow revolves around my health and the struggles I’ve had with it. They’re intertwined. I have Crohn’s disease, and my insurance wouldn’t cover [the medication] Humera. I ended up getting really, really sick and developed this rare condition. Now I see a hematologist oncologist at Dayton Children’s who advocated for me to be able to receive everything I needed. He cared a lot more than my previous doctor. It took me months to recover, but that’s when I decided that I wanted to be a part of making care more accessible because of the insurance portion, which was my struggle. 

What awareness did you have of concepts like “social determinants of health” and “health equity” coming into this program?

Just in this year alone, the program has provided me with a much more well-rounded view of what these concepts look like. For example: food deserts are a huge barrier to having access to healthy food, and that’s part of your well-being. I had never considered that. And then also transportation — that’s one of the biggest things, too. I had never really considered that, either. There’s so much more that I just never thought about, so this experience really opened my eyes. 

What is a standout moment or memory from your first year in the HEF?

Sharon Hawkins from the Health Equity Activation Think Tank, or HEATT, came in and did a lesson regarding infant mortality disparities in the community. Like, it’s very clear with the numbers — it’s so shocking and horrible to see that, on average, African American infants have a mortality rate that’s about three times higher. Seeing that clearly in the data was so impactful to me — and yet, it’s an issue that’s not spoken about. I don’t think I would’ve ever been exposed to that being an issue in the community and across that nation [without this program]. And that’s a real problem.