Addressing Public Health in New York

During the Summer of 2023, I assisted in research at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. Sociomedical Sciences is dedicated to understanding and addressing the social, political, historical, cultural, psychological, and economic forces that influence health outcomes.

 

At Columbia University, I worked on a project focused on energy insecurity, where we recruited New Yorkers to be a part of home-based interviews, to share their experiences dealing with inadequate energy in the city. As a research team, we collected and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data and shared this information across our social media platforms (@holdandcold_nyc) to spread awareness and advocacy of this issue. I was also able to have meaningful conversations with New Yorkers about their lives and collect data from their experiences to assist my professor, Dr. Diana Hernández, with her research on the environmental and social health determinants of energy insecurity. This research supports critical gaps in academic literature and serves as a foundation for evidence-based policy and programmatic planning in New York City and beyond.

 

During this experience, I’ve grown my passion in public health, and it has allowed me to explore a new avenue of public health in an urban area such as New York City. My favorite part of the summer was being able to help New Yorkers feel heard in an area of health that is too often undermined.

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Internship funded by the Peter Buck Internship Fund​.