I begged for my first chemistry set in the third grade after my grandmother had a mastectomy. I remember screaming with glee that my ‘magic potions’—rather than early 2000s medicine—had caused her remission. As I matured, I learned that deadly diseases like diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure all devastate the Black community, including my family, at rates unparalleled to any ethnic group. I poured my energy into understanding why the most debilitating diseases affected my community the most, knowing that to answer this question, I had to dig deeper into the mechanisms of disease. With this drive, I have earned my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Columbia University, and I am currently a 5th year graduate student in the Molecular Biology department. Outside of academia, I have been dedicated to building my community by supporting students’ needs.

The GSP program has without a doubt enhanced my first-year experience in the graduate school. As part of the ADI team, it is an absolute pleasure to extend an olive branch to foster a welcoming and exciting environment to meet student needs.