In Action
Empathy and Social Justice: Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard, MS '89, was recently interviewed by the Columbia College Alumni Association for her work pushing productive civil discourse and social action amid this period of racial tensions. As a leader in the CCAA, as well as current president of Columbia College Women, Khadijah describes how her educational journey laid an important basis for the critical thinking and empathy needed to address everyday injustice. Helping with the alumni-student Odyssey Mentoring Program, she emphasizes the responsibility of using one’s influence to make necessary change. The full interview can be found here.
Building Community: Jorge Campos, MS '17, was recognized as one of just two 2020 Aloian Memorial Scholars by Harvard for his dedication to making Currier House a more welcome, accessible, and supportive place for all students. Jorge's enthusiasm and brightness has been key in forging bonds across class years and diverse groups and he helped to establish House Cinema, Tea Time, and Study Nights.
Waste Management: Sarah Hsu, MS '13, published the first ever waste and carbon footprint audit of U.S. Emergency Department waste in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine! She found that in one day, a single ED produced 1,481 pounds of waste, the carbon footprint equivalent of driving a car 7,700 miles. Read "Dumpster Diving in the Emergency Department: Quantity and Characteristics of Waste at a Level I Trauma Center" here.
Making Education Accessible: Evelyn Wong, MS '17, was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative and Foundation with the COVID-19 Student Action Fund for her work running CovEd, a virtual platform that pairs underserved K-12 students with undergraduates/postgrads from higher education institutions across the U.S., providing them with 1-on-1 mentorship, web-based educational resources, and offline content. In addition to receiving seed funding for CovEd, Evelyn and the other awardees will receive invitations to participate in the CGI U 2021 program, including an invitation to attend the CGI U 2021 annual event at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Stepping Up: Dr. Joelle Simpson, MS '95, was promoted to Interim Chief of Emergency Medicine at Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C.. In her new role, she oversees the daily operations of the pediatric emergency medicine department, spread across 3 locations that see an annual of 130K visits, and 350 full-time-employees, including physicians, nursing practitioners, advanced practice providers, and other staff. She also recently co-authored a study on the Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Children.
Climate Crisis and Public Health: Harleen Marwah, MS '11 was recently featured in the Huffington Post for her work leading a volunteer grassroots coalition called Medical Students for a Sustainable Future, with more than 100 students from 34 medical schools and programs across the U.S. (including Sarah Hsu, MS '13) focused on coordinating efforts to push for more education on the intersection between climate change and public health. Read the article here.
Teaching in Colombia: Isiah, MS '13, was just selected as a Fulbright Scholar and will be departing to Colombia in January 2021 to teach English at a university, while also completing his Master's in Urban Education: Policy & Administration at Loyola Marymount University's School of Education. A huge congrats to Isiah, who will be one of only 47 Fulbright Scholars teaching in Colombia this coming year!
30 under 30: Morris Vanegas, MS '08 was recently named to the Latino 30 under 30 list for his work in an academic specialty in the biomedical engineering of imaging the brain using visible light that was still only partially born. Currently, he is heading an NIH-funded grant to create portable non-invasive neuro-imaging technologies to accelerate stroke recovery. And outside of academia, Morris is the Co-Founder of The Second L, an organization that runs ÉPOCA: a multi-day festival that helps lifelong learners reach their personal and professional self-fulfillment through residential-based learning, experience-based insight, cultural agility, and wellness coaching. Learn more about Morris and his accomplishment here.
For The Emmy: Nuria Santamaria Wolfe MS ’01 received an Emmy nomination in 2019 for the Canticos series on Nick Jr. Canticos is the bilingual preschool brand created by Encantos Media, a company Nuria co-founded in 2015.
Life in Color: Nicole Villasin MS ‘02 is a Brand Manager at Starbucks Coffee Co where she successfully launched the innovative product, Starbucks Color changing cold cups that broke the internet in 2019! If you didn’t get your hands on one of these, you can read about the craze on USA Today.