Lisbette Acosta

Lisbette Acosta is a writer, researcher, and artist at the Yale School of Medicine. She originally hails from La Vega, Dominican Republic, and is currently based in New Haven, Connecticut, bridging the two locations with her work. Informed by her personal experience, her research focuses on shedding light on the psychology of food and water insecurity in the Caribbean, the effects of discrimination in healthcare encounters, and health equity pedagogy in medical schools in the U.S.

Graduating with departmental honors with a degree in Psychology, Education Studies, and pre-medical studies from Yale College, Lisbette brings ample mentorship experience to the spaces she inhabits. Lisbette has been featured in USA Today for her previous work as a Head Advising Fellow, Outreach Coordinator, panel moderator, and curriculum creator with Matriculate. This national non-profit organization pairs low-income high school students with college students to guide them through the college application process. Lisbette has been awarded various mentorship roles on Yale's campus, supporting students with disabilities as a Peer Liaison for Student Accessibility Services, and first-year students who seek to sustainably support and learn about New Haven through Dwight Hall's First-Years in Support of New Haven.

Lisbette has been recognized for her achievements and research by Harvard Medical School, Yale School of Medicine, the Delta Alpha Pi Honors Society, the Council on Latin American & Iberian Studies, and more for her work in improving cardiovascular outcomes in the Eastern Caribbean, encouraging disability representation at Yale, and her scholarship.

Lisbette dreams of being a medical sociologist working across countries on the island of Hispaniola as well as within immigrant populations in the U.S. Her career aspirations include collaborating with international organizations to shed light on humanitarian crises in the Caribbean, improving human rights for Haitians and Black people worldwide, and creating spaces for the next generation to learn about equitable global justice work. Lisbette stands unequivocally for Haitian rights and will spend her life ensuring that other Dominicans do the same.