We have always drawn inspiration from the experience of undergraduate students. Women’s Health Research at Yale Undergraduate Fellows inspire us with the diversity of their interests along with their commitment to life-long learning, contributions to others, and accomplishments. This issue’s communications column takes the opportunity to spotlight just four of our prior Fellows over the last several years.
Anjali Walia (’21), a Fellow during the 2019-2020 academic year, is currently a fourth-year medical student at University of California San Francisco and preparing to enter a residency program in obstetrics and gynecology. Although she will eventually be working in a specialty focused on women, she reflects on how important it is to keep in mind the prominent sex and gender differences in health and health outcomes. As she has said, “This is especially true when evaluating new patients and remembering there could be sex differences in the presentation in many disorders ranging from heart attacks to depression.”
Devyn Rigsby (’19), a Fellow from the 2018-2019 academic year, recently began as a resident physician in Internal Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. In this role, Rigsby cares for adult patients admitted to services within the general hospital, including the intensive care unit. Next year, she will begin her residency in Diagnostic Radiology at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital. Rigsby made the most of her fellowship “shadowing” Lisa Freed, MD, in Yale New Haven Hospital’s Women’s Heart and Vascular Program, experiencing first-hand what it is like to be a physician caring for patients, as well as learning from Carolyn Mazure, PhD, about the opportunities for studying women’s health and applying empirical findings in clinical practice.
Ben Fait (’17), a Fellow from both the 2015-16 and 2016-2017 academic years, is a PhD candidate at Rockefeller University, focused on studying the neuroanatomy of spinal cord injury. Fait credits the knowledge base he gained from the fellowship as a key differentiator in his work today. He says, “It’s important to have a background awareness that decisions made in the research we do, such as whether to study females as well as males, can percolate into larger health disparities. Beyond equity and social impact, sex is consistently one of the most interesting biological variables for me as a laboratory-based researcher. It can’t be overlooked, and awareness in this regard can lead to very interesting questions as we go about our work.”
Mentors report that they draw inspiration from the Fellows as well. Current Yale College student Stephanie Montealegre (’26) was a Fellow during the last academic year and collaborated with Manuel Paris, PsyD, and Oscar Rojas Perez, PhD, on their ongoing study, “Abriendo Caminos: Engaging Latinx Communities Through Culturally Responsive, Peer Delivered Motivational Interviewing.” This fall, Montealegre presented a poster at the annual National Latinx Psychological Association highlighting the work from her collaborative project.
Rojas Perez shares, “Stephanie’s participation at a premier conference exemplifies the enriching opportunities available to undergraduate students in the field of Latinx psychology. By presenting research she not only contributed to the essential dialogue around Latinx mental health but also gained invaluable experience in articulating her findings and defending her ideas in front of a diverse audience. Stephanie was our first Women’s Health Research at Yale Fellow, and we’re excited to mentor another undergraduate this academic year.”
Women’s Health Research at Yale appreciates the opportunity to meet and mentor the next generation, and we are very proud of our Fellows and their goals and accomplishments.