All of the students featured in this section are graduating seniors who are a part of our second cohort of Advanced LEAP Scholars. Read below to learn more about Raksha, Naidelyn, and Angie's, undergraduate experiences at UC Berkeley!
All of the students featured in this section are graduating seniors who are a part of our second cohort of Advanced LEAP Scholars. Read to learn more about Cat, Ivy, and Yucca's undergraduate experiences at UC Berkeley!
Students featured in this section are graduating seniors who are a part of our second cohort of Advanced LEAP Scholars. Read below to learn more about Jaimie and Samantha’s undergraduate experiences at UC Berkeley!
Our faculty has worked with instructors to include MCAH-related content and didactic materials in several undergraduate courses. A few courses are highlighted below. More information can be found on the Berkeley Academic Guide: https://guide.berkeley.edu/courses/pb_hlth/ and academic year offerings can be found on the Berkeley Class Schedule: https://classes.berkeley.edu/
This past summer, I was an intern for Birth By Us, a pregnancy and postpartum app designed to support and empower women and birthing people of color. Birth By Us is a woman-founded organization that centers community-based and equitable maternal care.
My first week as an intern focused on literature reviews related to maternal health inequities, especially those affecting birthing people of color. I also researched existing maternal health apps to analyze gaps in access and designs that Birth By Us could address. Through reviewing platforms such as Mother Goose Health, Health In Her...
Aryana Valle Portela, Advanced LEAP Scholar 2024-26
This past summer, I had the opportunity to work as a research assistant for the California Abundant Birth Project (CA-ABP), working on their Evaluation Research team. The CA-ABP provides monthly income supplements to Black and Brown pregnant individuals who meet certain prerequisites in various counties around California. If selected, participants receive monthly cash stipends for 12-18 months during the preterm and postpartum period. The Evaluation Research is a subgroup within the CA-ABP that seeks to help researchers understand how well the program is working for participants and how...
As part of my MCAH coursework, I interned with the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health. CCUIH is a non-profit dedicated to increasing and protecting access to healthcare for urban American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people.
I worked with Policy Director Nanette Star and Berkeley alumna Allegra Simmons conducting a website audit. The CCUIH website has 30+ pages that hold information and resources ranging from services for domestic violence survivors, to COVID, to legislative policy reports. There are many diverse teams at CCUIH, all working on different...
Last semester during RRR week, some advanced LEAP scholars and MCAH graduate students volunteered at Oakland’s Ronald McDonald House for their holiday initiative Comfort & Joy. The initiative consisted of multiple free toy shops across the Bay Area for families with sick and injured children to pick out any toy they wanted for free. This location in particular was right across UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, making it the perfect holiday stop for nearby families and...
The 2nd annual EmpowerMED symposium took place in Berkeley Way West this past November. EmpowerMED is designed to expose pre-health students to the various health professional fields they can enter within the medical and public health fields. During the symposium, undergraduate students have the opportunity to connect with a diverse panel of local health professionals and ask questions about their career journey to gain insight into what future they would like to envision for themselves. This event was hosted by UC Berkeley’s public health student organization Medicine,...
LEAP Peer Ambassadors are senior undergraduate public health students in our Advanced LEAP Scholar cohort. LEAP Peer Ambassadors connect with students who are interested in MCAH, share experiences about student life and community environment, and provide mentoring with academic planning and creating a balanced workload.
