Alice Huang
Alice is a medical student in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University Class of 2022 in Providence, RH. She graduated in 2015 from Duke University in Durham, NC, with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Minors in Chemistry and Biology. During the three years between her undergraduate studies and beginning medical school, Alice served as a high school algebra teacher on the Pacific island of Weno in Chuuk, Micronesia through WorldTeach; worked for the global health education organization Global Public Service Academies in the highlands of Guatemala and western Belize; and served as an AmeriCorps Member at Zufall Health Center in her home state of New Jersey. Her experiences in the education, clinical health and public health sectors have reinforced her desire to become a physician who will tackle health issues on the micro and macro levels and contribute to international health policy that will work toward alleviating health disparities in low-resource communities around the world. In her free time, Alice enjoys exploring old and new haunts, hiking, getting lost in museums and bakeries, drawing, photography and playing the violin.
Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Beliefs Regarding Prenatal Alcohol Consumption Among Women in Leyte, The Philippines
6/01/2019 - 7/13/2019
Philippines
What does the Kean Fellowship mean to you?
The Kean Fellowship has provided the opportunity for me to explore global health through the lens of research for the first time. Despite having prior exposure to global health through volunteer work that was clinical and public-health oriented, I had until the Kean Fellowship not had the opportunity to learn about global health in the context of research. The support of the fellowship has granted me the chance to experience hands-on field research in the Philippines, working with patients, physicians, researchers and community members from initial planning and survey development to data collection, analysis and synthesis. I hope that the research that I do this summer will shine a light for me on how to further the goals of public health in underserved communities as a future practicing physician.
What do you anticipate learning?
While as an undergraduate I had the opportunity to do bench and clinical research, this will be the first time I will be engaging in global health research. I anticipate learning a great deal about how to conduct research in a foreign setting through the challenges and rewards that come with it as well as the interplay of culture, health and social constructs in tropical medicine and global health.
What interests you about tropical medicine and what problems are you interested in solving?
Research in tropical medicine is an open field. There are so many questions that require an answer within the realm of tropical medicine, be it questions surrounding healthcare system infrastructure or those examining infectious diseases endemic to certain regions of the world. By working toward understanding how to accurately frame those questions in a culturally relevant fashion and how to go about responding to them, one can really contribute to making a change in the lives of so many people and communities affected by issues of tropical medicine on a global scale. I aspire to one day become a physician who utilizes my understanding of tropical medicine and global health to help alleviate international health disparities.