Ten undergraduate- and graduate-level students participated in the Center’s 2021 Summer Internship Program. In this Research Spotlight, we highlight the experiences of three interns and what they gained from working with Center scholars and affiliates.
Achele Agada
A rising junior at Harvard College, Achele Agada supported Center Affiliate Dr. Christy Denckla with research focused on bereavement, trauma, and resilience across the lifespan. Using data from the COVID-19 supplement of the Nurses’ Health Study second cohort, Achele examined bereavement narratives and the associations between linguistic predictors and health outcomes. “Prior to this internship I had never been involved in a research project from initial steps, so it was very useful to see how to take an idea and flesh it out using literature review, before coming up with a well-reasoned hypothesis, analysis plan, and finally conducting the research itself,” Achele said. “One of the most rewarding parts of my summer internship was conceptualizing how we would use Linguistic Inquiry Word Count, and R software to conduct statistical analysis of our qualitative data set.” The Nurses’ Health Study was a particularly rich data set for Achele, and reading through the participants’ entries allowed her to understand the common experiences of loss during the pandemic. The project also introduced her to the concept of “complicated grief,” a form of chronic grief brought about by interference with the healing process. “I think it is worth considering how the uniquely difficult features of grieving during the COVID-19 pandemic (no in-person funeral, not getting to say goodbye to loved ones in hospital, etc.), may lead to increases in people experiencing complicated grief,” she said. As she looks to her next steps as a scholar, Achele is especially interested in considering how disease may present differently in marginalized communities. “In future research I look forward to exploring more about how environment and social factors may shape disease and recovery,” she said.
Justin Farmer
For Harvard Chan Masters candidate Justin Farmer, assisting Center Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr. Farah Qureshi provided an opportunity to learn about different theoretical perspectives on socioeconomic status (SES). Justin’s project explored the role of SES in the relationship between psychological well-being and physical health, with a particular focus on how various assets in early childhood explain disparities in cardiovascular outcomes in early adulthood. “Part of my role on this project was to comb through the hundreds of questions asked of families enrolled in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) since 1968 [and find those] that would provide the data best representing their SES without being overly complicated,” he said. “Being able to see the nuances of these questions and work alongside Dr. Qureshi as she determined which ones work best for our research question was incredibly rewarding at this stage in my career.” Prior to his internship, Justin had worked only with data sets cleaned and simplified for students. “One of the most surprising aspects of my work this summer was grasping just how time consuming, yet rewarding, working with publicly available data sets can be,” Justin said. “Working with raw data, especially those coming from such a rich and complex source as the PSID, really put into perspective how many decisions need to be made before running analyses.” As he completes his master’s program, he plans to develop the skills to conduct similar analyses on understanding disparities in dementia. He eventually hopes to pursue a doctoral program. “Going into this internship I was fairly confident that I wanted to continue my education in population health sciences, and I have left this summer with a much clearer understanding of the questions that excite me most,” he said.
Caitlyn Leonard
From July through April of 2020, Boston University MPH candidate Caitlyn Leonard served as a contact tracer in Massachusetts, a role that gave her personal insight into the anxieties of working families at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Back then, I could only provide a listening ear, but this summer I had the chance to explore these anxieties from a research perspective, which allowed me to extract new meaning from these previous conversations,” she said. She was excited to assist Research Program Director Dr. Meg Lovejoy with the Learning from Workers Project, a longitudinal qualitative research study currently exploring worker resilience during the pandemic. The data offered Caitlyn a lens into the study participants’ hardships and hopes, allowing her to explore the participants’ identities beyond the workplace. As she continues her studies, she hopes to shed light on similar human narratives through public health research. Her senior year keystone project at Boston University will examine substance use professionals’ experiences working in outpatient therapy during the pandemic in Massachusetts. “I hope to capture the story behind the statistics, and have chosen substance use professionals as my entryway into the story,” Caitlyn said. “I plan to explore substance use professionals’ work conditions, and learn about clinic staffing levels, turnover, and job demands. All are important variables shaping the state of the existing support system.” Beyond her keystone project, she envisions a future research program focused on social supports and the interplay between work and home life. “I am grateful that I had the rewarding opportunity this summer to join an experienced team of qualitative researchers and to meet fellow students interested in integrating positive health and well-being into their future clinical or research pursuits,” she said.