Kyanna Williams-Pate (BCHS '19)
Not all individuals have access to quality health care. That lack of access to universal quality health care is what inspired me to go into the field of public health and health equity. One of my main interests is ensuring that the most vulnerable populations receive health care and bridging the gaps in health disparities. I am very interested in the social determinants of health and how they can all contribute to the health of an individual and populations. I plan to pursue a career as a physician while implementing public health practices, and providing the utmost equitable and person-centered care.
Through the Center for Health Equity, I have been a part of several projects which include: reviewing public health grant applications for the Forbes Fund through the Community Research Advisory Board (CRAB) and providing feedback on innovative public health research proposals through the CRAB. Additionally, I have also reviewed member feedback from both the CRAB and the Center for Health Equity's Journal Club. Through my time with the center, I have also assisted with event plannning, creating flyers, and taking blood pressures at barbershops during Take a Health Professional to the People Day.
In 2019, I began working on the Live Longer Grant. A grant that allowed partnership with the Community Empowerment Association. Through this grant, we provided education around life expectancy and how to prevent premature death in the Homewood McKeesport, and Clairton neighborhoods. My role was to assist with implementation, develop perception tools to be given to community members, create event flyers, and engage with community members through conversations around the health in their neighborhood.
Along with my work for the Center for Health Equity, I also developed a report with the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, Noble Maseru. Through this report, I extracted admissions and enrollment data for four academic years, analyzed data, worked with the biostatistics lab to enhance data analyzation methods through the development of an interactive statistical program, presented the informatino to the Dean's Office and Office of Student Affairs, and wrote a 100-page report detailing the admission and enrollment status at Pitt Public Health to inform a strategic diversity plan to enhance diversity and inclusion.
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5/14/2020