UH Research Asst. Lasheena Brooks (left), with CHST398 Extern Hannah Zacharia (right)
Student Spotlight Spring 2025
Hannah Zacharia spent her spring semester as a Mann Child Policy Extern at University Hospitals Rainbow Center for Child Health and Policy, an organization dedicated to improving health outcomes and advancing equity for children and families through research, community partnerships, and health policy initiatives. During her externship, Hannah worked on multiple projects at the intersection of pediatric medicine and public health, including Community Voices on Vaccines (CVV), KIDS Rainbow, and TEENLINK. Hannah’s activities included survey design, participant recruitment, literature reviews, and preparing materials for community-based focus groups exploring vaccine hesitancy among adolescents. She also collaborated with teen health advisors to co-create youth-informed messaging and supported the production of student-led educational videos on topics such as mental health and food insecurity. “Hannah completed a thoughtful literature review, met with subject matter experts, and crafted a remarkably robust initial draft of a questionnaire to support our efforts,” shared her supervisor Dr. Ronis. Through these experiences, Hannah deepened her understanding of how health policy, health provider communications, and community engagement shape health behaviors and outcomes. She plans to integrate these insights into her future career as a physician committed to equity-driven care and public health advocacy.