Carys Mihardja (BF ‘26) is a history of science, medicine and public health and psychology (neuroscience track) double major, pursuing the Global Health Studies certificate. Born and raised in Jakarta, Carys sets out to couple her interest in health equity and legislative advocacy to strengthen Indonesia’s macro-level, upstream health management policies. Though bolstering equitable access to iatric healthcare services will always be of great importance, she believes that championing health must principally occur outside hospital wards — in increasing health literacy, safeguarding equitable living spaces, and setting strong grounds for economic empowerment, amongst a concert of other intersectoral progresses needed for sustainable, nation-wide health promotion. Carys’ enthusiasm lies especially in addressing the gaping oversight in the often exclusionary pursuit of health justice that ignores special needs communities with genetic neurodevelopmental disorders. For the past seven years, her non-profit organization has rallied for increased integration for Down syndrome individuals in both career and civil spaces — combatting the over-circulated misperceptions that hiding them or forcing psychobehavioral therapy upon them is the way to help them “be healthy.” With particular interest in advancing disability rights and strengthening the marriage between promotion-prevention health interventions, Carys seeks to map health security at the forefront of human development, particularly in the Global South. In her free time, she can be found taking long lone walks in parks, volunteering in local clinics and hospices, rewatching Michael Schur’s shows, or bothering her siblings.