Dina Garmroudi (GH ‘24, she/her) is a Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health double major from Maryland. After seeing the disparities that existed between rural and urban areas in Iran visiting family, she became passionate about reducing health and education disparities throughout high school. Getting involved with tutoring refugees and continuing it with Refugee and Immigrant Student Education at Yale, she developed a specific interest in advocating for refugee health. In the past, she worked with the Maryland Department of Health’s Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities to help address vaccine inequities and assist with the mass vaccination program, and compiled a data report of various diseases using epidemiological data. As a STARS II scholar in the O'Donnell lab, she currently researches how gut microbiota can impact host behavior. She decided to pursue this research after spending a summer researching with the Immune-Microbiota Interactions Laboratory at the University of Münster on how the gut microbiota may be implicated in lupus pathogenesis. Dina is fascinated by the intersection between the gut microbiome, how it is shaped by nutrition, and how it is further implicated in chronic diseases. After pursuing an MPH, she hopes to attend medical school, and combine these public health interests to advocate for refugee patients, for example. At Yale, she provides health education to the greater New Haven community as an education volunteer at the HAVEN Free Clinic and a community health educator. She also serves as the co-president of the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project, and competes with the Yale University Moot Court team. Outside of these, you can find her volunteering as an EMT, exploring new cafes, and going on runs!