Kara S
- Research Program Mentor
MPH at Tulane University
Expertise
Neuroscience, Psychology, Public Health, Epidemiology, Research Methods
Bio
I have experience working and conducting research in the public health field from the population to the global level. I have worked on a variety of projects improving health and human service quality and access in under-resourced communities and improving health outcomes among people living with HIV. I conducted graduate research at the intersection of psychology and social determinants of health and am passionate about increasing mental health awareness and bringing a behavioral health lens to my work. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, playing sports, and gathering with friends and family. I am often found exploring a new coffee shop and listening to music.Project ideas
Brain and Behavior
Why do humans do (insert behavior here)? What implications does this behavior have on society? In this project you can pick a behavior or human tendency and explore the literature on why we do this behavior as well as how it fits into larger social interactions or community dynamics. From here you can develop ideas on how to shape policy to take the behavior of choice into account. (For example: Explore why humans are more risk averse when it comes to losses compared to gains and use this knowledge to make policy suggestions that could help address homelessness in your town.) Another direction could include developing an app proposal that can help humans address the behavior of choice (For an example see Noom a weight loss app grounded in psychological data).
Tracking COVID-19 Trends
This project would draw from open source data sets and allow for exploration of the dynamics of COVID-19 spread in the U.S. or in your home county. Possible guiding questions for your analysis could include: How does COVID-19 spread align with policy decisions in my home county? What is different about the policies in states with high and low case counts? How do various demographics correlate with virus trajectories?
Memory Game
How does memory work? How far can we push the limits of human memory? In this project you can learn more about how memory works and use this knowledge to develop a memory game that tests the limits of human memory. From here you could collect data from your friends or family and learn how to use python to make plots of your findings.