WHO WE ARE
Kathy is currently a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in Human Biology and Society with a minor in Asian American Studies. She has experience working both in the hospital setting and in the community as a part of organizations at UCLA such as the Mobile Clinic Project and Stroke Force. She intends to earn a MD in the future to provide patient centered care in a culturally competent and holistic manner for underserved communities.
Kendall is currently a 4th year undergraduate student at UCLA studying Human Biology and Society. She has extensive volunteer experience in hospital settings shadowing CNAs, nurses, and doctors. Additionally, she has experience doing social science research in psychology, public health, and environmental anthropology. Kendall intends to earn a MSN in the hopes of becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner. Using her experience with public health and research she hopes to create a more integrative, holistic health practice and experience for all people.
Ariella is currently a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in Human Biology and Society with a concentration in Bioethics and Public Science policy. She has worked several years in a community clinic as a clinic assistant and health educator, aiming to provide care for underserved communities. Her current clinical research focuses on performing retrospective studies on minimally invasive surgical techniques in the field of thoracic surgery. Ariella intends to enter an MD/PhD program after graduating, and apply the interdisciplinary and dynamic principles learned at her time in the Institute of Society and Genetics to pursue a career in oncology.
Gwyneth is currently a 3rd year undergraduate student at UCLA studying Human Biology and Society (HBS). During her time at UCLA, she has been able to pursue her interest in dermatology and the skin microbiome working as a research assistant in the Li Lab. Furthermore, she also had the pleasure of training and competing as part of the UCLA wushu team. Gwyneth hopes to become a physician’s assistant in the future so that she can employ the cultural, ethical, and legal applications of medicine and patient care that she learned as an HBS student.
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Steven is currently a 4th year undergraduate student majoring in Human Biology and Society at UCLA. While at UCLA, he has spent a lot of his time volunteering at local children's hospitals as well as being apart of the COPE health scholars program. Steven plans on going to medical school and becoming a general surgeon. He intends on giving back to his Latinx community by creating more diversity in the medical community .
WHY WE CREATED THIS PROJECT AND ITS GOAL
As current students at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), we were directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are all studying Human Biology and Society, and through this major we have been able to examine and analyze topics using an integrative approach examining both biological and social aspects to understand the complexities of issues at the forefront of our society. As a group we wanted to take advantage of this unique time period and personal experience to investigate the controversies surrounding personal protective equipment (PPE) and the lack of preparedness in the United States for the COVID-19 pandemic.
To understand the complexities, nuances, and ideas surrounding the current controversies on PPE, we decided to take on the task of creating an interactive experiential activity. The activity highlights certain aspects of the current COVID-19 pandemic and its relation to personal protective equipment (PPE) and preparedness. As part of the goal of the project we wanted to analyze certain questions looking into manufacturing, distribution, policy, exports and more that show the complexities to all of these ideas and how they have played a role into how PPE has been thought about and used in relation to COVID-19. The questions are:
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How does the biological dynamics of COVID-19 interact with the social structures of PPE put in place at the global, national, and individual scale?
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How do you balance PPE distribution in terms of stockpiling or being a global player?
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Why do we keep failing to prepare for infectious disease pandemics?
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How does PPE obtainment work pre-, during, and post- pandemic?
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What role do manufacturing companies play during the pandemic?
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What are the international relations that come into play during a pandemic?
In the end, we hope that individuals who engage with this project will better understand how the biology of PPE and the social aspects into PPE preparedness have impacted the way in which events have unfolded during this pandemic. Through an analysis of biological, cultural, political, and economic aspects in relation to COVID-19, we hope to reveal the complexities embedded within a pandemic, learn from past pandemics, and better prepare for the future!