As chief of research strategy, Joyce Tan is responsible for the development and implementation of research strategy for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. She works with leadership throughout campus to facilitate interdisciplinary research programs and to grow the university’s global reputation, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. She also promotes research partnerships with external public and private organizations.

Laura Sandt is the associate director of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center and a senior research associate within the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. Her research focuses on pedestrian and bicycle safety program development and evaluation.

Gabi Stein is a rising junior majoring in computer science within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. She is a Morehead-Cain Scholar, and has spent the past semester studying abroad in China through UNC Global. She will head to Ireland for a summer internship in June. Her research interests include mathematical modeling, public health, and education.

Alison Brenner is the associate program director for the Carolina Cancer Screening Initiative within the UNC Linberger Cancer Care Center, and is also a health services researcher at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. Her research focuses on how patients and healthcare providers make decisions about cancer screening.

Theresa D’Aquila is a postdoctoral research associate in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her current research focuses on molecular nutrition — specifically how fat metabolizes in the body.

Kashika Sahay is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Maternal and Child Health in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Her research interests include gender equity, reproductive health outcomes, women’s empowerment, and violence prevention. In March, she successfully defended her dissertation on family planning among couples in urban Nigeria. She graduates this weekend and is already working as a contractor for the CDC in Atlanta.

Senior Alice Yu is an undergraduate researcher in Barry Popkin’s lab within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is majoring in nutrition, with minors in chemistry and music. Her research focuses on the change in dietary trends of Chinese adolescents using cross-sectional data from the Carolina Population Center’s China Health and Nutrition Survey.

Jada Brooks is an assistant professor in the UNC School of Nursing. Her research focuses on the health of American Indian women, specifically linking exposure to environmental pollutants and psychosocial factors to cardiovascular disease.

Molly De Marco is a research assistant professor of nutrition within the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, as well as a research scientist at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Her community-based research focuses on improving access to healthy food for low-income and historically marginalized populations in the rural South.

Sophomore Victoria Miller is an undergraduate researcher studying computer science within the UNC College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on a Chrome extension that helps Facebook users with physical disabilities.