Melissa McCann

UConn School of Medicine

I was born and raised in Vernon, Connecticut. I earned my bachelor’s degree in neuroscience with a minor in community health from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and a Master of Public Health from the University of Connecticut.

Since 2018, I have volunteered as an EMT with Ellington Volunteer Ambulance Corps. As Captain and Executive Board Secretary, I participate in decision-making for ambulance operations, policies, and procedures to provide high quality, compassionate and cost-effective care. As a research assistant at the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health from 2020 to 2023, I analyzed marketing tactics to inform policy efforts to reduce child-directed unhealthy food marketing and evaluated federally funded child nutrition programs to improve access. I supported Hartford-area patients and their families as a medical scribe and research intern at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. I am also passionate about volunteering with Connecticut Foodshare and coaching girls in sports.

One of the reasons I came to UConn was for the community engagement opportunities. The Urban Service Track/AHEC Scholars (UST/AS) Program will not only help me understand the resources vulnerable populations need but how to work as an interdisciplinary team to deliver and connect patients to these resources. The UST/AS Program will prepare me to become a public health primary care pediatrician who provides holistic, individualized care by educating and empowering patients and their families while advocating for equitable policies and programs for the communities in which they live.