Nadya Peresleni

UConn School of Pharmacy

I grew up in Port Jefferson, NY Ever since I was little, I have been acutely aware of social inequality and injustice. Throughout high school I volunteered in our English as Second Language classes, helping students whose families recently immigrated into the US and who were struggling socially and financially. Throughout high school and college I volunteered at Stony Brook University Hospital, where I assisted the Infant Hearing Screening Department in gathering information on family history in the newborn nursery and NICU floors. There I was first exposed to health disparities in medicine, since many of the patients did not speak English and did not have the social support that other new mothers had.

After I graduated from Stony Brook University with a B.S. in Biochemistry, I spent a year volunteering at a crisis hotline that served the Suffolk County area of Long Island. This exposed me to the large population of physically disabled and mentally ill whose lower socioeconomic status prevented them from receiving vital medical care and resulted in chronic, untreated conditions. Oftentimes people spoke to me about struggling with access to transportation and the lack of financial means or insurance to get the treatment that they needed.

I am excited to be a part of UST because I hope to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of people in situations similar to the ones I was exposed to during my past volunteering experiences. My goal is to one day work on an interdisciplinary team that can improve the lives of a diverse population by decreasing healthcare inequality. I believe that the model of a patient centered medical home, where medical professionals from all disciplines come together to provide coordinated care, is the way in which we can best improve health outcomes across the country. As a UST member, I hope to develop my understanding of the multidimensional aspect of health disparities and the roles played by other health professionals so as to be able to contribute the most that I can to the community in which I live.