Project Examples
HumBio Spotlight (2019-present)
Founded during the 2019-20 academic year, HumBio Spotlight brings students and faculty together for intellectual engagement, and interaction, and robust conversation. Each quarter, Spotlight hosts an event where the community discusses topics such as cancer, evolution and genetics, bioethical choices, the HumBio experience, and navigating a pathway at Stanford and beyond.
With new HumBio student leadership each year, Spotlight continues to be a space of community building and learning for many.
Pictured (right): Tinker Visiting Professor Arturo Izurieta Valery shares with his experience in research and management of protected areas and local communities in islands.
Current/Past Leaders: Courtney Gao '20 (founder), Julia Rathmann-Bloch '21, Sofia Schlozman '22, Jennifer John '23, Michelle Li '23, Jasmine Nevarez '24
Examples of Past Events:
- Life on Earth with Sir David Attenborough: A Conversation with Associate Professor of Genetics, Gavin Sherlock
- ER and a conversation on ethics with Professor David Magnus
- Picture a Scientist: A panel discussion about women in STEM academia and discrimination
- Hens, Horses, and Hemoglobin: My Life Outside and Inside Science. A conversation with Director Lianne Kurina
- Contagion: A conversation about infectious disease, immunology, and pandemics
- An Interview with Dr. Paul Fisher (his journey from student to doctor/professor),
- Experiences of Disability During & After Stanford (and the importance of normalization discussions and depictions of disability), etc.
In this self-documentary, Tianna Trepte '23 explores the expansive definition of health as it embodies mental, physical, and spiritual wellness.
Sawye Raygani '23 developed an Iranian recipe book that decentralizes animal protein and integrates a breadth of plant-based alternatives.
Past Bingham-Funded Projects
- Treat Greenly: In this 40-minute documentary, Aiden Choi '23 interviews Stanford faculty, students, and physicians on environmental sustainability, a burgeoning subject in the medical world. Viewers learn about the massic carbon footprint the American healthcare system has proportionally to most countries, how this footprint tangibly impacts worldwide health, and the many challenges posed to those who face these consequences. Watch Treat Greenly.
- Virtual Mock World Health Organization Conference: Leah Balter '23 attended the conference which included guest lectures by professors from the UNC Gillings School of Public Health, casual coffee chats with workers in the field of global health, and group working sessions to propose global health resolutions along the topic of Refugee and Migrant Health Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. Representing Saudi Arabi, she conducted extensive research leading up to the event and advocated for mental health support for refugees and migrants in the country during the conference. She also completed a detailed policy brief.
- The Sprout Project: Annie Chang '22 and Andrew Vallero developed and hosted a 5-week online education program for younger students in grades 6 through 9 in the hopes of sparking their interests in food, healthy living, and sustainability. They designed a robust curriculum that explored gardening and cooking skills along with conversations about food security and the cultural importance of food and taught each of the sessions themselves.
- COVID-19 mental health repercussions on Stanford student-athletes: As a retired student-athlete, Elizabeth Heckard '22 was concerned about the combined effects of COVID-19 and the announcement that several sports would be eliminated on fellow student-athletes' mental health and well-being. She conducted interviews with student-athletes across 27 varsity teams and found that roughly half of the students had previously or were experiencing feelings of sadness, depression, and anxiety.
- Digest This Healthcare News Podcast: "At a time when tensions between science and policy seem greater than ever, it is of paramount importance for the public to have accessible information about various facets of health policy and healthcare." Grace Rabinowitz '21 created a 6-episode podcast series that explores the intersection of health and health policy in an easily digestible format. Listeners can learn about the real-life implications of health policies from experts. Listen to Digest This.
- LGBTQ PLUS Podcast: In an effort to create a space to explore intersectional identities such as his own, Noah (NJ) Magbual '21 created the LGBTQ PLUS Podcast. In the four episodes, Noah interviewed various members of the community for discussions about their intersectional identities with relation to topics ranging from mental health and educational reform to inaccessible care for LGBTQ+ individuals, and emotional care and well-being. Listen to LGBTQ PLUS.
- Read, Run, & Rise Up: Kayler Detmer's '20 project promoted childhood literacy and healthy living through physical activity and nutrition in her hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho. Thanks to the support of the Bingham Foundation Fund, local businesses, collegiate athletes, and other volunteers, Kayler was able to host successfully "Read, Run, and Rise-Up," a full-day event for children and their families to attend this summer. The event included many exciting activities for children of all ages including reading stations, three-legged races, and plenty of prizes, food, and giveaways.
- Reproductive Justice with Loretta Ross: Ginger Gramson '20 organized an event at Stanford’s Women’s Community Center entitled, “Reproductive Justice with Loretta Ross.” The event consisted of a 90-minute lecture and Q&A over dinner with Professor Loretta Ross, lifelong activist and co-creator of the term “reproductive justice.” Reproductive justice is a framework that outlines each individual’s right to have a child, not have a child, and parent their children in safe and healthy environments. Approximately 77 people were in attendance at the event hosted in mid-January 2020. Over the course of her talk, Professor Ross discussed the origins of reproductive justice, its connection to human rights, and current reproductive health and social justice issues. Professor Ross told the story of how she co-created the term “reproductive justice” with a group of 12 Black women at a 1994 conference after a representative from the Democratic party encouraged support for a healthcare reform plan that had left out reproductive healthcare.
- Measuring Outcomes of Hauora Maori Education in Medicine: Working with specialists in the field of Maori Studies and the Maori Center at the Otago Medical School (OMS), Layla Joseph '20 studied the educational experiences of OMS graduates and how this affected their implementation of Hauora Maori in New Zealand's public hospitals. This in turn allowed them to analyze how the education of OMS graduates impacted health disparities in the region. Ultimately, her project looked to better equip OMS graduates to serve Maori patients by improving the cultural competency training in medical school.
- Contraceptive Use & Preference Among Undergraduate Students: Julia DiTosto '19 researched patterns in the use of contraception, contraceptive preferences, and factors associated with the use of or preference for certain contraceptives using an electronic survey that was answered by over 500 Stanford undergraduates. Her study concluded that the majority of students would prefer to be using long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) such as IUDs but lack information about them and have difficulty obtaining them.
- Stanford Journal of Public Health: Daniel Bui '12 continued the publication of the journal as a biannual campus journal that showcased the great diversity of approaches to public health work. The journal is intended to raise awareness for public health issues within the general Stanford community, providing a venue for students to become actively engaged in the field. Along with its accompanying website, the journal will serve as a space for students to present their original research and discuss public health-related topics, as well as link interested students to relevant research opportunities, classes, service organizations and more. View the journal.
- Beyond the Magic Bullet: Innovation in Bottom-up Development: Katharine Griffin Gorsky '11 attended the Beyond the Magic Bullet: Innovation in Bottom-up Development conference. This conference looked at the development tools that are spurring poverty solutions in a “bottom up” fashion including microfinance and financial inclusion, design for extreme affordability (focusing on public health innovations), and positive deviance.
- The 21st Century Doctor: Non-Traditional Ways of Practicing Medicine: Abimbola Dairo '10 participated in the conference, The 21st Century Doctor: Non-Traditional Ways of Practicing Medicine. The conference exposed Stanford’s pre-medical students to physician-leaders who are transforming and broadening the role played by physicians in society. It also sought to inspire pre-medical students to have an innovative spirit, and to prepare them to be involved in shaping the field of medicine in the aspects of business, public service, and literature.
- Stanford Students in K-12 Education: Working with Stanford University undergraduates to cultivate future leaders who would change society by changing education, Sarah Mummah '10 created "Stanford Students in K-12 Education" later titled "Dreamcatchers". Using a speaker series and fellows seminars, and developing and administering in-depth tutor training seminars, “Dream Catchers” equipped fellows with the tools they needed to become effective tutors. They also worked to develop a sense of community and commitment to encourage fellows to serve in the fields of public service and education.
- Assessing and Improving Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Awareness at Stanford: Joy Zhang '10 completed research on Hepatitis B Virus Awareness at Stanford/ She assessed and improved the knowledge of hepatitis B virus (HBV) among university students, particularly those of Asian Pacific Islander descent. She and her fellow coordinators then held a “Jade Day” and raised HBV awareness by tying green balloons to 800 bikes across campus.
- ThinkBIG Conference: Laura Carwile '08 attended the ThinkBIG conference, a conference aimed to inspire students to action by critically looking at the health situations of women and girls in poorer countries. The campus-wide weekend event brought Stanford students with diverse interests together to focus on issues surrounding international women's health and human rights through speeches, film, student group performances, information panels, opportunity fairs, and more. The ultimate goal was to mobilize their generation—from the diplomat to the doctor to the "check-writer of tomorrow"—to step up to the challenges of the future and work to improve the situation of women throughout the developing world.
- A Veterans’ Affair: The Biomedical, Social, and Economic Impact of War: Tamar Berger '07 helped to create a new class titled: A Veterans’ Affair: The Biomedical, Social, and Economic Impact of War. This is a student-initiated course with the goal of enlightening students about the social, psychological, and biological impacts of war through a multifaceted approach—guest lectures, readings, seminar discussions, and community service.
- The Wisdom Project: Christiana Zenner '01 hosted and participated in a two-day conference of speakers and activities designed to help individuals think about end-of-life issues in a constructive way.