Laura Mendez has built community at Carolina through connections she’s made in the Department of Biology—a department with a large student body who come from a variety of backgrounds. She has also joined a number of student-led organizations that align with her values.
Cesar Reyes is a Carolina alumnus who returned to Chapel Hill for his master’s degree in city and regional planning. A veteran of the United States Army, he has found support with the MAGS initiative, part of Diversity and Student Success.
For graduate student Vamsy Marni, the School of Information and Library Science drew him to Chapel Hill. From there, Vamsy was able to find communities of support both internal and external to his master’s degree program.
Sampreeti Bhattacharya is an international Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry. She came to UNC-Chapel Hill from India, where she completed her undergraduate studies.
Charity Lackey, a 2017 alumna of UNC-Chapel Hill is an emerging scientist with clinical nursing background interested in understanding the relationship between the experience of stress and health outcomes. She also works at UNC Health as a registered nurse.
Sally Cabrera is a MPH student in the Gillings School of Global Public Health who is focused on community-based research to influence public health policy. With a lens of epidemiological methods, she seeks to enhance the relevance and use of research data that would influence policy and benefit communities.
Bryan Rogers is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Biological & Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP), where his research interests include bioinformatics, cancer biology, and immunology.
Melissa Lam-McCarthy is a Master of Public Health student who is focused on health outcomes by way of food justice, supply chains, and access to food for people who live in both urban and rural communities.
Roberto Lagos Mondragon is an international student in the Department of Economics motivated by his upbringing in Honduras to better understand the interplay of prosperity and inequality in society.
Ivonne Headley is a master’s degree student in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she is studying nutrition. She credits La Familia with helping her build community as a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill.
