Sahana Natarajan is a graduate of the Master of Biomedical Science Program at Rutgers University. During her undergraduate years, she majored in biological sciences and minored in public health. Her goal is to pursue a career in medicine focused on addressing racial health disparities. Ms. Natarajan volunteers as an EMT and works at an internal medicine practice.

 

Ms. Natarajan started at CAAHDER as an intern in 2021. She successfully aided CAAHDER in the development and dissemination of a social media cardiovascular intervention targeting Black women. This study also included an online assessment of cardiovascular health literacy, which Ms. Natarajan helped create.

 

Ms. Natarajan has moved from intern to CAAHDER's first Program Research Associate as she continues to assist CAAHDER and Dr. Ma'at through the Communicating Equity and Healing Justice Research Lab at GMU, which used to be CAAHDER's Epik Research.

 

Currently, Ms. Natarajan is applying to medical schools and working on a study to investigate the impact of internalized racism on racial stress and perinatal health outcomes among Black mothers to provide strategies to help reduce preterm and low birthweight babies.

​