Melissa Bueno Bueno (she/ella) is a Master’s student in Public Health at the University of Chicago, specializing in Epidemiology. With a background in Biochemistry and experience as a scribe at Oak Street Health, she is passionate about addressing health disparities in underserved communities. Currently, Melissa is working on a project examining county-level immigration policies and their impact on immigrant health, focusing on completing a dataset tracking policies like language access laws and employment verification. Outside of academics, she loves to crochet and take pictures of her cat named Misty!

Sana Fessuh is a 4th-year undergraduate majoring in Data Science with a minor in Media Arts and Design. As a data scientist, she is excited by the foundational aspects of this project, particularly data retrieval and cleaning. Sana was drawn to this project because she has never had the opportunity to explore the public health sector before, and it has opened her eyes to how data can uncover the underlying systems shaping maternal and child health. Outside of academics, Sana is a movie enthusiast, enjoys working behind the scenes in technical theater, and loves chasing new adventures—whether it’s hiking or exploring new places.

Isaiah Moncrieffe is a third-year undergraduate studying Public Policy and Business Economics. He is passionate about finding policy solutions to equity issues and was drawn to the Embodying Racism Lab because of it’s focus on health disparities and how much it’s research caters to marginalized communities. Within the lab, Isaiah’s primary focus is helping develop policy briefs and proposals based on the research the lab conducts. Outside of work, you can find Isaiah spending time outdoors, cooking, or exploring Chicago.

Clara Lucia Reyes, MPH, is a doctoral candidate and Rackham Merit Fellow at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Equity. Clara is also a Population Studies Center trainee at the Institute for Social Research. She collaborates on projects using community-engaged approaches to understanding and disrupting structural racism to advance health and social justice. She researches how intersecting systems (e.g., social policy, criminal justice, immigration) shape health and human rights among Latine and immigrant communities as well as the implications of potential interventions implemented at local, state, and federal levels. Prior to her doctoral studies, Clara collaborated with communities in the U.S.-Mexico border region and in El Salvador on health equity initiatives related to cancer, maternal-child health, and rural health and sanitation.

Sijie Wu is a first-year master’s student in the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) with a concentration in Economics. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Southeast University, China, in 2024. Her current research interests focus on health economics and development. Sijie plans to graduate in June 2025 and aims to work as a pre-doctoral researcher before pursuing a PhD in Economics. In the lab, Sijie contributes to the Ending Entanglement project, primarily focusing on empirical model analysis with a keen interest in studying the outcomes of SNAP policies. Outside of academia, she enjoys cooking and taking short trips.

Xinyuan (Shirley) Xu holds master’s degrees in Economics from UChicago and UW-Madison. Her research focuses on evaluating health and social policies using causal inference and data science, with a special interest in understanding their impacts on diverse populations. Shirley is honored to be a part of the ERL lab’s mission where she can contribute to groundbreaking research and collaborate with like-minded individuals to tackle pressing societal issues through quantitative methods. Outside of research, she enjoys traveling, practicing calligraphy, and dancing, which brings creativity and balance to her work.