Sreevidhya (Vidhya) Balasubramanian
University of North Carolina at CharlotteSreevidhya (Vidhya) Balasubramanian, a third-year Levine Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has worked in various health care settings to address issues of maternal and child health, health care disparities, and health policy. She has initiated research on mental health challenges, especially those facing women, and volunteered with children and adults facing life-threatening illness. Vidhya has worked to advocate for victims of intimate partner violence, help provide health services to immigrant members of the community at a local clinic, and provide respite assistance through the local hospice. Her current research with a local nonprofit on post-partum depression allows Vidhya to explore innovative and impactful models of community-based health care.
Personal Statement
It has always been simple for me to notice the multitudinous systematic injustices amongst us; but the bigger personal challenge has been figuring out exactly how to confront these social inequities. I decided to major in public health to focus my education and knowledge specifically in health disparities. As time went on, I became fervent about behavioral health, maternal health, and the confluence of public health, policy, and medicine. I've spent the past year screening mothers with infants for depression at community-based clinics. My research has showcased the prevalence of postpartum depression (PPD) in this population of people, but, more significantly, the lack of free and/or low-cost case management services to provide for the new mothers. This realization urged me to begin pooling together community resources to generate biweekly support groups as an avenue of treatment. In addition to the PPD project, I am an active domestic violence advocate, Our Lady of Guadalupe Hispanic free clinic volunteer, Victory Junction Serious Fun camp volunteer, and a hospice and respite care companion. I aspire to pursue a career that allows me to continue doing what I love most - engaging as a conduit of benevolence in the communities around me.