“By analyzing data, I can help find answers to pressing health challenges, which in turn can lead to policy changes that address racial and social disparities in healthcare.”

Emma Benn has discovered a unique formula for giving a voice to underserved populations of the world: Enroll in the Mailman School's biostatistics doctoral program, add a healthy dose of community awareness, and, for good measure, toss in a dash of poetry.

Emma, who earned an MPH in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences' Research Track, realized as an analytical chemist at Johnson & Johnson that tackling complex medical issues "takes far more than simply prescribing a pill."

With the assistance of the Mailman School's Community Scholars Program, a bachelor's in chemistry from Swarthmore College, and a wealth of inspiration from her community-minded mother, Emma embarked on her public health path.

Through electives in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, she discovered that "by analyzing data, I can help find answers to pressing health challenges, which in turn can lead to policy changes that address racial and social disparities in healthcare."

During her practicum, Emma explored the diverse communities of Northern Manhattan where she recruited Spanish-speaking patients to participate in a study analyzing the role of maternal depression in the severity of asthma among children. She continues to conduct data analysis at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons' Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center.

Emma also regularly returns to the Philadelphia area to present and teach poetry to children participating in the Black Women in Sport Foundation, introducing them to poets such as Maya Angelou, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Langston Hughes. "It's another form of public health," Emma explains. "I expose them to poetry and explain its role in the realm of social justice. I hope to inspire them to use their own voices to create change."