CEC Trainee Sofia Contreras Fernandez Receives Mount Sinai Fellowship
PROTECT trainee Sofia Contreras Fernandez has been accepted as an international fellow in the Mount Sinai Global Health Disparities Research Training Program for the summer semester. She will be spending the next few months conducting research on climate change and air pollution at the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico.
Mount Sinai’s Training Program is an internship that emphasizes diversity, cultural and scientific exchange, and a passion for medical sciences, and supports students from fields like medicine and science, education, public health, and molecular biology. Students selected for the program are assigned to and hosted by international institutions and mentors to study a variety of research projects.
Sofia is a graduate student at the University of Puerto – Medical Sciences Campus studying biostatistics. She has been a trainee with PROTECT’s Community Engagement Core (CEC) since 2021. As part of her current work with PROTECT, Sofia leads a group of her fellow trainees to research and develop educational guides about common endocrine disruptors in personal care products.
When she begins her work with the Mount Sinai program in June, Sofia will be working under the supervision of Dr. Horacio Riojas at the National Institute of Public Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública) in Mexico. She is looking forward to being able to work with Dr. Riojas, and to investigate air pollution and climate change. “When I was accepted, I couldn’t believe it! I’m very excited for everything I’m going to learn and do as part of this experience, and to do research on public health and how it is affected by climate change, especially in another Latin American country,” said Sofia.
Congratulations, Sofia, on this major accomplishment!