Carter Nakamoto, a student intern at the Incubator, distinctly remembers a moment that helped spark his interest in global health. He watched a video about the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and was “struck by the expanded possibilities and implications of global health.” Carter, a rising junior from Oahu, Hawaii, at Harvard College, realized that to him, health is “an issue of equity and injustice,” which is part of why he felt prompted to enroll in Dr. Goldie’s course, “Is Globalization Good or Bad for World Health?” last semester and intern at GHELI this summer.
Sophie Haugen—a rising sophomore at Harvard College and a student intern at the Incubator—also deepened her global health interest through Dr. Goldie’s course. She discovered a passion for global health after a visit to the Gates Foundation when she was in high school. “The scope of their work was larger than what I saw in the immunotherapy lab where I was working,” she explained. “They were exploring the implications and actionability of science in an interdisciplinary, cooperative fashion, and I knew that I wanted to get involved.”
During their time at the Incubator, Carter and Sophie will be contributing to curating resources for the Incubator’s digital repository. Carter will also be focusing some of his research on the spread of infectious diseases and catastrophic pandemics while Sophie will be exploring interdisciplinary health challenges heavily impacted by globalization. Both will be developing educational products and tools to help present and teach about these global challenges.
As a joint-concentrator in Chemical and Physical Biology and Statistics, Carter appreciates that the Incubator and global health as a discipline allow him to apply “math and science in a meaningful way.” Outside of his focus in global health, Carter played viola in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, works at his residential house’s grille, and enjoys listening to podcasts.
Sophie, while still undeclared, is considering studying human evolutionary biology or the history of science with the hope of focusing on issues at the intersection of public health, policy, and law. She is a coxswain for the Harvard-Radcliffe varsity crew team and serves as a peer advising fellow to first years at the College.