A couple of years ago, my brother underwent a simple finger surgery: I noticed how our entire family erupted into chaos because my non-native parents only heard the words “anesthesia” and “risk.” I then noticed how my Japanese neighbor stopped riding my bus. I heard she refused to leave her room. Connecting seemingly random events, I started to notice, and then act on the thin line of dismay running through this community of Japanese expats who truly struggled with the language and cultural barrier in the United States. I first started by creating a game plan, making over 30 company pitches and collaborating with 31 mental health counselors. We’ve created a service that has provided free counseling to 82 people so far, with our fundraising totaling $134,000+ to aid those who struggle abroad. However, while working with these mental health counselors, my focus shifted from the Japanese language barrier to other social barriers of medicine. I’ve branched out into the field of public health, developing educational health campaigns for malnourished children in Nigeria. I founded a research team in MSF-Doctors Without Borders Telemedicine to surround myself with people with similar goals. I’ve also dedicated countless hours to Duolingo Swahili for communicating with a family in the hospital. From noticing things in my Japanese community, I found my calling. However, I have another coexisting passion: I love the thrill of furiously delving into PubMed as I hop between articles and citations. I love scribbling randomly on my whiteboard as I bend my mind for a creative solution. I love the late-night discord calls with my friend as our minds race with excitement in every “Eureka!” moment. I love how I have been able to freely ask random questions, ones that have led me astray to completely differing topics in radiology, behavioral studies, ligand binding, and so much more. Quite simply, I love research. In order to accommodate both of these passions, I plan on becoming a research physician using research to provide quality healthcare to marginalized communities. Although I was named an ISEF Finalist and accepted to present first-author at an IEEE conference for this project, I want to keep working with Pfizer to improve my independent research on drug discovery, and eventually use it to contribute to the EndTB project for designing simpler, low-cost Tuberculosis treatment. I want to expand on my IRB-approved behavioral study – where I am the principal investigator – and work with the 988 suicide hotline to implement patience-lengthening waiting music. I also want to move on to new projects as well, utilizing new resources available in college. I want to study a dual major in medical anthropology and biology to identify more social barriers in medicine and create a unique solution with my research skills -- whether it be an independent project in bioengineering, dermatology, or molecular biology, I am excited for where they might lead. For me to act on all the wants I listed above, I wish for the Jiang Amel STEM Scholarship so I can act on my STEM passions without financial worries, and contribute to the world of healthcare through my research.