The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute has announced their 2025 Community-Academic Scholars. The program offers University of Illinois undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue community-based research projects in Urbana-Champaign over the summer. Representing 19 majors and nine minors in eight colleges and schools at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and two additional universities, the 18 scholars in this cohort encompass a diverse array of fields of study, from community health to graphic design to statistics. 

Two ACES students are selected for the 2025 cohort:

Michelle Agyemang is a rising senior ACES Jonathan Baldwin Turner Scholar majoring in Food Science and Human Nutrition with a minor in Public Health. She works in the laboratory of FSHN professor  Krystal Hodge on a community nutrition study, exploring the validity and reliability of an adolescent nutrition survey as well as a student led project focused on food insecurity among undergraduate students, and serves as a McKinley Health Center Nutrition Wellness Peer. The lead volunteer at OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center, she plans to become a primary care physician with hopes of integrating nutrition and medicine to improve the health of underserved communities. Michelle will work with FSHN professor  Mani Nakamura and Avicenna Community Health Center to analyze deidentified patient data to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and related comorbidities such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and sleep disorders to create a targeted implementation plan to sustainably integrate the EMPOWER program into Avicenna’s offerings. Learn more about the project.

Rena Amarteifio is a junior majoring in Human Development & Family Studies with a minor in Psychology, on the pre-med track to become a psychiatrist. She is an assistant for the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library and a member of the Illinois Student Council of Family Relations. Under the HDFS department, Rena volunteered to shadow doctors and nurses at the Khayelitsha Community Health Clinic for a faculty-led study in South Africa. Surrounded by older adults in both family and community, she realized that many older adults lack food insecurity education and resources to meet their dietary needs. Rena will work with Community-Academic Scholar Lara Terpetschnig, Health and Kinesiology professor  Minakshi (Mina) Raj, and Sola Gratia Farm to conduct a needs assessment through surveys and interviews with older adults in Champaign County and provide Healthy Champaign County (HCC) with these perspectives to better understand their food-related challenges, needs, and preferences. Learn more about the project.

See the full list of 2025 scholars from the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute.