Global Health

Emi graduated from Yale in 2016, studied Anthropology and Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology and was awarded a certificate in Global Health. She is the co-founder of Sickle Cell Nepal, a grassroots research initiative that combats Sickle Cell Disease on the ground in Kathmandu and Nepalgunj, Nepal reaching over 300 patients since 2014.

Emi has completed several field missions with UNHCR in the past two years, witnessing first-hand the medical facilities required to manage the growing refugee crises. From Lesvos Island to Azraq Camp in Jordan and more, Emi is constantly moved by the dedication and passion of medical professionals in the field and otherwise.

She is a strong advocate for the world’s most vulnerable people, and will continue to be as she applies her academic background, first-hand experience, and her global platform to push the cause of refugees and disadvantaged communities the world-over.

Emi’s first encounter with the systemic disparities that affect even the most practiced health-professionals in the field came in 2013 as she volunteered in Abshok Refugee Camp Clinic and the Saudi Birthing Hospital in her native Darfur. A first-year biology student at the time, Emi was exposed to the dire conditions that face health professionals in the field during crisis every day. Her landmark “Dr. Poem” presented at the World Championships final in 2015, chronicles this crucial journey that shaped Emi’s passion for health.

In 2014, one year after her experience on the ground in Darfur, Emi developed a keen interest in global health, was chosen as one of 15 people in the class of 2016 at Yale to complete the Global Health Fellows Program, and was awarded the largest global health grant at her university— the Yale Global Health Institute Collaborative Action Grant— for her contribution in piloting and executing project Sickle Cell Nepal.

What started as a pilot project on a disease previously unknown to exist in Nepal quickly became a nation-wide initiative and later, global health organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering of Sickle Cell Disease patients in the historically marginalized Tharu community of Nepalgunj, Nepal.

Emi and her teammates Priyankar Chand and Rushika Pattni in collaboration with Dr. Pande of Nepalgunj inspired a moment with their work, bridging the gap between the medical world, the private sector, government, and the people. Their work still continues today with Priyankar in the field and Emi and Rushika contributing from abroad. Emi returned to Nepal in 2016 and continues to serve as an advisor and founding member and will be returning soon. Contact us to learn more about our Sickle Cell Activists, community health-workers, 3-pronged approach, and more.

To sponsor Sickle Cell Nepal or to find out more, contact us today.