Sydnie Espiritu

Sydnie Espiritu performs research in several subjects for EPICenter LA. A UC Riverside Premedical Postbaccalaureate Program candidate and UCLA Biochemistry alumna, public health and community participation have long been an element of Espiritu's educational path, on her way to a dual M.D./MPH degree. Together with Chicanos for Community Medicine (CCM), she has served underserved communities by educating them about preventative health measures. She went to Panama with Global Brigades, where she and fellow UCLA undergraduates set up a two-day medical clinic to provide basic health care services and public health education to a rural population. As an Anatomy Academy Mentor, she worked with basic medical students to teach basic anatomy and physiology to sixth graders in Stella Middle Charter Academy. During her last year at UCLA, she shadowed an endocrinologist at Cedars-Sinai Hospital as an Independent Student Volunteer.  She also worked as an Administrative Assistant in the the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Espiritu is particularly passionate about disease surveillance and sought out EPICenter specifically to gain experience in designing research and developing protocols around epidemiology and emerging bioterror threats. She now researches cyber terror and various topics for the EPICenter LA Blog.