Before studying for her PhD in Epidemiology, Dr. Meira Epplein, Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences, organized high-level meetings in China for a Seattle-based think-tank. Fluent in Chinese, she would take personal trips to the countryside and noticed the people’s poor sanitation conditions and poor health, which prompted Dr. Epplein to switch careers. She began working for an epidemiologist where she found herself organizing a symposium on H. pylori— a major cause of stomach cancer—that is now her life’s research. Fast forward 13 years and Dr. Epplein is bringing successful interventions from East Asia to DISH, the Durham Initiative for Stomach Health, hoping to develop a widespread screening program in Durham’s high-risk populations.