2022 BRIDGE Cohort
Current: Research Data Analyst
Jennifer M. Gierisch, Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences
Elle Strand graduated from Duke University with a BS in Biology and a BA in Global Health. Over her undergraduate career, Elle spearheaded research on the quality of and access to leprosy care options in Sri Lanka; emergency care for scarf-related injuries in Bangladesh; and the dynamics and drivers of domestic minor sex trafficking in the United States. Her senior capstone with the Duke Global Health Institute investigated the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 in Durham, NC. For her undergraduate work, Elle was awarded the Outstanding Capstone Award and the Michael Merson Undergraduate Student Leadership Award in Global Health.
Currently, Elle works as a Research Data Technician under the mentorship of Joao Ricardo Nickenig Vissoci, PhD, MSc, MBA; Catherine Staton, MD, MSc; and Charles Gerardo, MD. Her interests are in trauma-informed medicine and adapting care systems to increase access among vulnerable populations. As such, her primary research projects involve increasing access to antivenom in the Brazilian Amazon and understanding the effects of climate change on health in Durham, NC. Elle also works as a teaching assistant for three graduate courses taught by Dr. Staton and Dr. Vissoci on grant writing, implementation science, and systematic reviews.
Her long-term career goal is to work as an emergency physician-researcher and close the gap between medicine and her community (rural Minnesota) through trauma-informed, community-engaged research.