Chinenye Ilodianya
Chinenye Ilodianya is a sophomore pursuing a BA in Health and Societies with a concentration in Public Health and a minor in Chemistry. Prior to SUMR, she performed a mixed methods study investigating potential causes of the high mortality rates amongst young Black women diagnosed with breast cancer. This experience fueled her passion for using research to uncover the causes of health disparities, and learning how to use that information to develop and implement effective interventions.
During her time with SUMR, Ilodianya is working with Dr. Rebecca Hamm and the AMETHIST@Penn team, supporting a national Coordinating Hub that collaborates with twelve Centers of Excellence conducting equity-focused maternal health implementation research as part of the NIH IMPROVE initiative. Ilodianya assists with qualitative and mixed-methods research to identify and analyze multilevel barriers and facilitators in conducting high-quality, equity-centered research. She supports semi-structured interviews with hospital staff and research teams by serving as a note-taker, helping ensure transcript accuracy and completeness. She also conducts artifact analysis by reviewing consultation notes and data forms to extract key findings. Through this role, she helps generate insights that strengthen the effort to reduce maternal mortality, improve pregnancy and postpartum care, and address disparities in outcomes for marginalized populations across the U.S.
Ilodianya is also passionate about inspiring the next generation of scientists and leaders in STEM. She analyzes middle school students’ performance after STEM instruction in her hometown to help teachers identify gaps in understanding and improve student performance. She also helps organize the annual Girl Empower Summit, leading a panel interviewing influential women about their careers in STEM and the challenges they’ve overcome, aiming to motivate and empower young girls to pursue opportunities in science and technology. Outside of academics, she enjoys singing for Penn’s Keynotes, lifting at the gym, and cooking new foods.