Nitika Gupta
Nitika Gupta is a student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, where she is pursuing a dual Doctor of Dental Medicine and Master’s in Higher Education (DMD, MSEd). She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2018 with a BS in Biology and minors in General Business and Chemistry. During undergrad, she conducted research analyzing patient data to look for correlation in patients with diabetes and missed dental appointment to expand dental grants for the health center. As a result of this experience, she became interested in health services research. She hopes to take the information and skills she learns in SUMR and apply them as a future academic researcher.
Through SUMR, Gupta worked on two projects. The first project, under Dr. Salama Freed, PhD focused on analyzing the effect of introducing certain dental plans and the utilization of those plans amongst low-income non-elderly adults. The second project, under Dr. Dylan Small, PhD looked at the effects of playing on a sports team in high school on later life health outcomes.
In dental school, Gupta is a member of the Ethic Board and Chinese Dental Association. In her free time, she likes to watch “Wheel of Fortune”, travel, and hula-hoop. Fun fact: She was a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune” and won a trip to Belize!