Sissi Zhu
Sissi Zhu is a junior at the University of Southern California majoring in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention with a focus on epidemiology. She is passionate about historical epidemiology and the social patterns that shape population-level health outcomes.
As part of the 2026 SUMR cohort, Sissi works on two projects examining the intersecting determinants of infectious disease epidemiology and healthcare equity. Under the mentorship of Dr. Sagori Mukhopadhyay, she studies how hospitals approach mother-baby separation during maternal viral illness at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She also contributes to Dr. Carmen Guerra’s research on equitable HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening and interventions aimed at improving breast cancer clinical trial participation through reducing provider bias.
At USC, Sissi works with the Community Outreach and Engagement team at the Norris Cancer Center within the Keck School of Medicine, where she helps identify barriers to cancer research participation and broader health priorities among underrepresented communities. She is also a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta honor society. In her free time, Sissi enjoys creating digital art and experimenting with new recipes.