Sophie Wang
Sophie Wang is a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She is passionate about improving healthcare delivery through the intersection of health policy, economics, and data-driven decision-making, with a particular interest in healthcare finance. Following graduation, she hopes to eventually transition into healthcare private equity, where she aims to help scale innovative healthcare organizations that improve patient outcomes and access to care.
As a SUMR scholar, Sophie works with Eva Catenaccio on research examining the pediatric physician workforce and access to specialty care across the United States. Her work explores the economic and structural factors influencing physician career decisions, including educational debt, physician compensation, fellowship training, and geographic workforce distribution. Using large national workforce datasets and quantitative analyses, she evaluates trends in pediatric subspecialty shortages, models the financial return on fellowship training across specialties, and investigates how workforce dynamics influence children's access to timely, specialized care. Through this work, she seeks to generate evidence that can inform policies addressing pediatric workforce shortages and improve equitable access to care.
Beyond research, Sophie is a consultant with Penn International Impact Consulting, where she advises mission-driven organizations on growth and operational strategy. Outside of Penn, Wang previously founded Youth HPV Champions, a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing HPV vaccination awareness and cancer prevention among adolescents, leading initiatives that reached thousands of students across the country. Her experiences across research, healthcare, and finance continue to shape her goal of improving healthcare systems through strategic investment, evidence-based policy, and innovation. In her free time, she enjoys eating her way through Philly's Chinatown, dancing (shoutout PennHype and Penn Dance), and binging TV shows