Ysabella Perez
Ysabella Perez is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, pursuing a double major in Biology and Medical Sociology. She is passionate about addressing health disparities and particularly interested in orthostatic intolerance, Dysautonomia/POTS, and related areas such as cognitive function and cardiovascular health. Ysabella plans to pursue an MD and is eager to explore how clinical research can inform her future practice, with the goal of contributing to the under-researched field of Dysautonomia and becoming an cardiothoracic surgeon.
Before the SUMR program, she worked as a PURM scholar and research assistant with Dr. Adriana Perez at Tiempo Juntos, a study that implemented a physical activity intervention to support cognitive, cardiovascular, and sleep health in older Latinos. As part of this work, she designed and led a pilot study investigating provider trust and perceived stress among Spanish-speaking Latinos with cognitive impairment. She also interned at the Brain Research, Innovation, and Translation Lab (BRITL) at Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience, where she conducted a retrospective chart review with the neuromuscular team focusing on AANHPI populations.
As a SUMR scholar, Perez is currently working on two projects. With Dr. Eileen Lake, she is focusing on health system nursing factors in relation to healthcare quality, equity, and patient outcomes. She is also working with Dr. Shana Stites to explore how social and structural determinants influence Alzheimer’s Disease.
At Penn, Perez serves on the executive board of Invisible Illness Awareness at Penn, an organization that advocates for students with chronic illness, disabilities, and invisible conditions. She is also a hospice volunteer, a peer support hotline responder, and a Matriculate Advising Fellow, mentoring high-achieving, low-income high school students through the college application process. In addition, she supports other undergraduates as a Writing Fellow at the Marks Family Writing Center and as Head LA for Penn’s General Chemistry Labs. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, baking, reading, and being a part of Penn Club Field Hockey.