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Eight Penn LDI Students Named Wharton Dean SUMR Scholars

All Are Engaged in Exploring Careers and Advanced Studies in Health Services Research

August 8, 2023

By:

Hoag Levins

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Eight Penn SUMR Scholars meet with Wharton School Dean Erika H. James and Deputy Dean Nancy Rothbard. The SUMR program is co-sponsored by LDI and The Wharton School Health Care Management Department. (Photo: Hoag Levins)

Eight of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics’ (LDI) and The Wharton School Health Care Management Department 2023 Summer Undergraduate Minority Research (SUMR) Scholars were selected to be sponsored as Wharton School Dean Scholars. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School was a crucial partner in the launch of the LDI SUMR program and has continued that support ever since. Here, the eight students meet with Wharton Dean Erika H. James and Deputy Dean Nancy Rothbard.

SUMR students, who come from universities and colleges across the country, are undergraduates interested in exploring the potential for careers and advanced degree studies in health services research. During SUMR’s intense summer-long program, they are immersed in a special health care management curriculum and paired with Penn faculty mentors on real research projects. This year, 40 undergraduates from 17 schools are involved in the program.

Created 24 years ago, the Penn LDI SUMR program was one of the first of its kind and has served as a model for many other universities now running summer-based programs as pipelines to feed their advanced degree programs and add to the diversity of the national health care workforce.

Present at the Wharton Dean’s meeting were: (Top row) Anthony Montes de Oca, Penn Class of 2025 majoring in Biology, Health and Societies with a minor in Chemistry; Asa Sam, Penn Class of 2025 majoring in Neuroscience; Claudio Lucarelli, Associate Professor of Health Care Management and SUMR Program Faculty Advisor; Joanne Levy, Founding Director of the SUMR Program and Director of Student Initiatives at the LDI; Daniella Jacob, Bryn Mawr College Class of 2026 majoring in Psychology and Education; Kimi Li, Penn Class of 2025 majoring in Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Health Services Research; and Amol Jhala, Penn Class of 2025 majoring in Health and Societies with a minor in Data Science. (Bottom row) Sydney Grant, Penn Class of 2024 majoring in Neuroscience; Nancy Rothbard, Wharton School Deputy Dean; Erika H. James, Wharton School Dean; Payton Nashe, Vanderbilt University class of 2025 majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Japanese; and Neila Kalipersad, Penn Class of 2025 majoring in Health and Societies with minors in East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and Chemistry.