University of California- San Diego Archives

Nundini Varshney

Nundini Varshney is a public health advocate and aspiring physician with a strong background in clinical research, health education, and community-based initiatives. She graduated cum laude in human biology and with a minor in business from the University of California San Diego. Her academic foundation is complemented by extensive clinical research experience across Southern California, where she has contributed to studies focused on Alzheimer’s dementia, anemia in chronic kidney disease, and novel cancer therapies targeting genetic mutations.

In parallel with her scientific work, Nundini has led efforts to increase access to life-saving education and resources. She is the founder of a student-led organization that has trained over 4,000 middle- and high-school students in CPR and AED (automated external defribillator) usage. Her advocacy work has contributed to the development and co-sponsorship of legislation mandating annual CPR and AED training for students and teachers across California.

Her interests lie at the intersection of medicine, policy, and education, particularly in the fields of cancer prevention, adolescent health, and reproductive justice. With a commitment to serving marginalized populations and a deep appreciation for culturally informed care, Nundini seeks to bridge the gap between science and community impact. She aims to pursue a career in oncology that integrates clinical care, research, and advocacy to advance health equity at both local and global levels.

Nundini’s Fulbright-Nehru public health project in Rajasthan is focusing on improving adolescent awareness of cervical cancer and increasing the HPV vaccination uptake. In collaboration with Mahatma Gandhi University of Medical Sciences and Technology, she is surveying students, parents, and educators in Jaipur, Rajasthan, to identify gaps in reproductive health education, particularly omissions related to HPV and cervical cancer in national guidelines. The project is also developing context-sensitive interventions shaped by cultural, gender, and economic factors. Nundini will use her findings to deliver evidence-based policy recommendations to support equitable vaccine access across state-funded health systems.

Sharanya Sriram

Sharanya Sriram graduated with a BS in molecular and cell biology from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in 2024. As an undergraduate, she conducted research on the immune environment of pancreatic islets in diet-induced obesity and also completed a senior honors thesis on ribosomal protein differences in alpha and beta cells to investigate stress susceptibility in diabetes pathogenesis. Her global health work includes volunteering with street medicine teams to serve refugee communities in Tijuana, Mexico, and participating in the CATALYST program with the UCSD Bioregional Center, wherein she worked with agricultural leaders, indigenous activists, and policy experts to study how climate-related urban challenges impact community health across the U.S.-Mexico border. Sharanya has also studied in Bali, Indonesia, where she examined how indigenous Balinese healing traditions are integrated with allopathic medicine. Her interests span global perspectives on illness, community-oriented climate justice and resilience, and narrative storytelling.

As a Fulbright-Nehru scholar, Sharanya is conducting a qualitative ethnographic study across diverse clinical sites in Bengaluru, India, to examine how perceptions of social support in diabetes management are shaped by gender roles, rural–urban contexts, and beliefs in Ayurvedic medicine. Her research seeks to enhance cross-cultural understanding of the holistic and psychosocial dimensions of chronic disease care, and inform the development of tools to help healthcare providers assess and integrate social support into individualized treatment plans involving culturally informed medical practices.

Andrew Kerr

Mr. Andrew Kerr is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology. His research world revolves around questions of poetry, semiotics, emotion, and sociality. Meanwhile, his commitments and passions are to always be engaged in collaborative work that centers human dignity. Mr. Kerr is a previous fellow with the American India Foundation and Urdu language resident director in Lucknow for the South Asia Flagship Language Initiative. He holds a BSc in Physics from Austin Peay State University, an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago, and is always seeking to learn more.

Mr. Kerr’s Fulbright-Nehru project engages contemporary poetry in North India as not only literature or art, but also as a medium of popular expression that carries affective force in the public sphere. This study is taking place in Delhi, Lucknow, and Mumbai to explore questions about the public sphere, publics, affect, and imaginations of being Indian. The highlight on Urdu poetry, especially, will address the dearth of ethnographic analysis in Urdu studies, while also bringing an extended study of Urdu poetry in India into the growing body of literature in the anthropology of poetry.