Elena Daniel

Elena is an Eritrean American and a graduate of Occidental College in Kinesiology & Public Health. She is passionate about fostering sustainable public health development, dedicating herself to both service and research. At Occidental, her primary research endeavor was a longitudinal study examining the impact of schoolyard greening renovations on physical activity and social behaviors among schoolchildren in Los Angeles. Using SPSS & ArcGIS, she organized and analyzed large-scale data sets to provide quantifiable evidence supporting environmental equity. Elena’s efforts made her the first Kinesiology student to receive Occidental’s Science Scholar Fellowship grant to develop and implement several innovative research protocols for the study. Additionally, she helped conduct research studies examining the accessibility of oral health coverage through Medicaid and the potential health burden of consumer products targeted towards women of color. Elena also served as a Community Health Worker for Every Woman Counts, which provides free mammograms and pap tests to uninsured and undocumented individuals across LA County. Upon graduation, she worked as a COVID-19 Case Investigator & Contact Tracer for the LA Department of Public Health. She most recently served as a Clinical Research Coordinator for a study addressing post-traumatic stress symptoms among assault-injured youth at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Elena’s experiences have nurtured her lifelong commitment to community-driven development and evidence-based health intervention, which she is eager to continue exploring with BIPAI Eswatini!