University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC 7/19 – 6/20 Transplant Hepatology Fellowship University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC 7/16 – 6/19 Gastroenterology Fellowship Gillings School of Public Health University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, NC 9/17 – 1/19 Masters in Science and Clinical Research (MSCR) Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY 7/13 – 6/16 Internal Medicine Residency University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 9/09 – 6/13 Medical Degree Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 9/03 – 6/07 Bachelor of Arts; Graduated Cum Laude with Honors in Philosophy and Certificate in Health Policy Personal Statement: I am committed to an academic career in hepatology dedicated to high quality research in liver transplant outcomes, as well as a focus on clinical ethics and quality improvement. My interest in ethics developed as an undergraduate and during a two-year fellowship in the NIH Department of Bioethics where I investigated the ethics of interventions to improve health behaviors. During my medical training, I was inspired to apply these interests to patients with chronic liver disease undergoing transplantation, many of whom struggle with maintaining healthy behaviors including weight loss, alcohol/drug abstinence, and medication adherence. I sought out the unique digestive disease epidemiology program at University of North Carolina (UNC) for my Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation training. During my two years on the NIH T32 training grant, I am learning study design, biostatistics, and epidemiology, with plans to obtain a Master of Science in Clinical Research. My committed research mentors in gastroenterology and hepatology, as well as the strong infrastructure for research at UNC, have paved a promising path for me to achieve my research goals. In an aging population with increased rates of metabolic syndrome, it is imperative that we better understand health-related behaviors so that we can develop effective tools to improve health. In previous work, I examined the ethics of using financial incentives and physician-patient contracts to promote health among chronically ill patients. Recently, my research has investigated non-adherence to immunosuppressants in liver transplant recipients and novel techniques such as telemetric interventions to modify patient behaviors. In future research endeavors, I hope to improve the methodology used to measure non-adherence and investigate the efficacy of mobile applications and smartphone technology, among other interventions, to modify health behaviors in these patients. I believe this technology can be harnessed to motivate healthier behaviors in patients with cirrhosis and liver transplantation and is a ripe area for research.