Meet the 2025 cohort of Stanford students spending their summer as Stanford Health Policy Undergraduate Research Fellows collaborating with faculty on compelling and impactful health policy issues.

Peter Benjamin Childs is a rising junior majoring in data science. He’ll be working with Michelle Mello, JD, PhD, a professor of health policy and of law, performing ethnical assessments on health care AI models for her HEAL-AI Lab.

Why Health Policy?

Having gone through health challenges myself, I know how important it is to have access to high quality health care. I hope to make health care more accessible and effective with my career, and health policy plays a big role in shaping these systems. Working with the department this summer is a great place to start playing my part in improving public health.

Next Chapters

I plan to pursue a PhD in biostatistics to combine my passion for public health with my skills in quantitative problem solving and data analysis.

Extracurriculars

I love comic books, video games, and sci-fi! I’m the financial officer of Stanford's Undergraduate Global Health Club and the resident expert on sweet tea and french fries. And I’m a huge map nerd!

Kaz Dean Melzer is a rising senior majoring in management science and engineering. He’ll be working with Sara Singer, PhD, MBA, investigating the impact of multidisciplinary, video-based review meetings—using data from the OR Black Box—on team dynamics in the operating room.

Why Health Policy? 

This project is a fascinating opportunity for me to apply and refine the technical skills I’ve developed during my undergraduate studies to address a real-world issue with significant impact potential. The insights from this work have the potential to improve surgical outcomes and processes at Stanford and beyond. I was inspired to pursue this fellowship after taking Professor Margaret Brandeau’s course on health policy modeling. The class highlighted the powerful role health policy plays in shaping health outcomes at a population level. As a premed student, engaging in this research has deepened my understanding of how data-driven, well-informed policy can improve care delivery in health-care systems.

Next Chapters

I plan to attend medical school and become a primary care physician.

Extracurriculars

My wife and I are expecting our first child this August—and as two former athletes, we can’t wait to be his biggest fans—and probably his coaches, too!

Juan Pablo Pacheco is a rising senior majoring in computer science and product design. He will spend his summer conducting research with Dr. Lee Sanders, a professor of health policy and of pediatrics, focusing on children with medical complexities.

Why Health Policy?

I sought out this fellowship because I wanted to better understand how policy design affects people's health. I think health policy is important since a health-care solution can only be as good as the policy and ethics associated with it. While a solution might be great in theory, policy may hinder its application. I wanted to use this summer as an opportunity to explore health policy, so that I can better help create healthcare solutions that are not only innovative but can also be feasibly implemented.

Next Chapters

Finishing my co-term in computer science and helping advance mental health at a global scale.

Extracurriculars

I love laughter yoga.