Meet the medical students chosen as Columbus-Athens Schweitzer Fellows
At a local Bhutanese temple in Columbus, two health professions students from The Ohio State University gently guided a respected spiritual leader through a vision screening. For the students — Christiana Han, a second-year medical student at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and Michelle Yun, a second-year optometry student — it was a moment of quiet impact.
“We were honored to receive the trust from such a respected adult in their community,” they said. “And we were glad to learn more about the culture that we were serving.”
Han and Yun are among six students from Ohio State, five of whom are from the College Medicine, selected for the 2025–26 Columbus-Athens Schweitzer Fellows Program. The competitive, yearlong fellowship supports graduate students committed to addressing unmet health needs in local communities through more than 200 hours of service work.
Partnering with the nonprofit organization Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio and the statewide program Prevent Blindness Ohio, Han and Yun are working to expand access to vision care, particularly for refugee and immigrant populations facing challenges like affordability, lack of insurance and language barriers. Their project includes regular screenings and educational sessions, with a long-term goal of establishing a sustainable mobile eye clinic. They’re one of three Ohio State College of Medicine teams selected this year to lead innovative, community-based service projects.
Supporting Mothers Through Education and Technology
Second and third-year medical students Devi Nelakurti and Anand Shah are addressing health care literacy and access through their project, MOMentum, in partnership with Moms2B. They’ve launched in-person education sessions and a new Life Coach program to help pregnant women in high-risk Columbus neighborhoods navigate health systems and public assistance programs like Medicaid and CHIP.
To further support their work, they developed SmileChild, an iOS app that delivers accessible health education and connects users to local resources. By combining face-to-face engagement with digital tools, they’re helping mothers feel more empowered and informed.
Promoting Wellness and Healthy Aging
Isaac Stanberry and Rheanna Velasquez, both second-year medical students, are focusing their efforts on Columbus’s older adult population. In collaboration with the Healthy Community Center and the Urban Aging Residents Coalition (UARC), they are leading community education initiatives from cooking classes to workshops on diabetes, heart health, Medicare enrollment and fall prevention.
They bring deep personal experience to their work: Stanberry served as a certified nursing assistant during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Velasquez previously worked with Ohio State’s Age-Friendly Innovation Center and UARC. One of their first events together was a UARC-led “divorce from sugar” gathering, where they shared the impact of sugar on diabetes and brain health.
“In the long run, we want to bring awareness to the unique needs of older adults, supporting healthy aging and empowering older adults in actively exploring their needs and enhancing overall well-being,” they said.
Through their Columbus-Athens Schweitzer Fellowship projects, these students are learning how to combine clinical training with community partnership and making a tangible difference in the process. At the end of the fellowship year, they’ll leave not only with over 200 hours of service, but with a deeper understanding of the connections between health, trust and community. Meet all the 2025–26 Schweitzer Fellows!
