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At the time of the QE Scholarship, Kathy was an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program at Â鶹ÊÓƵ University, specializing in Global Health. After working extensively with vulnerable youth and elderly populations, she developed diverse interests in how policy can be used to reduce poverty, engage local communities and better the quality of direct care provided in long-term care settings. Kathy’s role as a research assistant at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ's ForumLab further spurred her curiosity in how to effectively integrate research evidence in decision-making processes.

As an outbound Queen Elizabeth Scholar, Kathy travelled to South Africa to intern at the University of Johannesburg’s Africa Centre for Evidence (ACE). Kathy’s project focused on producing various evidence syntheses in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). Through this experience, Kathy hoped to deepen her understanding of how rigorous research programs can inform system level change at the intersection of environmental policy and health outcomes.