A year-long student-led, faculty-mentored initiative, PEARLS culminates in a symposium featuring "Change Agents" profiles of faculty-led work, a "15% Better" showcase of student creativity and the "Grand Round Pitches" where students compete for seed grants of $1,000.

For PEARLS Student Chair Reynaldo Zamora, Class of 2027, the event is more than a showcase of projects. It’s a testament to Frank H. Netter School of Medicine’s dedication to patient-centered care and the advancement of quality healthcare for everyone. 

“The most rewarding part of organizing the symposium has been seeing the incredible passion and creativity within our Netter community come to life,” said Zamora. “I want everyone to see the amazing work their peers and faculty are doing, understand how they can contribute, and feel more deeply connected to our shared mission of fostering inclusivity.

Faculty change agents, Dr. Nicole Pendergast, MD ’18, and Dr. Javeed Sukhera kicked off the symposium with presentations of work inspired by their own personal experiences. As assistant residency program director and assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Dr. Pendergast highlighted her training initiative to provide support for female physicians during pregnancy and beyond. Netter School of Medicine Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Sukhera presented an overview of his research program that explores novel approaches to addressing stigma and bias among health professionals.

This year, five student teams were awarded seed grants, an increase from four last year. Student award recipients presented projects on a wide range of issues such as addiction training, decoding health insurance, menstrual health in Kenya, adolescent sun protection and bridging gaps for Spanish-speaking patients. Each project shared a commitment to tackling barriers with creativity, compassion and a deep sense of purpose.

“My hope is that attendees leave feeling inspired by the possibilities, empowered to act, and equipped with practical strategies for change,” said Zamora.

“Ultimately, this symposium should kindle a renewed sense of responsibility to make both our immediate environment and the broader field of medicine more equitable and inclusive for everyone.”

Beyond the Pad: Understanding Barriers to Menstrual Health in Kenya

Samantha Strelzer and Anisa Prasad are working together to address cultural sensitivity to menstrual health challenges in low-resource settings in Kenya. In partnership with Josephine Ndirias, a Maasai woman and director of the international Girls Empowerment Program in Kenya, this program aims to improve menstrual health for young women aged 12-17 in Kenya, by addressing barriers to product access, breaking societal taboos and promoting sustainable solutions.

By collaborating with the annual Il-Ngwesi Youth Empowerment Camp, the initiative has gathered perspectives and worked to foster community involvement in breaking societal taboos around menstruation, ultimately improving access to menstrual products and reducing stigma to empower local girls.

“We listed December 2025 as the end date for this project, but we're really hoping that that is not an actual end date,” said Prasad. “We hope to pass this project on to other Netter students and continue making these connections between here and Kenya.”

Decoding Medicare, Medicaid, and Healthy Equity: An Interprofessional Escape Room Learning Experience

Through the design of an interactive escape room, Kriti Devkota, Rachel Schlak and Lia Spencer are working to improve student medical training and deepen the understanding of health insurance processes for better patient-centered care.

By solving puzzles and engaging in other hands-on activities, medical students will test their knowledge and learn how an interprofessional team can better advocate for their patients in situations such as preventative care or prescription costs.

“As medical students, we don't really know much about insurance. And we don't get trained formally on it in medical education,” said Schlak. “The impact of learning more about this is going to be better patient-centered care because we as providers have a comprehensive knowledge of insurance.”

Addressing Social Determinants of Health through Integrated Screening and Multilingual Resources

Deepening an understanding of healthcare is also the topic of the group project by  Rachel Prince, James Graham, Sandhya Sewnauth, Mitsu Philogene and Reynaldo Zamora. The group is working in partnership with Malta House of Care in Waterbury which provides free medical care for uninsured adults to address the social determinants of health screenings. Their goal is to enhance multilingual resources to improve health equity and patient outcomes in underserved communities.

The team is integrating a screening system to evaluate the social determinants of health (SDoH) into the organization’s intake process and plans to purchase iPads to streamline the intake process. In addition, they are in the process of creating a multilingual resource guide to assist Malta patients based on previously identified needs. 

“Our aim is to support the community by addressing specific areas of care and providing actionable steps including reducing barriers to housing, food insecurity, transportation and more,” said Graham. “We also want patients to feel more confident in finding and utilizing these resources. We hope to foster empowerment and trust by providing materials that are culturally responsive and focused for this marginalized population.”

Workshops in Addiction Medicine

The team of Amanda Christiano, Neha Pashankar, Anna Makridis, Victoria Wu and Calvin Bohner. have focused their collective energy on organizing interactive workshops to provide empathetic and effective care for patients with substance use disorders.

The January 24 workshop included a presentation by Marilyn Finkelstein, LCSW, on how to interview clients with addictions, a recovery and community addiction treatment panel and hands-on Naloxone training.

The event also featured a keynote address by Dr. Kathryn Hawke, Yale School of Medicine emergency room physician with a specialty in addiction and overdose prevention.

“Through these workshops, we wanted to highlight a scoping review that identified various efforts to educate medical professionals about substance use disorders,” said Christiano. “Our goal is to increase their knowledge and decrease the stigma that can create gaps in care.”

Sun Protection Outreach Teaching by Students (SPOTS)


The fifth and final group of the PEARLS grant recipients focused their collaboration on sun safety and skin cancer prevention for middle school students. First-year medical students Camilla Lee and Ishani Rao plan to collaborate with local school districts to create a culturally inclusive resource program tailored to diverse communities of adolescents.

Sun Protection Outreach Teaching by Students, or SPOTS, is a free educational, interactive and comprehensive program focusing on the prevention of skin cancer. The community benefits include improved recognition of skin cancer signs on all skin tones and the ability to equip teens, children and families with knowledge for lifelong sun protection habits. Starting this March, the team will facilitate four, one-hour presentations at Hamden Middle School to engage with students and provide sunscreen samples.

“We will also have pamphlets and inclusive materials to educate adolescents, children and medical students about how skin cancer can present differently on darker skin,” said Lee. “We really want to understand behaviors and attitudes to sunscreen usage, tanning or misconceptions. Our hope is to also educate medical students on the prevalence and impact of skin cancer in underrepresented groups.”

The PEARLS Symposium concluded with the “15% Better" initiative, which highlights how small personal actions can create a positive ripple effect in communities. This year’s showcase spotlighted creative expressions in art, poetry and music and featured a performance by the Netter Notes.

“This year, our mission was to create opportunities that foster innovation and creativity,” said Zamora. “We aimed to empower students by equipping them with guidance and resources across various platforms, including grants, research posters and creative art pieces. We’re here to foster a space where ideas can flourish, connections can be made, and solutions can take shape.”