Originally from Northern California, Katie completed her B.S. in microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at UCLA. While in school, she worked in a research lab focused on using stem cells to treat HIV and other blood diseases, which first sparked her passion for public health. Katie later spent five years in West Africa working for the Clinton Health Access Initiative. She first moved to Sierra Leone in 2015 to support the Ministry of Health and Sanitation's Ebola response and recovery plan before moving to Nigeria to work on a series of projects aimed at increasing access to family planning services. Katie then spent a year working on the domestic COVID-19 response as part of Partners In Health's U.S. Public Health Accompaniment Unit. Prior to graduate studies, she took the summer off to reconnect with friends and family and enjoyed the sunshine before moving to Princeton, where she finally had to purchase a real winter coat. This summer, she completed her MPA internship  with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Legislative Affairs) in Washington, D.C.