Student Research Showcase

The Student Research Showcase is a university-wide poster session featuring global health research by Harvard undergraduate and graduate students. The event celebrates student scholarship and fosters interdisciplinary exchange, bringing together research, practice, and policy perspectives from across the Harvard community.

The showcase provides a platform for students to share findings on pressing global health challenges, engage in meaningful discussion, and spark interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaborations that may lead to future research, policy, or practice initiatives.

2026 Student Showcase

Held in partnership with the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Global Health Research Showcase took place on Friday, April 17th, 2026, providing a platform for Harvard graduate and undergraduate students to present their research on pressing global health challenges. This event fostered interdisciplinary dialogue and offers a valuable networking opportunity for both presenters and attendees.

The call for abstracts for next year’s poster session will reopen in Spring 2027. To view more student opportunities at HGHI, please visit our Student Engagement page.

Featured Poster Session Winners

Harvard Undergraduate Poster Winners

Anika Christensen

Human Biology, Behavior, and Evolution at Harvard College

Poster Title: “Crisis Causing Crisis: The Effect of Global Warming on Modern Day Plague Outbreaks in Madagascar”

Anil Cacodcar

Harvard College (A.B. in Economics, A.B. in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology)

Poster Title: “Can Local News Save Lives? Evidence from US Drug Overdoses”

Harvard Graduate Poster Winner

Annisa Salsabilla Dwi Nugrahani

Master of Medical Science in Clinical Investigation, Harvard Medical School

Poster Title: “Developing Machine Learning-Based HIV Risk Prediction Algorithms for 40,361 Women of Reproductive Age in Southern Africa”

Judges

Louise Ivers, MD, MPH, DTM&H, Faculty Director, Harvard Global Health Institute
Willy Lensch, PhD, Associate Provost for Research, Harvard University
Ole Norheim, MD, PhD, Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Ethics and Population Health at the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Stephane Verguet, MPP, PhD, Associate Professor of Global Health in the Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Photo Gallery

Photo by Kent Dayton.

2025 Student Showcase

The Harvard Global Health Research Showcase took place on Friday, April 11th, 2025, providing a platform for Harvard graduate and undergraduate students to present their research on pressing global health challenges. This event fostered interdisciplinary dialogue and offers a valuable networking opportunity for both presenters and attendees.

Abstract submissions for the 2025 Showcase closed on March 12, 2025. The call for abstracts will reopen in Spring 2026. To view more student opportunities at HGHI, please visit our Student Engagement page.

Featured Poster Session Winners

Harvard Undergraduate Poster Winner

Sara Silarszka

Harvard College ’25

Project: Community Engagement for HIV Prevention Among Postpartum Women in Botswana

Sara spent ten weeks in Gaborone, Botswana, interning with the Tshireletso Study at the Botswana Harvard Health Partnership. Her project aimed to increase awareness of HIV prevention options—specifically Cabotegravir, a long-acting form of PrEP—among expecting mothers by introducing early education sessions in antenatal clinics.

Harvard Graduate Poster Winner

Suci Ardini Widyaningsih

MD, MMSc in Clinical Investigation, HMS ’25

Project: Identifying Clinical Signs of Neonatal Mortality in Low-Resource Settings”

Dr. Suci Ardini Widyaningsih’s research aimed to improve early identification of neonatal mortality risk in low-resource settings. Her work evaluated the predictive accuracy of clinical signs in infants, contributing valuable evidence toward more effective newborn health interventions in rural Bangladesh.