Preethi Periyakoil was an Associate Software Engineer at Salesforce in San Francisco who recently began as an MD/PhD student in the Tri-Institutional Program at Weill Cornell Medical College. However, it was her experience volunteering as a crisis counselor for the San Francisco Suicide Prevention hotline that inspired her project. Supported by Chang Prize funding, Periyakoil will explore launching a platform to reduce college campus suicides and suicide attempts by providing 24-hour emotional support for those in need.

Nicole Tetreault is a neuroscientist, researcher, author, meditation teacher, and national speaker. While Tetreault has experience using her skills in neuroscience, she is particularly excited to combine her passions to help people who are suffering. She plans to use the Chang Prize funding to develop an educational program to help incarcerated women who may be suffering from physical, mental, and emotional trauma.

Kyle Lakatos used the Chang Prize funding to explore how to incorporate early childhood development health services into community centers in the San Francisco Bay Area by developing training materials for use in community centers and other non-traditional healthcare spaces. His work helps to combat health inequities by bringing early childhood development training to underserved and marginalized populations.

Sean McKenna became interested in exploring the housing crisis through his work as a research assistant at the Rand Corporation. The Chang Prize allowed him to spend a year connecting with residents, housing developers, homeless shelters, technology innovators, and policymakers in California and Washington, DC to learn more about the roots of the housing crisis.