Erica Cherian

Class of 2018
Hometown: Marietta, GA

Erica Cherian, of Marietta, GA, graduated in May 2018 with a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Spanish. She plans to attend medical school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia for the next 4 years. During her time as a scholar, Erica worked with the Charlotte Community Health Clinic and is helping to develop an app that will disseminate healthcare information to Hispanic teens who utilize the clinic. She also volunteered abroad in Trujillo, Peru. Erica stated, “the experiences I had doing service through the Levine Scholar’s program were life-changing; it is one thing to read numbers and statistics on ideas like healthcare disparities, and it is another thing entirely to see individuals and hear their stories and challenges.” During her time as a scholar she spent a two summers researching, one conducting cancer research at UNC Charlotte, and the second conducting vaccine research at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis.  “The research opportunities at UNC Charlotte are incredible. The opportunities I had to conduct cutting edge biological research as well as public health research were instrumental to my educational experience.” Erica conducted immunotherapy research in the Biology department for a year during her time at Charlotte, and was also involved with leading a free clinic at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church geared toward providing primary healthcare access to Latino individuals.