VAIBHAVI SUNKARA

Vaibhavi Sunkara is a member of the KLESSE College of Engineering and Integrated Design at The University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently a junior pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is Indian, and her hometown is San Antonio, Texas. Vaibhavi is also a member of the UTSA Honors College as well as a IES Pathways fellow. She is interested in medicine and hopes to pursue a career as a physician one day. She wants to combine engineering and healthcare to improve patient care. 

Vaibhavi is currently researching at the HEAL (Healthcare Analytics Laboratory) where she analyzes data to aid in bridging gaps that exist in the healthcare system. She hopes to analyze data relating to health insurance and understand the impacts of implementing health insurance education in schools. Many students do not understand how insurance works or how to utilize their health benefits, leading to medical debt. With proper education on navigating healthcare administration, overall public health would be stronger due to more people practicing preventive medicine. Vaibhavi hopes to continue research in healthcare upon graduation and pursue an M.D/P.hD. 

Vaibhavi’s hobbies outside of the classroom include dancing, drawing, and volunteering at the hospital. Through the IES Pathways to Education program, Vaibhavi hopes to bring more attention to health insurance research and improve the overall quality of healthcare. through education.