Michelle is an incoming third-year student at the University of Toronto specializing in Health and Disease and minoring in Medical Anthropology. She is interested in equitable, patient-centered approaches to both mental and physical healthcare, with particular attention to the syndemic and sociocultural factors that shape health outcomes, including access to care, social conditions, and structural inequities. Her academic interests are grounded in medical anthropology and interdisciplinary healthcare research, and she hopes to pursue a career in the medical field.

Working alongside Dr. Laura Sikstrom, Michelle is contributing to a SSHRC Insight project examining how trust in AI is articulated in psychiatric care contexts. Her work involves qualitative and thematic analysis of survey responses to explore how sociotechnical factors shape perceptions of AI recommendations. Through this research, she aims to deepen her understanding of qualitative methods, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical approaches to healthcare innovation.