Samuel, Sara J. (SocioMedical Sciences-Hist)

Interests: History of Public Health • Vaccination Policy • American Foreign Policy • Public Health Ethics • Health Law & Policy • National Security 

Sara Jane Samuel developed an interest in the history, politics, and ethics of public health as an undergraduate at Yale University, where she majored in History of Science/History of Medicine. As a student at the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia, she is interested in the historic linkages between public health, national security, and American foreign policy in South Asia and Mexico. Specifically, Samuel’s research examines the nonviolent ways American power has been projected through international vaccination campaigns during the Cold War. Her goal is to articulate a vision of American foreign policy that does not heavily rely on instruments of force and uses public health interventions to promote peace abroad.  

Education

MPH, Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University (2018)

Bachelor of Arts, History of Science/History of Medicine, Yale University (2015)