Current Bachelor of Public Health (BPH) student at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Sukruthi Yerramreddy (pictured left) is the epitome of why undergraduate research and faculty mentorship is so valuable to the learning and development process of future health champions.
Born in India, Sukruthi wanted to see the world and moved with her family to Lexington, Kentucky, at age 5. Sukruthi’s passion for research began in high school. Through a capstone project, Sukruthi teamed with a mentor at the UK College of Pharmacy where they researched alcohol abuse disorders.
From there, Sukruthi wanted to explore the “bigger picture” and realized she wanted to study and research health disparities that can impact communities and larger populations. This is what led her to public health and eventually to the UK College of Public Health in 2018.
“I always knew that I cared about diversity, healthcare, diseases, and health disparities,” says Sukruthi. “Public health was the perfect mix for what I wanted to do.”
While enrolled at the College of Public Health, Sukruthi took CPH 395, an independent study course where she was connected to a faculty mentor to develop a research project based on her research interests. This is how Sukruthi met Dr. Marc Kiviniemi (pictured right), professor and chair in the department of Health, Behavior & Society at the UK College of Public Health.
Sukruthi became a research assistant of Dr. Kiviniemi and was able to develop a research project looking at vaccine hesitancies with COVID-19 through a health behavior lens.
“This research was so relevant to what we’re all experiencing with COVID-19,” says Sukruthi. “I am a big picture person, so the opportunity to do this research was right on par with what I am passionate about learning.”
Sukruthi created a survey with the Kentucky Health Department that was distributed to approximately 1,400 unvaccinated respondents in Kentucky on their perceived fear and mistrust of vaccination. Sukruthi collated and helped analyze the data with Dr. Kevin Pierce, professor in the department of Family and Community Medicine at the UK College of Medicine.
“Sukruthi’s great work on our COVID-19 team and working with the Kentucky Department of Health has resulted in a paper that was just accepted for publication in the spring 2022 issue of the Journal of Appalachian Health,” says Dr. Kiviniemi. “Sukruthi is also involved in another COVID-19 research project with partners with four different institutions.”
In addition, Sukruthi’s COVID-19 research also took her to the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s (SBS) 43rd Annual Meeting & Science Sessions event in Baltimore, Maryland. The event’s theme, “The Urgency of Adaptation,” was inspired by the opportunities for behavioral medicine to increase its impact as the world confronts three public health tragedies—the climate crisis, systemic racism, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sukruthi’s poster presentation was on the topic, “Perceived Susceptibility and Fear Interact with Perceived Severity to Predict COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions.” From a practical perspective, Sukruthi’s findings highlighted the critical need for COVID-19 messaging that address both severity and susceptibility to optimally influence behavior.
“We have a responsibly to communicate all health information properly,” says Sukruthi. “We should be operating with the assumption that everyone wants to be healthy. Therefore, the messaging should be compassionate, empathetic, and optimistic. But most importantly, it should be factual. This creates more trust in our healthcare systems and the people conveying the message.”
Sukruthi also presented this research at the University of Kentucky’s recent 16th annual Showcase of Undergraduate Scholars event, which provides UK undergraduates the opportunity to professionally present, perform, and demonstrate their faculty-mentored research to the community.
“This research applies to all of us, and it is important to get the facts out there,” says Sukruthi. “In my career, I want to treat people but if we look at successful treatments of really helping people, it is through public health.”
Upon graduating in May 2022, Sukruthi plans to go to medical school and get her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree along the way. Sukruthi plans to keep her passion for public health integrated into her career goal of working in the applied clinical health field.
