Kaylie Springer (she/her/hers) is a rising senior at Wartburg College, majoring in Psychology and Sociology with a minor in Social Welfare. She developed a passion for cultural diversity through tutoring students at Wartburg in the Peer Learning Lab. Her research interests include the intersection of public health and clinical psychology. Specifically, she has a passion for exploring how psychosocial factors and the social determinants of health and mental health can be applied to develop effective community intervention strategies in low-income groups to enhance quality of life.
This summer, Kaylie assisted Dr. Reuben Robbins’ lab with evaluating NeuroScreen, a tablet-based app designed to test for neurocognitive impairment in people living with HIV especially in low- and middle-income countries. She was involved in a variety of tasks such as transcribing cognitive interviews, data monitoring, data organization, finalizing medical questionnaires, and quality assurance. Additionally, Kaylie was able to participate in weekly cohort tasks including preparing for journal club discussions, completing intern celebratory tasks, and engaging in cohort meetings. Kaylie is currently working on a poster investigating the administration of NeuroScreen and cognitive interviews in different countries, including South Africa and Uganda. She is looking forward to submitting her project to an upcoming conference and presenting her research.
Kaylie is grateful for the opportunities that the Columbia Global Mental Health Summer Program has offered her. This internship has allowed her to develop valuable skills for her future career and to build connections with peers and faculty that will last a lifetime.