Sonya Abdalla is a rising senior at Smith College, where she is double-majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. As a 2025 Summer Intern with the Columbia-WHO Center for Global Mental Health, she worked under the mentorship of Dr. Rachel Presskreischer on a scoping review examining psychosocial interventions for individuals with eating disorders. Her responsibilities included screening abstracts using Covidence and assisting in refining inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review focuses on identifying interventions that support quality of life and functioning rather than targeting core eating-disorder symptoms.
Before beginning her second bachelor’s degree, Sonya spent four years in Greece working as a cultural mediator and interpreter (Kurdish-Arabic-Greek-English) for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), accompanying refugee families to hospitals, schools, and asylum interviews. Working side-by-side with psychiatrists and social workers during crisis evaluations sparked her interest in trauma-informed mental-health care for displaced populations. Through this internship she deepened her understanding of how rigorous research can shape interventions that genuinely serve diverse communities. After graduation, Sonya plans to pursue a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies and build a career that blends neuroscience, global mental health, and refugee advocacy.