Building Care Beyond the Clinic: Integrating Connection Into Healthy Aging

This brief highlights the crucial neglect of social connection as a key facet of successful aging and proposes the deliberate reallocation of Medicare funding to prioritize interaction as a clinical health priority.

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Gemma Wang

May 4, 2026

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Inquiry-driven, this project may reflect personal views, aiming to enrich problem-related discourse.

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Gemma Wang

2026 Winter Fellow

Gemma Wang is a high school researcher and advocate focused on addressing social isolation among older adults through both research and community-based intervention. Her work examines how social disconnection impacts health outcomes and healthcare utilization, drawing on datasets such as the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). She is the founder of The Melody Project, a nonprofit that connects student volunteers with nursing home residents through music and arts-based programming. Through this work, she develops scalable, human-centered approaches to reducing loneliness and strengthening intergenerational connection, with a broader interest in translating research into impactful policy solutions.

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Other Fellowship Capstones

Ethics X AI: Exploring the Dangers

Artificial intelligence

Robbie Nguyen

The emerging Artificial Intelligence era contributes to a constant threat. The access to the powers of AI, from the private sector and government to anyone, has been continuously growing. In this highly controversial period of technological development, Autonomous and AI-enabled systems have shown to be used in malicious ways. This brief will dive into the ethicacy around the recent AI dangers, covering the important social issues brought by the development, providing ways to mitigate the challenges.

Drug use and Fentanyl Overdose Among Teenagers in the United States

Capstones - Winter 2023

Linda An

This brief explores the concerning rise in fentanyl use among teenagers in the United States, underlining its harmful health consequences, including escalating overdose rates. It examines factors contributing to fentanyl's prevalence, such as its affordability, availability, and deadly combinations with other drugs.

Collateral in the Cosmos: Kinetic Anti-Satellites Are Weapons of Mass Destruction

Capstones - Summer 2024

Asher Patel

This project explores how kinetic anti-satellites are weapons of mass destruction. It examines the modern space race and the role of kinetic anti-satellite weapons.

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Gemma Wang

Other Fellowship Capstones

Ethics X AI: Exploring the Dangers

Drug use and Fentanyl Overdose Among Teenagers in the United States

Collateral in the Cosmos: Kinetic Anti-Satellites Are Weapons of Mass Destruction