Published on May 3, 2021

Paige Smith is a December 2020 graduate from St. Peter’s, Missouri, who majored in Public Health with minors in Biological Sciences and Leadership & Public Service. Paige spent her sophomore year as a Discovery Fellow working with Dr. Enid Schatz on research about HIV in the elderly population in sub-Saharan Africa. In Fall 2019, Paige traveled to Uganda to present this research at the Eighth African Populations Conference. Through this experience, Paige’s passion for public health research grew, leading her to pursue additional research positions in the public health, anthropology, and social work departments. Her senior year, she was selected as a Cherng Summer Scholar, where she pursued an independent research project on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the well-being of Mizzou’s college students. She has since presented this research at Mizzou’s Undergraduate Research Forum, Missouri State’s Mental Health Impact Summit, and the 2021 Populations Association of America Conference. In addition to research opportunities, Paige enjoyed involvement with the community as she attended a service-learning trip to Vietnam, served as the Vice President of Mizzou’s Public Health Club, and served as a member of the School of Health Professions Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Paige currently works as a Project Coordinator and Editor at Family Physicians Inquiries Network, a nonprofit in Missouri that focuses on equipping primary care physicians with the skills to apply evidence-based medicine to their practice and produce scholarship.