Ilakkiya Senthilkumar BA '27

Ilakkiya Senthilkumar is a junior from Richmond, Virginia pursuing a major in Statistics and Analytics and Medical Anthropology at UNC, and a Health Policy certificate at Duke. As a Community-Facing Committee Co-Chair for the Duke Student Collaborative on Health Policy, Ilakkiya works to develop projects with non-profits, research institutes, and private companies and connect students with such health equity efforts. Motivated by a desire to listen to and learn from people, Ilakkiya has pursued experiences that have enabled her to engage with public health issues in a range of environments. While supporting the work of a community health center in rural Mississippi, she first witnessed the impact of structural factors on individual health outcomes. While aiding a local non-profit in Tamil Nadu, she gained deeper insight into how resource disparities effect health status in urban resettlement communities. Ilakkiya is broadly interested in examining how healthcare access and delivery affects distinct marginalized populations, and how these barriers can be addressed at a systemic level. By connecting with driven peers and professionals through the Margolis Scholars program, she hopes to continue learning what culturally-informed, data-driven policy can look like.