Shreya Kumar is a medical student.

The silencing of gun violence research: a decades-long campaign

Health Policy
February 6, 2023

Violence, in particular, firearm violence, has been a specter of American culture for decades, and its impact on public health has been shrouded in the shadows for nearly as long, thanks to political lobbying by gun manufacturers. An NPR article entitled “How The NRA Worked To Stifle Gun Violence Research,” published in April 2018, provides some history on the topic. A short summary? The Dickey Amendment, passed in 1996, …

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The silencing of gun violence research: a decades-long campaign

Eradicate the disability tax, before it’s too late

Health Policy
August 6, 2021

A disability tax is the additional expense people with disabilities pay in society for accommodations that people who are able-bodied do not need, whose impact is often capitalized on top of the inability to perform at the level required by potential employers.

The disability tax is a term likely well-known to people with disabilities, both visible and invisible, even if it hasn’t formally been defined yet. According the CDC, 61 million …

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Eradicate the disability tax, before it’s too late

In the face of uncertainty, choose hope over fear

Medical Education
November 25, 2020

Over and over again, I find myself repeating the same words to myself as I watch the sunset over the Sacramento River on my dreary commute back from my job in clinical research: hope over fear.

It was with hope that 2020 began—a catalyst year in which we had the wind at our backs and the promise of a better future just over the horizon. 2020 promised the inevitability of change, …

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In the face of uncertainty, choose hope over fear