Lauren O'Connell ‘18

This bio is current as of 2025. 

After graduation, Lauren O’Connell moved to Chiapas, Mexico to work with Companeros en Salud/Partners in Health as a Community Health Assistant where she supervised, trained, and supported community health workers as they accompanied patients with chronic illnesses and throughout pregnancies. This opportunity was afforded through the Kellogg International Development Fellowship.

O’Connell later moved to Boston, MA to work with Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program as a Case Manager. In this role, she provided legal, social, and health-related support to members of the Boston community experiencing homelessness, substance use disorder, immigration-related issues, and other vulnerable living conditions. She then supported an international NGO dedicated to expanding access to public transportation and safe cycling. 

O'Connell is now in her third year at Harvard Law School where she has focused her time and studies on immigration and labor law, with a specific interest in supporting migrant and immigrant workers in Mexico and the U.S.

This profile was current as of 2018, when she was part of the on-campus Kellogg community.
 

Thesis: Health Decision Making Among Mexican Medical Students: Exploring Habits of Cigarette Smoking and Perceptions of Health Professionals in Puebla, Mexico

I work with Dr. Smith-Oka on her research on the education experience of medical students in Mexico, specifically looking at the ways through which knowledge is transmitted during the internship year and the social networks of older and younger medical professionals. In this role, I have assisted with translating and transcribing interviews, surveys, and field notes. With her support, I am also working towards a senior thesis in the Anthropology department exploring the sociocultural factors that impact medical students' decision to smoke cigarettes and the perceptions of health professionals as role models for the community. I am specifically hoping to understand which areas of medical education and Mexican culture influence health decision making.

In the past few years I have had several formative opportunities to explore my interests in global health and international research. I received an Experiencing the World Fellowship from Kellogg after my sophomore year and spent two months in the Amazonian region of Peru studying medicinal plants and their role in the health system. The following year I studied abroad in Puebla, Mexico where I returned this past summer to complete interviews with Mexican medical students for my senior thesis project.