Soumya Rangarajan

I'm a doctor, but have a lot of other interests, and I am not one to be tied down!

I was born in India, but was raised in the heart of the Rust Belt (Cleveland, Ohio). I developed a love for politics and philosophy as a Lincoln-Douglas debater in high school. But I also loved astronomy and biology.

I went on to pursue this love at the University of Michigan, where I was a senior editor for the Michigan Journal of Political Science, and was involved in various poli-sci and international affairs groups on campus. I graduated with high honors in Political Science for my honors thesis "Survival of the Cerebral: Science, Technology and Political Influence in the Developing World". At the same time, I tacked on a biology major (still thinking medical school was a possibility), but my heart was in policy. I also did a short summer stint at the U.S. Dept of Defense (Defense Intelligence Agency) in Washington DC in 2005.

I then obtained a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard. I also spent a summer in 2007 in beautiful Vienna, Austria, researching the SARS epidemic in China and its implications for future epidemics. Grad school was a great experience, but I found my interest was more in policy research, and wanted to get back into the sciences. After graduation, I did a year of research related to medicine and policy (attitudes around technology for breast cancer treatment based on socio-economic status) with Dr. Reshma Jagsi, radiation oncologist and PhD in social policy. I then found my way back to medical school.

I did my Internal Medicine residency and Geriatrics fellowship in Milwaukee, WI. I then joined my first (and only) attending physician job at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

I am still passionate about policy, and would love the opportunity to influence policy in the future, particularly related to end-of-life care and economic issues around aging in the US. I also love Infectious Disease, and the policy issues around managing epidemics, particularly in vulnerable populations (such as the elderly).