Geri Spotlight: Angelica Martinez and Clarissa Ferguson

Interviewed by Clarissa Ferguson over Zoom

About Angelica’s Role/Ongoing Projects
As a Research Program Assistant, Angelica supports Dr. Rebecca Sudore’s PREPARE project which aims to promote advanced care planning for older adults by providing accessible resources on how to navigate the process of making end-of-life decisions. Angelica is always learning new things in this role as she supports a variety of  PREPARE aspects including research, research admin, and operations support. This is her favorite aspect about this role.

Angelica’s work and role advances the Division’s mission through all three pillars of research, education, and patient care.

What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish by the end of this year?
Angelica would love to continue to support research development on Dr. Sudore’s team. She also looks forward to opportunities to present this research at conferences.

More about Angelica
What is a “fun fact” about you that not many people know?
Angelica has played the electric violin for 12 years.

What are you happiest doing in your free time?
Angelica is happiest while eating yummy food.

What is the best advice you’ve ever heard?
“Slow down and enjoy where you are at in life.”

Who is someone you admire?
Angelica admires her mother for taking care of her and her two sisters as a single mother.

What are some causes you care about?
Angelica particularly cares about people of color receiving the health care they deserve, especially mental health care. She would like to see more POC mental health professionals that could have a strong understanding of the issues faced by maginalized POC. She believes many POC communities would feel more willing to receive mental heath care if they could relate to those providing that care.  

What would your backup career be?
Angelica thinks she would be a great stylist.

Interviewed by Angelica Martinez over Zoom

About Clarissa’s Role/Ongoing Projects
Currently, Clarissa is supporting a few projects for an NIH-NIA Diversity Supplement grant. This has presented her with the opportunity to write her first scientific paper for publication as a first author about how Action Plans Increase Advance Care Planning Documentation and Engagement Among English and Spanish-speaking Older Adults.

This project contributes to the Division's mission of optimizing care of adults through research by developing specific resources that can increase and improve advance care planning engagement and documentation in older adults.

Clarissa’s favorite aspect of her role is the opportunity to support PREPARE operations because it gives her a chance to watch the program develop firsthand. She also loves that her role supports the research that goes into continuing to develop PREPARE so it can be a useful resource to others.

What is a professional goal you would like to accomplish by the end of this year?
By the end of the year, Clarissa hopes to finish her MCAT studies as well as submit her first scientific paper for publication.

More about Clarissa
What is a “fun fact” about you that not many people know?
Clarissa has one thumb that is double-jointed.

What are you happiest doing in your free time?
Clarissa is happiest spending time with her friends and family.

What is the best advice you’ve ever heard?
“If you give up, you never have the chance to try.”

Who is someone you admire?
My mom – she puts everyone first and never complains about it.

What would your backup career be?
Clarissa would be a chef, or something involving designing space.