Undergraduate researchers drive policy insights through Atkins Heller Fellowship
December 8, 2025
In spring of 2025, nine Brandeis students stepped into the world of high-impact research as Atkins Heller Undergraduate Fellows, gaining firsthand experience in the analytical and collaborative work that shapes public policy.
Throughout the semester, fellows joined senior researchers across the Heller School for Social Policy and Management’s nationally recognized centers and institutes, contributing to data collection, manuscript development and public policy reports. Their semester culminated in presentations at the Brandeis Undergraduate Research Symposium, where they shared the insights they helped generate.
Launched in 2022 through a gift from Larry Atkins, PhD’85, an accomplished leader in health and social policy and a longtime member of the Heller Board of Advisors, the program offers juniors and seniors an introduction to the research process and the complexities of policy development. Directed by associate dean for research Cindy Parks Thomas, PhD ’00, the fellowship supports students who commit six to eight hours each week to their projects and provides stipends of up to $2,000.
Thomas emphasizes that the experience is both rigorous and deeply rewarding, for students and researchers alike.
“The goal is to give the students a successful, positive research experience, to see what it’s like to work on a research team with senior faculty,” Thomas said. “Researchers love working with Brandeis students.”
The 2025 fellows brought their own academic passions to a wide range of projects within the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research.
Working with Traci Green, director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative, Ella Chase ’26 conducted an environmental scan of harm-reduction resources at colleges and universities across Massachusetts and assisted with a manuscript on partnerships supporting drug-checking services statewide.
Danny DeMilia ’25 and Hana Klempnauer Miller ’25 collaborated with A.K. Nandakumar, director of the Institute for Global Health and Development, along with project manager Monica Jordan and research associate Collins Gaba, MS GHPM’24, to map changes in HIV services in the Dar es Salaam region of Tanzania between 2020-25.
Under the guidance of associate research professor Rajan Sonik, PhD’17, Sydney Duncan ’25 examined public health policies implemented across states during the COVID-19 pandemic, work that will help isolate the health effects of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policies during the same period.
Toby Lipson ’26 contributed to the national Supporting Practices in Respecting Elders (SPIRE) pilot study, led by Karen Donelan, the Stuart H. Altman Chair in U.S. Health Policy, administering surveys and analyzing data on the well-being of caregivers for older adults.
The Atkins Heller Fellowship exemplifies the Brandeis Plan to Reinvent the Liberal Arts, which seeks to better prepare students for a rapidly changing world. By giving undergraduates the chance to work side by side with leading researchers, the program blends rigorous academic inquiry with hands-on, real-world experience.
Read the full story from the 2025 Heller Social Policy Impact Report.
