# @yalesph on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CsYyNtAMOvh
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/12511016-yalesph-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a03533f2a4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-05-18T14:07:22.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Yale School of Public Health (@yalesph) — https://gondola.cc/yalesph

## Caption

Mary L. Peng, MPH ’23 (Social & Behavioral Sciences), is an explorer by nature, a seeker of knowledge in as many ideas and fields as she can absorb. As an undergrad, she majored in global studies with a double minor in philosophy and anthropology. 

It was COVID-19 that helped her find her purpose and sharpened her focus. The pandemic led to her decision to pursue a MPH at YSPH. And it was also the time when she began drawing. 

During the pandemic, Peng realized “everything I thought about through philosophy, anthropology, and global studies was playing out in how the health crisis was unfolding, in the social upheavals that stemmed from all sorts of bigotries, -isms, and power struggles,” she said. “The intense anger that health was being weaponized to serve some political purposes, coupled with that stubborn hope that maybe, just maybe, I can do something to make a change, small or big, in people’s and society’s pursuit of health, drove me to public health.”

Peng is passionate about incorporating art, technology, clinical neuroscience, and social and behavioral sciences to improve individual and public health. Her art includes digital creations, collages, prints, projects, and poetry. 

Last semester, she started a project where she used art to help people with neurological and psychological symptoms and hallucinations to express and explore their experiences.

“The responses I received from the participants – who commented on how they felt seen and heard and wished they could experience something similar in their interactions with their doctors – played a huge part in convincing me to further pursue the integration of artistic design, and medical practices.”

In the immediate future, Peng will be joining the Media, Medicine, and Health program at @harvardmed. “I’m very excited to collaborate with trailblazers in the media and health industries to turn my passion for the integration of art, technology, and health into visible and large-scale impact, and segue into a career path where I can provide health interventions through artistic, design, and tech-driven strategies,” she said.

@innermagicart @l.h.mary #Yale2023 #YSPH2023 #myYSPH

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## Tags

yale2023, myysph, ysph2023

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