Rafaela Villacres

Rafaela Villacres is currently pursuing her Master of Science degree in Population Health Informatics at the CUNY School of Public Health. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the City College of New York with a minor in psychology. She is interested in learning how to use the cross-sections of information science and technology to develop and drive public health interventions in an urban society.

Her experience in healthcare has shown her that a lack of proper patient education as a result of language and financial barriers from predominantly underserved populations prevents them from receiving high-quality healthcare. She is interested in the design and development of patient portals and mobile health apps to help patients better engage with their healthcare enabling them to make informed decisions. She believes using information science and technology to improve health outcomes is a valuable approach to tackling the public health challenges facing underserved populations.