Scholar

Erica was born in Ghana and raised in South Jersey after moving to the U.S. as an infant. She graduated from Brown University in 2025 with a degree in Health and Human Biology, driven by a passion for genetic counseling that began in sixth grade. With guidance from a genetic counselor alumna who became her mentor, she completed two internships at Penn Medicine Hospital—the Basser internship (2023) and the Warren Alpert Foundation (WAF) and Alliance to Increase Diversity in Genetic Counseling (AID-GC) Internship (2024). At Basser, she shadowed oncologists and genetic counselors in cancer genetics and reviewed the NCCN Genetic Testing Guidelines to gather data on patient eligibility and genetic testing/referral rates across different hospital sites affiliated with Penn Medicine Hospital. Through WAF AID-GC, she explored various genetic counseling settings, shadowed specialists at CHOP’s Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (EGIN) and Hereditary Cancer Predisposition Clinic, and attended University of Maryland’s case conferences. Beyond genetics, she has served as a crisis chat counselor for the 988 suicide prevention hotline for over two years and facilitated discussions on consent, bystander engagement, and open communication through Brown's Sexual Assault Prevention/Peer Education (SAPE) program. Her advocacy experience dates back to the COVID-19 pandemic, when her and her sisters petitioned for equitable patient assignments for their mother, a nurse, successfully securing intervention from Jefferson Hospital leadership. These experiences have strengthened her commitment to being an advocate and helping others make informed decisions. In her free time, she enjoys working out/playing tennis, watching vloggers on YouTube, knitting, singing, listening to music, and spending time with friends and family.