2023 MDisability Interns

We are thrilled to introduce MDisability’s 2023 interns and are looking forward to welcoming them in June for the start of this summer’s program!

Indian male with brown curly hair, with glasses, smiling and wearing a gray suit coat over a white shirt with khaki pants standing outside with a building behind him.

Suhas Kellampalli

School

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Experience

Rising Undergraduate Senior

Biography

Suhas is a rising senior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a master’s degree in public health. His own experiences living with a stutter have inspired him to work on eliminating health care disparities and enhancing the quality of treatment for people with disabilities around the world. Suhas is a peer advocate for the disabled at the Center for Independent Living in Birmingham, Ala. In this role, he helps people with disabilities learn the skills they need to live independently. He has also collaborated with the University of Colorado's Disability Equality Center to help create a manual for ADA hospital coordinators. Suhas remains active in the disability community in his hometown of Hyderabad, India. He has volunteered with the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (NIEPID) and is currently collaborating with the NIEPID to plan and conduct a research study into the barriers to high-quality healthcare for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in India. He aims to eventually have a global impact with his disability advocacy work.

Black male with braided hair, smiling, wearing a red shirt.

Blessed Mbogo

School

Gallaudet University

Experience

Rising Undergraduate 4th-Year

Biography

Blessed is a rising fourth-year university honors student at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., studying biology and psychology on a pre-medical track.  He became interested in academic medicine while working as an intern at Seattle Children's Research Institute on a project about racial health disparities among people with diabetes triggered by cystic fibrosis.  Outside of academics, Blessed is a basketball player for Gallaudet and with the USA Deaf Basketball team. He won a bronze medal in the Pan-Am Championship in Argentina and will compete in the World Basketball Championship this June in Greece.

White woman, black hair, smiling, wearing a black off the shoulder top, blue jeans, sitting on a bench outside.

Ariana Nigoghosian

School

University of Michigan

Experience

2023 Undergraduate

Biography

Ariana is a senior undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, majoring in neuroscience. She plans to apply to medical school this summer after she graduates. She hopes to become a pediatric neurologist and epileptologist, with a particular desire to help children who have neurodevelopmental issues. Ariana's early exposure to neurodiversity and her work with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities sparked a lifelong commitment to advancing disability inclusion. This has motivated her to join groups with goals that are congruent to her own, such as the Special Olympics College and Best Buddies at the University of Michigan. She is especially interested in learning how to conduct disability health research through the MDisability program so she can serve as a better advocate for the inclusion of those with disabilities in an equitable healthcare process.