Alumnae Spotlight
MEP Alumna Jennifer Gonzalez-Hernandez
Clinical Research Project Manager, U of M College of Pharmacy
Jennifer’s journey with Mercy Education Project began as a participant in MEP’s summer programs for high school girls. A field trip to Albion College introduced her to the campus she would one day call home, setting her on the path toward her future. She also attended MEP’s ACT prep courses. Her dedication paid off with a full-ride scholarship to Albion, where she majored in Political Science with a concentration in Public Policy and Leadership.
Initially on a pre-med track, Jennifer’s passion for addressing systemic healthcare barriers in undocumented communities inspired her to pivot toward Public Health. She remembered growing up witnessing families struggling without access to healthcare, often delaying or foregoing preventive care due to being uninsured. The consequences: preventable health issues spiraled into serious conditions, and medication meant for one person was rationed or shared among family members who couldn’t afford their own.
“My interest in why I wanted to go into medicine was that growing up in Detroit, I was surrounded by a lot of people who were undocumented,” Jennifer says. “They didn’t have access to health care because they were uninsured. A lot of times they had health issues that could’ve been prevented if they kept up with their preventative care. I was trying to figure out how I could tackle those issues.”
She shadowed doctors and realized that she would have to work within a system that wasn’t going to fix the issues she wanted to tackle. “All the doctors were hearing was ‘You’re not taking your medication, so that’s why you’re not getting the results you need.’ All I kept hearing was that the system wasn’t working.”
A mentor suggested she consider Public Health, which led to a junior-year internship in Philadelphia where Jennifer worked with refugees. “That’s when COVID hit. Public Health became at the forefront of everything, and I got really involved. It made my decision make more sense...COVID brought up a lot of the issues I had seen along the way and (I knew) I could really start tackling a lot of these things if I focused on that field.”
Jennifer went on to earn a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Michigan, with an emphasis on health behavior and equity. “A lot of what the program focused on was working within the community to find solutions,” she says, “because the community knows best what's wrong and what‘s probably going to work best for them.”
After earning her master’s degree in 2023, Jennifer returned to her hometown of Detroit to create real change in disinvested communities.
Today, Jennifer serves as a Research Project Manager at the University of Michigan School of Pharmacy, supporting Dr. Beatriz Manzor Mitrzyk's groundbreaking work. Together, they focus on improving diabetes and depression management within the Latinx community, ensuring equitable healthcare outcomes through impactful research.
Here at MEP, we’re proud to have played a role in shaping Jennifer’s future, and we’re inspired by her work to make our community stronger.
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