Ashutosh Mishra | 378 Mourning Dove Drive, Newark, DE 19711 | (302) 383-5352  ashu125@live.unc.edu

March 6, 2016

The Foundation of AIDS Research

Washington, DC, 20004

Dear Rosenfield Fellow Evaluator,

I am writing to express my interest in helping your team at amfAR to improve AIDS health policy as an Allan Rosenfield intern. When I learned of the program through the Gillings School of Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill, I was impressed that its structure would directly allow me to contribute my own skills to improve AIDS policy. By researching, drafting, and advocating for AIDS policy with your policy team, I seek to further develop my abilities in the health policymaking process while leaving a positive impact on HIV/AIDS patient care.

I am currently a rising Health Policy Management and Political Science major, and have cultivated my interests in social inequality and health policy implementation through coursework in AIDS, immigration policy, and American government. I have acquired an understanding of AIDS in America and Congressional bill drafting that will allow me to better draft and advocate policy with your team. Through my immigration policy course, I gained experience as a policy advocate by working with the class to research and draft legislation for comprehensive immigration reform.

Additionally, I believe that my history of focusing on tuberculosis treatment will allow me to be an effective asset to your policy team. My experience with the process of analyzing data on patient feedback and outlining solutions of community outreach taught me to tackle problems from the ground up. As an independent researcher, I gained experience interviewing patients, creating my own methods of data evaluation, and extrapolating from my analysis to address the problem of TB treatment defaulters in India. As a research assistant for a doctoral student investigating MDR-TB treatment adherence in Peru, I am applying tests of statistical significance to identify key causes of policy failure and address the containment of drug resistance. I hope to translate my skills in tuberculosis research and policy to HIV/AIDS in America.

To quote Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” My past experiences have equipped me with a skill set to best assist your team to improve AIDS care. I hope that I may change the quality of AIDS care for others by standing on the shoulders of your foundation.

Thank you for your consideration,

Ashutosh Mishra