Gisella Logioia is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington majoring in Medical Anthropology and Global Health. In her free time Gisella enjoys doing yoga, cooking, and painting with friends. She has always loved traveling and exploring the world, from road trips in neighboring states to international adventures in Europe and beyond. She currently works at the Kenya Research and Training Center at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
“I began studying Italian my freshman year at UW”, Gisella explains, “simply so that I could converse with my family in Italy when I would go to visit them.” During one of her trips to Italy, she noticed the increase in the migrant and refugee populations, and their impact on the local culture. “With the election of Donald Trump in 2016, I came to realize the huge role that the immigration policies of first world countries, such as the United States and Italy, have on the health and life outcomes of refugees.” Gisella has used her FLAS fellowship to incorporate Italian language and cultural studies into her Anthropology degree. Her studies now focus more specifically on the issues of refugee and host population health outcomes. “In the future, I would like to work either for the United States or Italian government, or an international organization, that determines the immigration policies that impact refugee health outcomes. In this way, I hope to make a systematic change in the way migrant and refugee populations are placed in new countries, and consequently, improve individuals’ health outcomes and entire lives.”