Henrike Schmalfuss is pursuing an MD at Harvard Medical School. She is interested in community health, health equity, advocacy, and disability health. She graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University in 2022 with a BS in Global Health and a minor in Disability Studies. She0eceived the Lena Landegger Community Service Award for her commitment to disability justice, including serving as the founder of the Georgetown Disability Alliance (GDA) club. 

Henrike piloted Deloitte’s first-ever disability mentorship program through GDA and collaborated with Deloitte leaders to host workshops on disability in the workplace. Students were able to build supportive relationships with Deloitte mentors to confront ableism and reach their career goals.  

As a disability advocate and future physician, Henrike aspires to work at the nexus of medicine and public health to improve disability health equity, increase the accessibility of medical care, and reduce disability stigma in the medical space and beyond. She hopes to transform the disability health space by utilizing clinical care, research, and public health policy as a practicing physician. Her goal is to uplift and empower other disabled voices to ensure the disabled community is leading changes in practice and policy. 

Henrike grew up in Gainesville, Florida as a first-generation American and spent every summer visiting family in Germany. She enjoys spending time with her loved ones, meeting new people, cooking new recipes, and crocheting. Even though her grandparents live in Germany, she FaceTimes them regularly to make traditional German food recipes and craft crochet projects together.