Hi! I’m Maanasi.

I’m an MPH student studying health management at UCLA.

I am an aspiring healthcare marketing communications professional interested in leveraging my background in public health, public relations, and journalism to tell stories that resonate across diverse communities, improve health outcomes, and promote health equity and accessibility.

My spark for health communications began at the International Science Fair 6 years ago. As I presented to each judge who stopped by my poster, I realized how excited I was not only about the research itself, but about the chance to craft the story I told to each person’s understanding and experience.

My research project in biochemistry took me to UCLA where I studied Human Biology & Society, ultimately intending to pursue medicine. When an opportunity arose to intern with the communications team at UCLA Health, I suddenly found myself doing the work that felt most intuitive to me: listening closely, crafting the right questions, and creating stories that translated complex health information and nuanced patient experiences into clear, accessible terms. I saw firsthand how storytelling could build trust, meet patients where they are, and offer support during their most vulnerable moments.

To deepen my foundation, I pursued an MPH at UCLA, where I hoped to deepen my skillset in health communications, which my program unfortunately offered few courses in. So, I built what I hoped to find. I developed a seminar course for UCLA undergraduates focused on health narratives in the media, and how the messages we craft around health shape public understanding, stigma, and systemic change. As I prepare to teach the seminar again next quarter, I am also building the course into a campus organization and narrative medicine magazine, called Beyond the Chart, with my former students.

My MPH program equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of our healthcare system and its complexities. As part of my capstone project, I had the amazing opportunity to intern at both of the leading nonprofit academic health systems in the state and nation at large, gaining unparalleled insights into healthcare operations, quality improvement, and patient experience improvement.

Overall, my mission hasn’t changed. I see communications and storytelling as deeply healing forces. I hope my work in healthcare communications will make navigating healthcare and all its complex decisions just a little bit clearer, and more accessible.