Contributors

Spencer Brooks and his team of mission-driven technology experts have provided Close Concerns with online technology consulting through his company, Brooks Digital, since 2011. After studying Computer Science at Boise State University, Spencer worked with the State of Idaho as a web development specialist and interim webmaster before venturing out to start his own digital agency for mission-driven organizations. In his free time, he moonlights as a professional drummer, recording on albums in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, as well as filling in on tour for the occasional band.

Michael Dougan is Gastroenterology Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and a postdoctoral associate in Hidde Ploegh's lab at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He received his MD and PhD from Harvard Medical School in 2011. Michael has had a longstanding interest in the interaction between the immune system and cancer. He conducted his dissertation research in Dr. Glenn Dranoff's lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he studied novel approaches to enhancing anti-tumor immunity. In addition to his research, Michael has been a teaching fellow for several graduate and undergraduate courses; his teaching was recognized in 2008 by Harvard's Levenson Award. Michael received his BA from Amherst College in 2002, where he majored in Chemistry and English, graduating summa cum laude (both majors) and Phi Beta Kappa. Michael has worked with Close Concerns part-time since 2006, primarily on Closer Look publications and also serving as an advisor to countless Close Concerns full-time associates.

Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Joslin Diabetes Center. He is also the former Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). At the ADA, Dr. Gabbay led many transformational initiatives, including guiding the ADA to a deeper focus on primary care through the establishment of the Primary Care Council, comprised of leading primary care organizations in the US, and the ADA Primary Care Alliance of over 2000 primary care practices committed to transform diabetes care. Throughout his vibrant career, he has had many accomplishments as a basic science researcher, developer of patient communication tools, creator of the first broad-scale diabetes registry, designer of care management training programs, digital health innovations, and leader of one of the largest primary care transformation efforts in the US around the Patient Centered Medical Home. Along with an extensive peer-reviewed publication record, he has appeared in and is frequently quoted by the popular press, including the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, and NPR.

James S. Hirsch, a former reporter for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, is a best-selling author whose most recent book is "WILLIE MAYS: The Life, the Legend", the first biography of Mays written with his cooperation. Hirsch has also written "CHEATING DESTINY: Living With Diabetes", "HURRICANE: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter", "RIOT AND REMEMBRANCE: America's Worst Race Riot and Its Legacy," and "TWO SOULS INDIVISIBLE: The Friendship That Saved Two POWs in Vietnam." Jim has an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a graduate degree from the LBJ School of Public Policy at the University of Texas. He lives in the Boston area with his wife, Sheryl, and their children, Amanda and Garrett. Jim has worked as an editor and contributor to Close Concerns since 2004

Elaine Young joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in Fall 2020 and returned as a full-time Associate after graduating from Dartmouth College in June 2022 with degrees in Neuroscience and Hispanic Studies. She was promoted to Director of Strategy in June 2024. At Dartmouth, Elaine conducted obesity research investigating the effects of exercise on diet choice. She also spent a summer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles volunteering and learning about clinical trials in children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes. Outside of school, Elaine played cello in the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra and taught cello and piano as president of Musical Empowerment, a national nonprofit club that provides students in school districts in New Hampshire and Vermont with free instruments and one-on-one music lessons. In her free time, Elaine enjoys snowboarding, skating on frozen ponds, and listening to film scores and songs from Broadway musicals.

Megan Clyne joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in the winter of 2018. Passionate about healthcare and language, she attended medical classes and observed surgeries in a Spanish-speaking hospital in Argentina. She continued to pursue her interest in healthcare when she participated in a program called Project Healthcare at Bellevue Hospital. During her time at Bellevue, she worked in different areas of the emergency department, such as the Adult, Pediatric, and Psychiatric Emergency Services, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Operating Room, and Trauma Unit. She is also interested in design and enjoyed constructing a prosthetic hand using a 3D printer as part of the e-NABLE foundation. At Dartmouth, Megan is a member of the Nathan Smith Society Executive Board, and she is excited to co-lead the Nathan Smith Society Good Neighbor Health Clinic Project. She also likes writing for The Dartmouth, the oldest college newspaper in America. In her free time, Megan enjoys skiing, baking, trying new foods, traveling, and spending time with her friends.

Amanda Jiang joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in December of 2017. Passionate about combating life-threatening diseases, Amanda has conducted molecular biology research to find solutions to topics ranging from invasion and metastasis in uveal melanoma to calcium-dependent platelet formation to diabetic retinopathy. Outside of research, Amanda is working with America Reads to bring more reading and arts and crafts to children around the Hanover, NH, area. She is also part of the Sugarplum student dance group, an avid member of the Dartmouth ping pong team, a researcher as part of the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team, and a writer for the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science. In her free time, Amanda enjoys baking, reading, skiing, spending time outdoors, and exploring new coffee shops with friends.

Anna Nguyen joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in December of 2017. Her academic interests include global health and environmental science. In addition, she has a strong passion for nutrition, healthy living, and sustainable living. She is also heavily invested in her living learning residential community where she helps organize student-run events. At Dartmouth, she is a part of the Dartmouth College Fencing Club, where she fences foil. In her free time, Anna enjoys experimenting with healthy recipes, reading, running, knitting, and traveling.

Ben Ose joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in fall 2017. Ben is a tutor in math and science courses on campus. He is also involved with the DREAM program, mentoring kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Upper Valley. He has been involved for the past five years with Healing Haiti, a nonprofit mission organization serving the greater Port-au-Prince area where he has worked to plan and set up short term mission trips. Ben is a member of the Track and Field team at Dartmouth where he competes in the Heptathlon and Decathlon. In his free time Ben enjoys being outdoors, hiking, boating, snowboarding, fishing and being with friends.

Elizaveta (Lisa) Maslak joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in fall 2017. Her academic interests include global health, public policy, finance, and environmental science. In addition, she has a strong interest in research and has completed several internships and independent research projects in genetics and ocean sciences throughout high school. Lisa is a research assistant working on projects related to identifying Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) risk factors in the Neurology Department at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. At Dartmouth, she is an economics tutor and is involved in the Smart Woman Securities program, which is focused on investment education for undergraduate women. She has a passion for dance and has been involved with the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble since her freshman fall. In her free time, Lisa enjoys reading, playing tennis, painting, and traveling.

Emily Yang joined Close Concerns as the Dartmouth Fellow in the summer of 2017. She began research on p53 tumor suppressor pathways her freshmen year, working as a Sophomore Science Scholar and publishing in an encyclopedia her sophomore year. Due to her interest in primary care and public health, she currently conducts research with the Geisel School of Medicine on the relationship between the timing of circumcision and breastfeeding patterns as a James O. Freedman Presidential Scholar. On campus, she is a freshmen residential advisor, a leader of pre-medical societies, a teaching assistant in the biology and psychology departments, and a volunteer with the Patient Support Corps. In her junior year, Emily interned with a community health center in the Mission District of San Francisco, organizing diabetes support groups and improving patient education. In her free time, Emily enjoys going to art museums, playing the flute, running, and baking.

Jacqueline Anders joined Close Concerns in the spring of 2017. She is a member of the Gamma Sigma Alpha and the Order of Omega Honor societies. Jacqueline has a strong interest in research, working in a genetics lab as a Women in Science intern her freshman year and a Barbara E. Crute memorial intern her sophomore year. Her junior year she became a James O. Freedman Presidential Scholar and began her work in a biological inorganic chemistry lab, focusing on metal protein interactions in insulin. On campus she is the treasurer for Colleges Against Cancer, Vice President of the Argentine Tango society, a chemistry teaching assistant, a snowboard instructor, and a volunteer for the cancer and patient services. In her free time Jacqueline enjoys reading, skiing and snowboarding, hiking, and cooking.

Hae-Lin Cho joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in the spring of 2017 during her senior year of Dartmouth College, where she majored in Biology and minored in Spanish. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Rufus Choates Academic Scholar. Due to her strong interest in oncology, Hae-Lin has been doing undergraduate research on the role of regulatory T cells in melanoma tumorigenesis in the Turk Lab at Geisel Medical School, which she started as a James O. Freedman Presidential Scholar, and has taken part in the Dartmouth Cancer Scholar program. At school, she is a part of GlobeMed at Dartmouth, the editor in chief of the Dartmouth Journal of Undergraduate Sciences, and volunteers with Cancer and Patient Services. In her free time, Hae-Lin enjoys painting, reading, writing, and going on hikes.

Jennifer Zhao joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in fall 2016. She is a Biological Chemistry major, a Chinese Language and Literature minor, and is very interested in the complex world of healthcare, especially from the drugs perspective. She has extensive research experience, having spent her sophomore year as a Sophomore Science Scholar working in a biochemistry lab with the fungus Candida albicans and her freshman year as a Women in Science Project intern studying the materials science of chocolate with frozen sugar scaffolds. Outside the lab, Jennifer is involved in the Nathan Smith Society, Dartmouth's pre-health student group, and carries out events with pharmacists and doctors. She is also heavily engaged within her living learning residential community and aims to build stronger relationships with students and faculty members outside the classroom. Jennifer is passionate about social issues on campus, and during summer 2016 trained to be an OPAL IMPACT fellow and has funding to carry out a social change project for the academic year — she has been thinking about promoting resources for the Asian American community on campus. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys spending time outdoors, running, biking, rock climbing, and writing poetry.

Sadie Bronk joined the Close Concerns team as a Dartmouth Fellow in summer 2016. Sadie has worked with a number of non-profit organizations including Mercado Global, a non-profit organization that works with indigenous women in Guatemala to sell their products for fair trade prices in the US and other countries while helping these women become financially independent and send their children to school. She received a grant from the HAND Foundation to travel to Guatemala to interview artisans and family members to better understand the impact Mercado Global has had on them. Additionally, Sadie developed a Mother-Daughter trip to Guatemala where she taught young girls how to fundraise in order to raise $12,000 to support a new cooperative of artisans to join Mercado Global. She has also focused on mentoring teens through the Jewish Teen Foundation on how to effectively fundraise and allocate funds to organizations that fit a mission statement. At Dartmouth, Sadie is a member of the Club Tennis Team and enjoyed participating in the shadowing program with the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. In her free time Sadie enjoys skiing, reading, playing the piano, and spending time with friends.

Amy (Shu Ting) Liang was invited to join CPS lecture as a Dartmouth Fellow in Winter 2016 during her junior at Dartmouth College, where she majored in biomedical engineering. She is a James O. Freedman Presidential Scholar, a Rufus Choate Academic Scholar, Professor and Mrs. John E. Richards Memorial Fund Scholar, and Cancer Scholar. Passionate about innovation and medicine, she works on intraoperatively detecting prostate cancer margins as a research assistant at the Thayer School of Engineering and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She builds and characterizes EIT probes compatible with the da Vinci robot, and presented her findings at conferences, including Harvard Medical School’s New England Science Symposium. She is a dedicated EMT with Dartmouth EMS, residential advisor, co-coordinator of NSS executive board, and undergraduate leader for Sununu, dancer with the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble, and co-president of the Chinese Dance Troupe. Passionate about healthcare access, she is involved in the RICE trip to Vietnam. In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, hiking, travelling, and cooking. Amy is so honored and excited to be a part of this team and enjoys working as the Community Manager for CPS lectures.

Jonathan Busam joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in fall 2015. Excited to help design and discover novel, personalized healthcare delivery strategies that enable populations to thrive, Jonathan worked on performance improvement initiatives at Morristown Medical Center (MMC) and conducted research on the effectiveness of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) at Dartmouth prior to his time at Close Concerns. Jonathan has an additional passion for social entrepreneurship. He helped establish the Healthcare Policy, Innovation, and Delivery LLC, a healthcare themed residential community focused on enhancing creativity and design thinking skills on campus, and ChathamSTEM, a non-profit organization focused on reducing inequality in STEM fields in his hometown. At Dartmouth, Jonathan also writes for various publications and helps captain the club tennis team. In his free time Jonathan enjoys hiking, skiing, and exploring new places to eat.

Esther Wu joined Close Concerns as the Dartmouth Fellow in Summer 2015. She majored in Neuroscience and minored in Biology. She is a Presidential Scholar working on developmental prosopagnosia in a Neuroscience lab under Bradley Duchaine. Esther is Co-chair of ASPIRE, a group of students that volunteers with children on the Autism spectrum, and is a member of the Dartmouth Figure Skating team. In her free time, she enjoys journaling and walking her dog.

Sally Kim joined Close Concerns as the Dartmouth Fellow in Spring 2015. She double majored in Biology and Psychology. She is a research assistant working on reprogramming tumor-associated macrophages at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Sally works on campus at the Jones Media Center as a technical assistant and graphics designer. Additionally, Sally has been the Editor in Chief of the Aegis, Dartmouth College’s yearbook, since her junior year. She also serves as the president of Active Minds, a mental health awareness group on campus. In her free time, Sally enjoys taking photos and eating all kinds of desserts.

Leda Espinoza joined the Close Concerns team as a Dartmouth Fellow for the winter of 2015. She pursued a Biology major and an Ethics minor. She conducted research as a Sophomore Science Scholarship Program Intern at the Geisel School of Medicine, analyzing epidemiological data to examine potential genetic components of gastric disease in a Colombian population. Leda is also a mentor and chair for Dartmouth SIBS, a mentoring program that matches Dartmouth students with underprivileged children from the area surrounding the college. Leda is an executive member of the Dartmouth Bioethics Group, a club that organizes discussions and events regarding controversial medical and bioethical issues, and she served on a support crew for Dartmouth’s DOC First Year Trips Orientation Program. She is Wilderness EMT certified and loves spending time outside climbing, hiking, running, and skiing.

Madellena Thornton joined Close Concerns in December of 2015 during her junior year at Dartmouth College. She majored in neuroscience and is incredibly passionate about the intersection between medicine and social justice as well as global and public health. At Dartmouth, Madellena works in the Department of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine where she interviews caretakers of patients with mental and memory disorders. She also participates in “Telling My Story” at Valley Vista Rehabilitation Center - an interdisciplinary arts program in collaboration with recovering addicts and/or inmates to study and reflect on the root causes of social isolation and invisibility. Madellena competes for the Dartmouth Figure Skating team and is an active member of Dartmouth on Purpose - a student group that promotes mindfulness and intentionality through reflection for all members of the Dartmouth community. In her free time, Madellena loves to skate with her 85-year old grandfather, travel, mountain bike, kayak, ski and go on spontaneous adventures.

Mitchell Huang joined Close Concerns as the Fall 2014 Dartmouth Fellow. He was a Biology and Spanish double major and member of Dartmouth College’s Class of 2016. As a Presidential Research Scholar at the Geisel School of Medicine, he is involved in a project investigating nanoparticle delivery of ACAT1 siRNA to the brain for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Outside of his research, he spends his time on the management teams of Big Brother Big Sister and the Upper Valley Special Olympics and as a sports writer for the school paper, The Dartmouth. In his free time, he enjoys running, tennis, hiking, canoeing, watching his beloved Seattle Seahawks, and playing the classical guitar.

Rebecca Xu joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow for summer 2014. She pursued a double major in Biological Chemistry and Psychology. In the past, she has performed research in cross-cultural usage of social media at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, as well as research in implicit racial bias and its social consequences in Dartmouth’s education department. Most recently, she helped synthesize novel phosphorus-carbon compounds to be used in asymmetric catalysis in Dartmouth’s chemistry department. On campus, she is the leading layout and design editor for the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science. She is also an undergraduate advisor (Dartmouth’s version of an RA) to upperclass students. In her free time, Rebecca enjoys painting her nails, trying new foods, reading, and drawing.

Alex Ganninger joined Close Concerns as the Dartmouth Fellow in spring 2014. He majored in English with a German minor. Since his freshman year, Alex has served as a reporter for the campus newspaper The Dartmouth and has been involved with Club Swimming. After spending the 2013 summer studying German language and culture in Berlin, he elected to return for a second program abroad in the fall, concentrating on literature and history. This year, he has conducted research on computational intertextuality as a Junior Research Scholar and will serve as a first-year Undergraduate Advisor. Additionally, Alex is the Vice President of Penpals United a 501c(3) nonprofit, which conducts monthly, online support groups for individuals with type 1 diabetes in India and Africa. In his free time, Alex enjoys reading, swimming, and skiing and is currently learning to sail.

Andrew Foley joined the Close Concerns team as a Dartmouth Fellow for the winter of 2014. He pursued a major in Biology and a minor in English Literature. He spent the fall of 2013 studying English Literature in Glasgow, Scotland. Andrew has worked with the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Sciences since his freshman fall, has served as a managing editor for the journal since the spring of 2012, and will serve as the Editor in Chief of the journal over his senior year. He has a passion for running and is in the process of training for his first marathon, and has served as a volunteer cross-country coach at the Indian River Middle School near Dartmouth. Andrew has also served as the president of Ecovores, a sustainable foods group at Dartmouth, and as the summer president of his fraternity. Over the summer of 2012, Andrew worked as a marketing and communications intern at HUB International Insurance. In the summer of 2014, he worked as a research intern at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on several projects relating to phantom limb pain and prosthetic limb development and testing.

Christiana Johnson joined Close Concerns in December 2014 during her sophomore year at Dartmouth College. She studied neuroscience and sociology and is very passionate about public and global health. Christiana recently pursued these interests as a DarDar Pediatric Program intern in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. In addition, Christiana competes for the Dartmouth Figure Skating Team and is an executive member of Dartmouth on Purpose—a student group that promotes mindfulness and wellbeing across campus. In her free time, Christiana also loves to hike, ski, and travel.

Hongyu Chen joined Close Concerns as a Dartmouth Fellow in the fall of 2013. He majored in Computer Science. Hongyu has been involved with computational linguistics, cheminformatics, and bioinformatics research at Dartmouth College, the University of California Riverside, and the National Institutes of Health and led Close Concerns work on estimating. As a freelance computer scientist at the National Institute of Aging, he conceptualized and developed a suite of bioinformatics tools (Pancreas++, Plurigon, VennPlex, Textrous!) that have since been published in peer-reviewed journals and receive usage worldwide. During this time, he published a review paper that integrated the fields of linguistics, computer science, and biology through Latent Semantic Indexing. In addition to research, he served as the president of the Dartmouth Chess Club and the Hanover Chess Club, the chair of the Haven Adult Shelter, and a mentor for Big Brother Big Sister. Following his fellowship at Close Concerns, Hongyu is interning at IXL Learning and Epic Systems in winter and summer of 2014 and continues to contribute to various organizations as a freelance software developer. In his spare time, Hongyu likes playing the piano, running, and going on outdoor adventures.

Adam Kraus joined Close Concerns in Summer 2013 as the Dartmouth Fellow, after which he graduated from Dartmouth College in Spring 2014 with a degree in Anthropology modified with Global Health. He is very passionate about social justice and global health and spent a year after college working for a rural primary care clinic in Thomassique Haiti where he managed community health programs and worked with local staff to build capacity. Currently, he is an MD/MPH candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he is a Dean's Scholar in Global Health. His academic interests include the intersection of medicine, global health, and social justice, especially as it relates to migratory populations. He has spent time in Peru, New Zealand, Thailand, Haiti and most currently in the Dominican Republic addressing health disparities. Currently, he is working on a project to better understand the unique barriers to perinatal healthcare faced by Haitian women and their newborn babies living in the Dominican Republic. He is also very involved in the East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership – Sinai's student-run free clinic offering care to the uninsured populations in East Harlem, New York City. In his free time he loves running and also exploring New York.

Marissa Lynn is currently an MD candidate at Harvard Medical school and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 2013. While at Dartmouth she majored in Biology and minored in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. She completed biomedical research focused on developing novel therapeutics for pancreatic cancer for which she was recognized with a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. After college she spent two years in South Korea on a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship (ETA) Fellowship, where she taught English in an all-boys middle school and served at the Fulbright Korea ETA Program Coordinator. Now in medical school, she plans to pursue residency training in ophthalmology.

Tiffany Wang, a Close Concerns Dartmouth Fellow for Winter 2013, is currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. She is pursuing an Anthropology major with concentrations in medical anthropology and global health and minors in Chinese and Chemistry. Her current research project involves synthesizing peptides in a pharmacology lab at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She is also Programming Co-Chair for Dartmouth Programming Board, a group that organizes campus-wide events and a residential First Year Undergraduate Advisor. She is also a mentor and a member of the executive board for Link Up, a women's mentorship group on campus. In her free time, she enjoys exploring, experimenting, and searching for experiences.

Katherine Sanders joined Close Concerns in 2013 after graduating from Dartmouth College with a BA in Biological Sciences, modified with Global Health. During her undergraduate years she devoted much of her time to HIV Immunology research and global health student groups. In previous summers Katherine volunteered at the DarDar Pediatric Program in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and worked with the Dartmouth Center for Healthcare Delivery Science in Lima, Peru. Following graduation and prior to coming to Close Concerns, Katherine worked as both a paralegal in intellectual property law and an analyst in healthcare strategy consulting. She is currently a medical student at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, and trying new foods.

Melissa An joined Close Concerns as an associate after graduating from Dartmouth College in 2014, with a major in Neuroscience and minor in the Anthropology of Global Health. She was promoted to Senior Associate in 2015 and focuses much of her time on obesity and public health. Throughout her undergraduate years, Melissa explored her interests for global health by leading Dartmouth’s chapters of GlobeMed and China Care. In addition, she served as Executive Director of the Dartmouth Global Leadership Program and as a residential advisor. Melissa also conducted psychiatry research on treatment that addresses post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. Previously, Melissa was a Dartmouth Fellow at Close Concerns in 2013 and interned at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Coco Close joined Close Concerns as a Summer Associate in June 2025. Coco is a rising sophomore at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. On campus, she spends her time singing in one of Whitman’s acapella groups and teaching herself piano and drums. In high school, she played steel drums and was on the swim team. In her spare time, she likes to continue learning how to cook and bake, spending time with friends and children, and reading the newspaper. She also enjoys exploring San Francisco. Coco is very excited to help organize W!LD events at Close Concerns.

Niyah Spivey joined Close Concerns as a Summer Associate in June 2025. She is a junior studying Finance and Investment at the University of San Francisco. On campus Niyah serves on two club boards, one being the Finance Director of the Black Business Association and the other being the External Relation Liaison for Sister Connection a Black Woman club on campus. In addition, she works on campus as an Assistant to the President/ Board of Trustees of the university. Lastly, she volunteers and is the Secretary on the board of the African American Cultural District in San Francisco. She consistently throughout her life has been involved in the black community at her schools and in the community as the President of BSU and Financial Director of SFCityWide BSU, putting on events and helping foster community. In her free time, she enjoys pilates, skating/ being outdoors and spending time with friends.

Ben Wyler joined Close Concerns as a Summer Associate in May 2025. He is a junior studying Computer Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. On campus, Ben serves as a Resident Advisor, a Teaching Assistant for a Computer Engineering course, and a Deputy Crew Chief with the university's EMS service. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2016, and is passionate about contributing to impactful causes. In high school, he ran a national nonprofit dedicated to expanding STEM education to underserved students. At WashU, he enjoys volunteering with the Campus YMCA, where he helps organize their largest community events. In his free time, Ben enjoys hiking, coding, and spending time with friends.