Onali Fernando is a recent graduate from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she earned her MSPH in the Department of International Health. Her concentration is in Social and Behavioral Interventions, and she also completed certificates in Health Communications and Food Systems, the Environment, and Public Health. She previously earned a B.S. in Neuroscience with minors in Spanish and Biology from the University of Louisville, where she served as a medical interpreter for immigrant workers at Churchill Downs. Her passion lies in bridging the knowledge-to-action gap that often prevents behavior change by communicating information in accessible, actionable ways that support community well-being.
Onali has experience conducting, coordinating, and consulting on projects across various institutions and a range of topics. In some of her recent work, she co-designed and launched Take60, a communication campaign aimed at preventing digital eye strain in graduate students. She also received certification as a Food Conservation Specialist through the Center for Food Conservation and Waste Reduction at Purdue University for her work supporting research on household food waste in Baltimore. In addition, Onali has experience working with international partners, as she is coordinating a research study between the BSPH and the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR) where she conducted on-site fieldwork in Fortaleza, Brazil to investigate the impact of media on climate anxiety in Brazilian adolescents.
This past summer, she interned for PollutionProfile, a startup working to present both historical and current pollution exposure data to individuals to better prevent chronic illnesses. There, Onali served as the Strategy and Operations Lead and developed their contributor program, coordinating both team members and external partners to publish a set of explainer articles to simplify common pollution exposure problems for the public.
Bio coming soon.
