HONOREE

Mia Lewis, a native of West Memphis, Arkansas, attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as an honors student, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences. As a hard-working student, Mia always aspired of having a successful career in dentistry.

Due to her father’s untimely passing, Mia was raised by her mother and has two younger sisters. Her mother instilled the importance of education in her at a young age. Mia has prospered throughout her young academic career. During her time at Arkansas State University, Mia maintained a work-study job, volunteered at the campus’ food pantry, and served as a peer mentor.

As a student in the Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) program, she has been an integral part of the College of Dentistry, participating in various student organizations such as the Student National Dental Association (SNDA) where she is the secretary. She has also served as a teacher’s assistant in the pre-doctoral operative laboratory, conducted research, and achieved much more throughout her academic career. Her spirit of service has been felt in Memphis as she has volunteered at oral health fairs and visited local schools to educate students about pursuing a career in healthcare.

Mia hopes to inspire little girls with the message that they can be anything they aspire to be with hard work and discipline. After graduation, she plans to work as a general dentist for a few years and later pursue an orthodontics residency.

Bianca Jackson has made a name for herself in health outcomes research using evidence-based insights to inform health care access and delivery across various therapeutic areas.

As a student in the College of Graduate Health Sciences, she is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in health outcomes research and policy with an emphasis in health informatics. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in health systems management from the University of Memphis.

She has experience in qualitative and quantitative research, clinical research, health technology assessment development, and evidence evaluation, analysis, and synthesis. Her dissertation research focuses on the use of machine learning to predict lung cancer risk using EHR data.

Bianca served as a student representative on the Graduate Student Executive Council. She is praised in her college for the energy she brings to her work, which inspires colleagues, faculty, and staff. After graduating, she plans to go into consulting in Health Economics and Outcomes Research.