Ritika Punathil

Ritika holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, double-majoring in Genetics and Genomics and Economics and earning certificates in Global Health and Leadership. She is currently a student in the MD-MPH dual degree program at the UWS MPH and is expected to graduate in Spring 2026. Ritika’s interest in health disparities began as an undergraduate by observing the connection between social determinants of health and the current health statuses of the patients she worked with. This inspired her to pursue a certificate in Global Health as an undergraduate and to continue her public health studies through the MPH program. In the year before starting medical school, Ritika was introduced to the world of neurodegenerative disease research as a research assistant at Dr. Ke Zhang’s lab at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus, using Drosophila and iPSC-derived neurons as models to study the mechanism of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.

In her free time, Ritika enjoys playing tennis, learning the ancient Indian martial art of kalaripayattu, and doting on her parent’s 3-year-old bichon frise, Rudra.