Michael Yang

Fulbright-University of Reading Award in Food Security

Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, Michael graduated from Tulane University in 2023 with a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology and a minor in Public Health.  

At Tulane, Michael developed a passion for addressing diet-induced diseases, and he dedicated weekends to volunteering in local community gardens and helping lead cooking classes at the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine. Michael’s honors thesis detailing his ophthalmology research on diabetic macular edema further explored the relationships between nutrition, physical activity, and chronic disease progression. Michael’s proudest accomplishment though was founding the “New Orleans Elementary School Cooking Class Initiative,” a cooking and STEM program aiming to increase early access to health and wellness education that has reached 100+ local primary school students to date.  

In the UK, Michael will pursue an MSc in Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Reading while conducting cardiometabolic research at the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition and creating an initiative to share information and research on food security between the US and UK.  

Upon returning to the US, Michael will attend Tulane University School of Medicine and pursue an MD/MPH in an effort to help continuously address and prevent diet-induced diseases on both the individual and community level.