Riya Master

Fulbright/London School of Economics and Political Science Award

Riya Master is a fourth-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. She earned a BA in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and has focused her academic and professional work on global child health at the intersection of medicine, policy, and human rights. Riya has conducted research in Malawi and Uganda on infectious diseases and HIV testing in children under five, contributed to national policy briefs on migrant and refugee healthcare, and served as a coordinator for the UCSF Paediatrics Human Rights Clinic, supporting forensic medical evaluations for asylum-seeking children. As a Fulbright scholar at the London School of Economics, she will pursue an MSc in Health and International Development, where she will examine institutional responses to conflict-related sexual violence against adolescent girls, particularly how physicians in post-conflict health systems document abuse and provide care. She looks forward to studying within the UK’s National Health Service and LSE’s global policy community to deepen her understanding of international health governance. Through her Fulbright, Riya hopes to develop stronger medico-legal frameworks and health system responses for children affected by war and displacement.