John is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). His passion lies in healthcare, specifically primary care, where he hopes to have a career in developing and implementing interventions that facilitate health behavior change, improve the patient experience, and [[File: http://i62ShelleyJohn.tinypic.com/fyecmw.jpgjpeg]]reduce health inequalities. He believes that disruptive change is needed in the healthcare system now more than ever to address the twin crises of rising rates of chronic conditions and rising costs.
For the last two years, he has worked as a research assistant in the UAB Division of Preventive Medicine working on projects related to community health, mobile health, and diabetes management. Through these projects, he has conducted door-to-door surveys in a rural community, been involved with the development of a mobile application for use by community health workers, and recruited participants for various projects at farmers markets, hospitals, churches, and community centers.