Bio
Ashlyn Gary graduated with Honors at Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and a Masters of Science in Community Health and Prevention Research. Her mission is to improve health via translational research, patient advocacy, and transformative technology. With research experiences in neuroscience, community health, and health product design, she loves to engage in complex, intersectional problems -- interfacing between mental health, tech, and design. Integrating behavioral science research and community empowerment, Ashlyn is passionate about designing for well-being and developing health behavior-change technology rooted in rigorous science, creative collaboration, and health equity.
From her freshman to senior year, Ashlyn worked as a student researcher at the Talbot Lab. Research at the Talbot Lab focuses on the development and function of glial cells in the vertebrate nervous system, using genetic approaches in zebrafish to discover new genes with essential functions in the glial cells. These projects provide novel insights into glial cell development and function, define pathways that may be disrupted in disease, and may provide new avenues toward therapies for diseases of glia. Her honors thesis investigated the role of microglia in a lysosomal storage disease called Mucolipidosis type IV, in hopes of providing a novel insight into the origins, neurological mechanisms, and progression of neurodegenerative defects characteristic of lysosomal storage disease patients. Her research was awarded the Stanford University Oral Communication Program Excellence for Honors Thesis Presentation.
While obtaining her Master's in Community Health and Prevention Research, Ashlyn researched digital interventions for loneliness, an alarming health epidemic among college students. Collaborating with clinical psychologists, designers, and college students, Ashlyn worked with the nonprofit Hopelab designing one of the first mental health apps to impact the modifiable behavioral risk factors for loneliness during young adulthood. Her thesis, "Can Smartphone Apps Address Loneliness Among College Students? Case Study and Viewpoint" integrates qualitative interviews with first-year college students to provide perspectives on how to design for social connectedness.
