Emma Cain, a third-year public policy major from Brighton, New York, has spent the past year working with RIT National Institute of Technology’s Deaf Health Care and Biomedical Sciences Hub (Deaf Hub) leaders to support Deaf Health. I’ve worked at a research institute. Deaf person.
Deaf Hub was founded in 2022 to promote representation of Deaf and hard of hearing people in medical and biomedical careers. We provide support pathways for healthcare professionals, a network for Deaf scientists and leaders, and research related to the Deaf community and its health.
Kane has been joining Deaf Hub since 2023 as a Summer Healthcare Academic Research Program Scholar, Research Assistant in the Deaf Health Research Institute, and is currently one of the Principal Research Assistants. She has presented her research at national conferences and local research symposiums.
What kind of research are you conducting?
I have worked to identify barriers in sex education for young people who are deaf and hard of hearing. The goal is to improve access to sexual health resources and create policy solutions through gamification. We are also conducting research on the reproductive health experiences of deaf and hard-of-hearing people with wombs, collecting data on their experiences of accessing reproductive health and receiving reproductive health resources.
Would you like to pursue a career in the medical field?
Before participating in the SHARP program, I had never thought about doing research. This allowed me to decide completely independently what kind of research I liked. That was public health research. This inspired me to develop a research proposal on sex education in the Deaf community. But I don’t envision myself working in the medical field. I have a great passion for changing deaf education through policy work. I would like to continue my research on access to education for deaf and hard of hearing children and provide policy solutions, especially regarding education as a public health issue. I would like to pursue an MBA and possibly a Ph.D. in education policy. My dream is to live in a major metropolitan area like Washington DC or Boston.
What drew you to majoring in public policy?
Public policy is a unique intersection of policy, action, and regulation, but it is not necessarily about creating laws. It’s about painting the big picture. This is what fascinated me. I love solving problems and providing out-of-the-box solutions. Public policy requires thinking outside the box. It’s about creating innovative solutions and practices that can have a big impact. For me personally, this provides the perfect balance between advocacy and creating innovative solutions and policies that change the lives of deaf children.
What other activities are you involved in?
The balance between academics and social life, research opportunities, and networking opportunities at RIT are great. I am involved with Alpha Sigma Alpha and the student government. I am also the newest e-board member of the University Panhellenic Council. In addition to these activities, I enjoy trying new coffee shops around Rochester and around the country.
