State Senator Jo Comerford | Boston, MA

Himaja Nagireddy is a proud first-generation Indian American from Acton, MA. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2020 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physiology & Neurobiology and Molecular & Cell Biology, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. During her time at UConn, Himaja served on the President’s Working Group on Sustainability and the Environment and was the President of the TEDxUConn chapter. These experiences inspired her interest in understanding the intersections between public health and environmental justice. She is now an MS (SM-80) candidate in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Outside of UConn, Himaja has interned for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and US Agency for International Development (USAID). She currently serves as a Northeast Representative on the National Council for the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA), where she leads and supports programming and UN advocacy efforts for over 20,000 members across the country. Through this, she has served as a representative for numerous Commissions on the Status of Women (CSW) and the 25th UN Climate Change Conference. She also represents UNA-USA on the Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security at the US Institute of Peace and the Gender-Based Violence Coalition.

At Harvard, Himaja serves at the Vice President of the Harvard Graduate Council. She is also a member of the Harvard School of Public Health Dean’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACDI) and the Title IX and Gender Equity Education Student Advisory Committee. She pursues her interest in infectious disease epidemiology and public service by serving as an editor for the Harvard Medical School COVID-19 Curriculum team and working as a public health researcher for the TestBoston BWH/Broad COVID-19 study.