Aarnav Shah ‘25 recently co-wrote a scientific article published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Inspired to help people with experiences similar to his own during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shah worked to expand his perspective as an applied pre-med student writing about the effects of depression.

Shah first got this idea over the summer of 2024 with support from a professor at Northwestern University and two staff members at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Both neurology and statistics professionals, Shah was able to use their work to help write the article. In October, he began researching and writing, analyzing the rates of substantial anxiety and depression during and after the COVID-19 pandemic up until mid-2024 in the United States. During the editing process, Shah applied for a peer review involving two journal reviewers who gave him  revision ideas. After two revisions from the reviewers, and further advice from the professor, Shah successfully completed and published the article. 

Once published, the article opened doors for Shah to continue writing on his pre-med interests. He received an offer from another journal database, MDPI, to upload a new article on critical thinking, which he is currently working on. Additionally, he believes this has increased his qualifications as a medical research applicant during his college process. 

Shah emphasized how important it is to reach out for help when trying to tackle large projects, as it can often feel like you are doing a “group project without a rubric” that everyone else has. Dr. Kerry Cedergren, Shah’s advisor, said, “Aarnav is an insightful student who can think on his feet and who has excellent critical thinking skills; the class benefits from the excellent questions that he brings to class discussions.”