Ritika Prasad

Ritika Prasad is a third-year undergraduate at UCLA, pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience. Ritika is interested in the roles of social and psychological risk factors, as well as childhood and adolescence experiences, in the development and onset of mood and anxiety disorders; studying the interactions between local cultural and socioeconomic factors on the perception of stress and mental illness to better inform practice and research; exploring how different factors can be modified to minimize the adverse effects of traumatic experiences on health; improving the quality of care for diverse and underserved communities around the world, destigmatizing mental health issues, and working collaboratively with patients; developing personalized treatments, preventative methods and novel neuroscience-informed interventions to improve both mental and physical well-being. She plans on pursuing an MD or Psy.D., aspiring to become either a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist.