FLIPPABLE: Rebecca Mitchell for GA-HD106
I grew up on a sheep farm in Upstate New York as one of four children. I learned the value of working hard and what it meant to have someone depend on you at a young age. Like Gwinnett residents, I grew up in a community that was a blend of local workers and commuters to the closest metropolitan area. I was fortunate enough to attend an excellent public school system that prepared me for an undergraduate course in biology at Harvard. I then attended Cornell for both my Veterinary degree and doctorate degree in Epidemiology.
Since then, I have had amazing opportunities to develop a scientific skillset to make a real world impact in public health, and I have grown into parenthood as a mom-of-four. Ultimately, our choice to move to Georgia in 2013 followed the diagnosis of a major birth defect on the 20-week ultrasound of our eldest child. All four pregnancies and three births later, we’ve gone through the entire healthcare system, including navigating major surgery for a child and a cancer diagnosis for a parent whom we knew we would be unable to finance their treatment. Now, with four small children of my own, including two-year-old twins, there is literally never a dull moment at home (nor enough hours in the day).
As a public health scientist at a major research university, my career has focused on research that helps drive positive changes in our public health policy. For years, I have worked to identify patterns in complex health datasets -- whether that be understanding infectious disease dynamics and the impact of vaccines or other interventions; evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tests; sorting out strains in multiply infected individuals; or studying microbiome or metabolome. As your next State Representative, my commitment to you is to listen, and to use this skillset so that all Georgians from all backgrounds have the opportunity to thrive.
https://www.rebeccaforgeorgia.com/
