Qeturah “Michelle” Salandy (J.D. ’25) is the recipient of this year’s Health Law Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to an incoming law student who demonstrates experience and a promise in health law.
A daughter of an immigrant parent from Trinidad and Tobago, Salandy faced challenges common to low-income and immigrant families. Encouraged by her mother, she learned from an early age that education was the way to achieve her goals. As a teenager, she participated in Georgia’s Move on When Ready program which allows high school students to take college courses. By the time she graduated from high school, Salandy already had the equivalent of two years of college credits from Georgia State University.
While continuing her undergraduate work, Salandy was accepted into Emory University’s new 4+1 Bioethics dual degree program, which allowed her to earn both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The program exposed her to legal issues and ethical dilemmas in health care.
“The harsh reality is that many people of color disproportionately face the experiences I went through, such as the threat of deportation and financial insecurity,” said Salandy. “I learned that these factors are just a few examples of social determinants of health, which have a significant impact on the health of people from historically marginalized communities.”
While at Emory, Salandy took courses in health law and mental health law, and she saw firsthand how legislative advocacy and policy change can affect health. In one course, she worked on inclusion of donor breast milk in Medicaid reimbursement for premature infants. In another, she participated in a project designed to reduce maternal mortality through phone apps promoting advance health care planning to pregnant and postnatal women and connecting at-risk pregnant mothers to doulas serving as patient advocates. She also interned for Georgia House Representative Mary Margaret Oliver, where she researched and prepared reports in support of Georgia’s Mental Health Parity Act.
“Through these experiences, I discovered that my passion lies within the intersection of public health, law, and race,” Salandy explained. “My goal is to become a health law attorney and to use my bioethical, race-conscious, and interdisciplinary health backgrounds to address barriers to health equity and health care access.”
The Health Law Scholarship is endowed by Distinguished University Professor Leslie Wolf and supported by donations from health law advisory board members, faculty and alumni. “Michelle’s passion for health law is just what we are looking for in a scholarship candidate,” said Wolf. “She already brings a wealth of relevant experiences, and we are excited to learn from her as she learns from us.”