This summer, Rice University senior Maya Harpavat traded the lecture halls of Houston for the winding roads of Rajasthan, India. Her goal: to understand how maternal and child nutrition is shaped not just by food access but also by culture, education and health care systems in some of the country’s most rural and underserved communities.
“I wanted to understand how people viewed malnutrition in rural communities — not just the numbers but the lived experiences and families as well,” said Harpavat, who is double-majoring in health sciences and English with a minor in medical humanities.
Her project was made possible thanks to Rice’s Wagoner Fellowship through the Center for Civic Leadership, which supports students conducting independent research abroad, as well as the Minter Summer Scholars Program. Partnering with Seva Mandir, a nonprofit in the city of Udaipur, Harpavat spent her summer traveling to the general hospital malnutrition care ward and villages where rates of malnutrition remain stubbornly high. Local health workers accompanied her to introduce her to families, helping her build trust as she conducted more than 40 focused interviews with mothers and caregivers.
Harpavat describes her summer research as the culmination of everything she has learned in the classroom and the guidance of the many mentors who shaped her journey.
Her first exposure to nutrition research came as a freshman, when she began working with Shreela Sharma at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Sharma’s Food as Medicine initiative, developed in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, introduced Harpavat to the powerful connections between diet, chronic disease and health equity.
“She’s been a truly incredible mentor to me,” Harpavat said. “She not only introduced me to the field of nutrition in a supportive lab environment where I could learn and grow, but she also helped me connect with international organizations I worked with that truly made this opportunity possible.”
At Rice, Harpavat found more mentors who helped her grow as both a researcher and a writer. Cassandra Diep, associate teaching professor of kinesiology, introduced her to principles of public health in her freshman year through a class that allowed students to speak directly with leaders in the regional and global nonprofit and public health space.
Melissa Bailar, executive director of the Medical Humanities Research Institute and Harpavat’s medical humanities adviser, worked closely with her to brainstorm survey questions, structure interviews and ensure her project was community-informed.
In the English department, assistant professor Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan encouraged Harpavat to think about her work from a humanities perspective, inspiring her to shape her senior thesis as a creative nonfiction project based on the interviews she conducted in India.
And through the Center for Civic Leadership and brainstorming ideas and projects with Danika Brown, Harpavat became inspired to focus more on global health issues and understand how fundamentally connected they were to communities worldwide.
“Having such wonderful mentors is the reason I’ve been able to do something like this,” Harpavat said. “It shows how powerful it can be when professors invest in you both inside and outside the classroom.”
In the villages of Gogunda and Majawad, Harpavat found women eager to talk about the challenges they faced. Many described not having enough food during difficult farming seasons or struggling to access health care because the nearest hospital was hours away. Others wanted more guidance on what to eat during pregnancy or how to feed their children.
“I was struck by how generous and welcoming people were,” she said. “Even when resources were scarce, mothers wanted to immediately offer us tea or lay out a mat for us to sit on.”
She also noticed how education played a pivotal role in shaping knowledge around health. “Even completing school through the fifth grade made a huge difference in how women understood nutrition and made decisions for their children,” she said.
Harpavat said she hopes her findings will contribute to Seva Mandir’s efforts to design nutrition education programs that reflect the realities of rural families. She hopes to return to working with Seva Mandir after graduation to build a nutrition education program that reaches not just mothers but also grandparents, siblings and others who share caregiving responsibilities.
“I realized that nutrition education needs to be truly community-based,” she said. “And starting young — even at the preschool level — can make a lasting impact.”
After a gap year of research, Harpavat said she plans to attend medical school, carrying with her the lessons she learned at Rice and in Rajasthan.
“At Rice, I’ve had incredible opportunities to connect with mentors who care deeply about my growth,” she said. “This project showed me that research can go beyond data — it can empower communities and change lives. That’s the kind of medicine I want to practice.”