About

Aanya standing in the lobby of Northwestern University's Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, beneath the Feinberg School of Medicine lettering — At Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as a CFAAR Ambassador, 2026

My path into public health started close to home. Navigating severe food allergies taught me early that a child’s safety can depend on a label someone else printed, a menu someone else planned, or a policy someone else wrote.

So I started working on those systems. I gave my school district’s food services director firsthand guidance on allergy-inclusive menus. I met with state lawmakers to support Elijah’s Law. I wrote to consumer-safety platforms like Yuka, EWG, and INCI Beauty about how they flag allergens. Each conversation taught me that public health depends as much on communication and persistence as it does on science.

In 2026 I studied epidemiology and outbreak response at the CDC Public Health Academy, served as an Ambassador for Northwestern’s Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research, and interviewed experts from India’s National Institute of Health and the CDC about how culture shapes the way health information is received. I’ve also learned from people one at a time: as a buddy to medically fragile children at Camelot for Children, and as a junior firefighter trained in emergency care.

I want a career in public health that protects people at scale: clearer labels, safer policies, and health information that reaches every family, in whatever language they speak.

She was a great contributor to the class activity and a leader in her group.

Deanna Webb, Southern Lehigh School District

School: Southern Lehigh High School, Center Valley, Pennsylvania
Graduating: 2027
Academic interests: Public health, biology, psychology
Languages: English, French
Service: 470+ hours with Camelot for Children
Certified in: CPR/AED, First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, Stop the Bleed, ServSafe, Infection Control, FEMA IS-100 and IS-700

How I work

Every project starts with a gap and ends with a follow-up.

Notice

01
Start from a gap I’ve lived with: a menu with no allergen labels, an app that misses an ingredient, a law that hasn’t passed yet.
Research

02
Read the policy, find the data, and talk to experts, from the CDC to India’s National Institute of Health.
Propose

03
Bring a specific fix to the person who can act on it: a proposal for my district, a meeting with a lawmaker, a feature suggestion for an app.
Follow through

04
Stay in the conversation until something moves, and teach other students what I learned along the way.

Outside the work

Flute, tennis, poetry, and French.

Flute

Principal flute in the Southern Lehigh band and recipient of the Joseph Maletz Flute Scholarship. I’ve also performed a solo recital for residents of a senior living community.

Tennis

Varsity captain. Bronze medal at first doubles in the Colonial League, September 2026.

Poetry

Topical Winner with American High School Poets, March 2026; my poem appears in the anthology In Like a Lamb 2026.

French

President of the French Club and French Honor Society. I wrote a bilingual English–French paper on health communication.

Bio

For programs, event organizers, and press.

Short bio

Aanya Narula Sharma is a senior at Southern Lehigh High School in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, focused on public health, biology, and psychology. Shaped by her own experience with severe food allergies, her work spans international advocacy, legislative engagement, corporate consulting, and school-district reform to improve safety and equity for children.

Full bio

About 300 words

Aanya Narula Sharma is a 12th-grade student from Pennsylvania whose public-health advocacy has reached international audiences. She has contributed youth perspectives to UNICEF, FARE, and leading allergy and asthma organizations, championing safer food practices for children. Her legislative work includes meeting Pennsylvania state lawmakers in support of Elijah’s Law, a food-allergy safety measure. She has advised consumer-safety platforms including Yuka, INCI Beauty, EWG, CodeCheck, and Think Dirty on allergen-transparency features used by millions, and has led district-level advocacy for allergy-friendly menus, cross-contamination prevention, and clearer food-service labeling in schools.

In 2026, Aanya interviewed experts from India’s National Institute of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about cross-cultural gaps in public-health communication. She was a Summer Scholar at the CDC Public Health Academy and an Ambassador for Northwestern University’s Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR), where she presented a restaurant allergy-certification proposal to more than 50 attendees. As a public-health intern with ELOS, she created a lead-poisoning awareness campaign and wrote a bilingual English–French paper on how language and culture shape health communication.

Aanya has completed more than 470 hours of service with Camelot for Children, supporting medically fragile youth and securing more than $10,000 in sponsorships, and was selected President of its junior board in 2026. She is a junior firefighter with the Upper Saucon Fire Department, certified in NIMS/FEMA, CPR, First Aid, and Stop the Bleed. She is President of the French Club and French Honor Society, captain of the varsity tennis team, and principal flute and section leader in her school band. She has been featured in The Morning Call, syndicated nationally on MSN, and is a Topical Winner with American High School Poets, published in the anthology In Like a Lamb 2026.