Neha Reddy: Biotechnology in Community Health

Neha Reddy (she/her) is an MPH [masters of public health] graduate from Columbia University with various backgrounds and specializations in nanomedicine, neuroscience, economics, and biotechnology. She sat down with Lian Pham to discuss her experience in community health and community building and what that looks like in the near future.

Please tell us a little about your background and identity.

I'm a first generation American born in Fairfax, Virginia and my family moved around places in this area of Northern Virginia a lot. My parents are both from India and came to the U.S to do their masters. They both moved to the D.C area to get a job in government and it was hard for them in the sense that they had to assimilate into the culture. Virginia is considered the South so it was difficult for someone like me to grow up here with my Indian background. For instance, I was one of six Indian people in my elementary school of 500 people. I was also bullied for being different. Most of the people at my school were white so they had a hard time understanding why I was eating curry for lunch or why I didn’t know who the Rolling Stones were. It was through these experiences, however, that made me eager to keep up and learn more about what current popular events were going on to make me a jack of all trades. Luckily, by the time I got to high school, I was enrolled in a magnet school; fortunately, there were many Indian and Asian people there. However, I also faced a lot of challenges in my identity in terms of being a woman, and from Indian cultural barriers instilled from my parents. For one, it was a lot of asking to see if I, for example, was allowed to have sleepovers or wear shorts and it was difficult to convince my Indian parents that these things were normal. I'm grateful that my parents wanted a girl though because we grew up in that era where killing baby girls was prevalent. We also grew up in the #MeToo movement, and it’s because of these evolving eras that it made it difficult to re-erase that narrative. Particularly, that narrative we've been taught as a child of how girls are supposed to exist. And then when you add that layer of cultural competencies on top of Asian societies, that makes it even more difficult to erase.

As someone with your identity, specifically with an Indian background, do you find, do you find it difficult in finding community, perhaps, did you find difficulty in finding community at work or maybe in your personal life?

For most of my life, up until maybe my masters, I was assimilating into the crowd I was thrown into. I did everything I was taught to do to assimilate and essentially become white, trying hard to get the white community to like me. And I think that was what I was just taught to do. 

I listened to country music. I went to country bars. I was trying to be white so hard that it was just ingrained in me. 

Even at Virginia Tech, a predominantly white university, I tried to be with my own community of Indians but it was quite isolating and stark. I didn’t fit in because I’m someone who loves connecting and being emotionally open. The competition and attitude within the Indian community made it hard for me to find my place which made things more isolating.

When I got to my masters, it was the opposite. I encountered many first-generation people and people of color who brought a narrative of anger to the forefront about past struggles. It was eye-opening but still difficult to find a community. There were extreme levels of anger, and some people would question if you had “enough trauma” to be part of the group.

I think there's always going to be a risk of you're not broad enough, or you're not immigrant enough, or you're BIPOC enough because somebody's struggle is always going to be more.

Finding a community can be hard but I ultimately found a group of people who were understanding and willing to listen, and that was the gift.

What drives your passion and keeps you motivated, even during the most challenging times?

What keeps me motivated is seeing those small moments of humanity, like a mom with her child or someone playing with their dog—those little reminders of kindness that reinstate that faith in humanity for me in little places. It’s what drives my passion to serve the public, to listen and care for people. 

Even on tough days, when the news is full of tragedy, I remind myself that all we can do is give back to our community, be kind, and make a small difference while we’re here because in the end, we're very small in the grand scheme of the universe. It might not be remembered centuries from now but it’s still meaningful in the moment.

Why did you specifically want to work in the field of community health? And how do you think biotechnology, like, ties in with this?

As someone who is involved in public health, we have that idea of wanting to do better for people. My passion for Community Health started with my interest in material sciences and nanoscience. When the 2008 Oil Spill happened, they used nanoparticles to help clean up, and I saw how something so small could have a life-impacting change. I then studied neuroscience and nanomedicine, focusing on targeted drugs and biotech. 

But I realized I wanted to work in community health because there's a need for people to understand biotech and how it can impact them. COVID reinforced this for me, as I saw how people were afraid of things they didn’t understand. I remember talking to someone on a train for six hours, explaining what mRNA is and how the vaccine works because he refused to take the vaccine and I had to educate him on the importance of being vaccinated. It made me see how fear comes from a lack of education and why it’s vital to translate complex scientific ideas into something people can understand and trust. 

I want to bridge that gap to advocate for better biotech policies and innovations that help people, especially in underserved areas. I believe biotechnology can be used for things like data collection, improving healthcare equality, and bringing targeted innovations to places that need them the most. It’s about making sure people understand the power of science and how it can improve their lives.

Is there room for biotechnology in the mental health space? How can it be utilized?

Honestly, there's so much room for biotech in mental health care. starting with genomics, people don’t realize how much mental health ties back to your DNA and genetics. You can go through all kinds of therapy, but some things are just ingrained, and that’s where genomics comes in—neuroimaging too. This could help with PTSD  and traumatic brain injuries, like with veterans. 

I worked at a Veterans Hospital, and it's huge to be able to look at these things before they pass away and we study their brains. 

Then there’s precision medicine, which is going to be a big deal in the next 10-15 years. Think about wearable devices that monitor both your mental and physical health in real time. Plus, gene therapy and neurostimulation are coming up—like using brain shocks for ADHD, but way smaller than EKGs. 

Not every therapy works for everyone however. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy is great, but it’s not one-size-fits-all. 

Biotechnology, however, can help tailor treatments to people’s symptoms. 

I think now having biotechnology kind of look at what your symptoms are, what you could do, what other paths you could do, kind of also personalizes that treatment that you're looking for. 

And with digital health, we’ve got apps now that track mental health, which is huge, especially when doctors spend five minutes with you and just prescribe something. We’ve really shifted the conversation around mental health lately, and it’s something we can fix with the right tools.

As a community health worker, have you met with people whose stories touched you? How did it inspire you?

When I first got into public health, it was kind of by accident—I took a class with a friend, and we were working on Appalachian substance use projects. We learned about the area, and I remember our sponsor, Bentley Woods, sharing his story. He said, "Even if I don’t make a difference, the biggest thing I can give is my story." He went from being on the floor, unable to take care of himself, to pulling himself out and helping others. That really shifted my mindset because addiction is a mental battle, and people don’t always realize that.

We ended up working with a community in Roanoke, where we heard stories from firefighters, hospitals, and people in recovery. They turned things around together, and it was incredible to see their resilience. Hearing students in recovery share their stories, especially at their graduation, was so powerful. I didn’t feel like we deserved the award they gave us because they were the ones fighting to make it every day.

Another moment was working at a nonprofit in New York focused on birthing justice called, “The Birthing Place.” The founder told me how the Bronx was this beating entity, full of people just trying to rebuild and grow together. 

And when I really moved to New York, I wanted to be part of the community, and I got to do some of the community events with them. I just saw how beautiful the community was coming together and healing through the grief of things that they've lost and the adversaries that they have felt, especially being bipoc and losing things and wanting to rebuild and grow with each other. Listening to those stories was just amazing, because they really fought for the community, and that was what was important.

Lastly, in Brazil, I worked with indigenous communities, integrating their knowledge into healthcare. Their approach to caring for the whole community, not just individual patients, was so inspiring. All of these stories and communities fuel my passion for public health every day.

Neha, with your experience in public health and your passion for building inclusive communities, how do you see the role of community-building in enhancing both professional development and mental health interventions?

I think that we have a healthcare system that's not built for prevention. We haven't built for recovery. And I don't agree with it.

Like with ACE testing, it focuses on things after they’ve happened, not before. Community-building plays a huge role here. Getting people on the ground floor early can prevent mental health issues, substance use, and even problems in the criminal justice system.

A strong community provides support, fosters collaboration, and encourages sharing mental health resources—things people need for growth and innovation. It helps people feel safe, teaches them how to process emotions, and equips them with tools, like workshops on handling feelings or dealing with substance use. This builds a stronger community that looks out for each other and reduces isolation, which is a big issue right now.

People are tired of being alone and are moving back home because they feel disconnected. I grew up in a culture where staying with family is normal but a lot of people don’t have that. Community-building also means paying attention to social determinants of health—like air quality or other factors affecting the community.

The European Blue Zones are a great example. People there don’t owe anyone anything, but they look out for each other, farm together, and just exist. 

And that simplicity of you exist and you deserve to exist, because we built this together, is something that I like to communicate. 

Do you believe globalization makes it harder or easier for people to build communities of their own, especially when it comes to community mental health resources?

Yeah, globalization is definitely a double-edged sword for community-building. 

You have to look at who's funding the community development. What role does the community even play in the development, and what are we developing like?

On one hand, it can disrupt traditional communities by imposing outside agendas, making them dependent on specific goals. It’s hard to break away from traditional social structures, especially when trying to improve things. For example, you can’t just go into Afghanistan and expect them to build an inclusive community—it’s more complex than that.

But on the positive side, globalization can help share resources and knowledge, like in Peru’s Potato Park, where indigenous knowledge was used to move forward without erasing their culture. For community mental health, globalization is powerful in spreading innovative practices. With telemedicine and global networks, we can share breakthroughs instantly, like new therapies, without waiting years for them to be published. We can learn from other countries, like using the NHS model for mental health or applying child welfare research across borders. Globalization helps us develop together, as long as we’re working toward the same goals.

What advice do you have for immigrant/immigrant-origin youth that want to start community-building organizations and projects of their own?

For anyone wanting to start community-building, it might seem impossible at first, and you’ll face pushback. But everyone starts with an idea, and you have to stick with it, even when it’s tough. It’s like caring for a baby chick—you nurture it with passion until it grows. But remember to take care of yourself too, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Progress takes time.

Look at people like the black politician that I interviewed for Harris County who started in politics as a young black youth in 1989 and is now 70 years old.  He’s still fighting for his policies in Texas even though it keeps getting sued by the state of Texas constantly. The point is they both faced challenges but never gave up. 

You can't give up because somebody doesn't want you to change the status quo of what you're trying to do. Unity means everyone's coming together and building it.

Even with the birthing place, it took a lot of people coming out of this team being like, what can we do? What can we help with pro bono people? Because it's a goal that everyone wants to do together, and it's the idea of what we can do for each other as a gift, rather than doing things that isolate us and build us up in a capitalistic way.

The main idea that I want to come across is to take time to rest when you need it. The weight of the world is not on your shoulders but at the same time, it's okay to ask for help, and it's okay to achieve and kind of want to reach for higher things even though it seems impossible. Because cars seemed impossible a while ago and look at where we are now. 

Someday, what seems unimaginable will be reality.