Insha Merchant ’24

Insha is a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in biology, with a specific interest in children’s cognitive development, mental health, and the underlying neurobiology.

She has considerable research and clinical experience in the workings of the young brain and its influence on behavior through her work at the Gabrieli Lab at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences where she studied auditory processing of special interests in children with autism through the use of fMRI, as well as her Undergraduate Practicum Training at the Marcus Autism Center and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Center for Advanced Pediatrics’ Multidisciplinary Feeding Program. Insha’s voluntary education promotion, including the in-person and virtual conversational English and empowerment classes and camps which she has led since 2018 for high-achieving, underserved girls in Pakistan, have provided her with numerous global experiences and interactions, especially with young individuals. Insha is Mental Health First-Aid certified and since high school, she has actively engaged with organizations that promote student wellbeing and mental health awareness. Upon graduation, Insha hopes to mesh her passions for education promotion and youth mental health by working with an international organization on mental health education policy and programs, possibly in a refugee or displaced population setting.