Rebecca Ronnen is an MD candidate in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. She graduated from New York University with a BS in Neural Science and minors in Global Public Health and Chemistry. While at NYU, she was named a 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholar, a Presidential Honors Scholar, and a Women in Science Scholar.

Rebecca’s path has been shaped by research, clinical service, and mentorship at the intersection of neuroscience and health equity. In Dr. Dimitris Placantonakis’s lab at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, she studied glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, focusing on how cancer cells use calcium signaling to grow and adapt. She later completed a research fellowship in Dr. Theresa Vincent’s lab at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, studying how brain tumor cells regulate protein production in ways that may promote treatment resistance. Alongside her laboratory work, Rebecca has contributed to global neurosurgery research focused on pediatric epilepsy surgery access in Panama, helped refine food insecurity surveys for patients at Bellevue Hospital's emergency department, and directed Futures in STEM, a mentorship program supporting New York City public high school girls as they seek STEM-related opportunities and apply to college. Rebecca hopes to become a neurosurgeon-scientist who advances treatments for children with brain pathologies while helping make neuroscience innovation more accessible globally.

Rebecca grew up in New Jersey in a family that taught her to value curiosity, kindness, and persistence. Outside of work, she enjoys triathlons, hiking, reading, chocolate in any form, and spending time outdoors.