Growing up in San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point district, Marilyn Thomas faced tremendous adversity. Her parents’ struggle with substance abuse left Marilyn homeless at 15. Forced to support herself, she dropped out of high school and earned a GED. When she became a single mother at 20, Marilyn decided to be the first in her family to obtain a college degree. She enrolled at San Francisco State University and excelled in science.

As an undergraduate, Marilyn led a science club for at-risk girls of color, and developed a teen-friendly guide about sexually transmitted infections. When Marilyn received her bachelor’s degree in microbiology, she was named university valedictorian and her college’s hood recipient.

Marilyn’s passion for identifying the social factors impacting health inequities has led her to pursue a master’s in public health at San Francisco State. She currently serves as STEM Coordinator for the Metro Academies Initiative, which supports minority undergraduates in the sciences.

Marilyn intends to earn a PhD in social epidemiology to advance her goal of improving health outcomes for underrepresented minorities.