Hannah Homburg
While Hannah’s mind gets to work every day toward finding a cure for brain cancer, her heart is in gender, race and sexual orientation equity in healthcare.
What makes you feel proud?
I “only” have a Bachelor’s degree in a field dominated with PhDs and MDs, and yet have been able to learn the ropes pretty quickly despite a lack of surface-level qualifications. At 28, with only four years in this career, I already have five publications with more to come.
What’s been the biggest obstacle in your life so far?
I had a really, really hard time in college. I struggle with some pretty bad anxiety, and this really came through during that time. No matter how hard I studied and tried, my grades were not awesome, but I knew what I was learning. It was so frustrating. I truly felt like I was wasting my time because my transcript was never going to land me a job, and it didn’t for about a year (at least in a job I actually wanted). I owe so much to my boss for taking a chance on me at a time where I felt super defeated, but the experience has given me so much grace for people and taught me to never judge a book by its cover.
“I would love to live in an OKC where everyone can go to the doctor when they have something wrong and they’ll be listened to, believed and helped. Healthcare should be a basic human right.”
What’s the single biggest problem you’d like to solve in your community?
Lack of access to preventative healthcare, whether it be because of barriers to insurance, money or education. While my field of research focuses on surgery, I’d love to someday be out of a job because people are able to prevent the diseases that only require surgical intervention when they aren’t treated early. I would love to live in an OKC where everyone can go to the doctor when they have something wrong and they’ll be listened to, believed and helped. Healthcare should be a basic human right.
hannah is one of 100 women we have featured in the inaugural issue of Hundred Magazine. To learn more about her and the other 99 women, buy the issue.
