William Tantribeau

High School Graduation Year: 2019
Year First Awarded the Carson Scholarship, School: 2018, Gabrielino High School
Sponsored by: The Eleni and Wolfgang Gagon Trust

William is a 2022 graduate of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) where he received a degree in public health sciences.  He is currently working on his Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree.   As an undergrad, William was awarded an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) research grant along with the title of a Distinguished Research Fellow at UCI.  This opportunity allowed him to spearhead a grant proposal and collect and present data that was extremely fruitful for UCI’s OB/GYN department’s understanding of pregnancy-related vascular complications.  Although William’s research helped identify a “puzzle piece” of a problem, it didn’t lead to any potential solutions to directly help today’s patients.  This led William to realize that he is more interested in researching potential medication therapies that could have direct effects for patients in the present and thus began his journey towards a PharmD.

William served as the creative lead on UNICEF USA’s National Council, a team assembled to manage and support UNICEF’s high school and university clubs across the country.  In this role, he led a vaccine awareness campaign aimed to lessen the stigma around critical immunizations for children around the world.  During the pandemic, as a member of the COPE Health Scholars program, William advocated for members of the program to take an active part in the COVID-vaccination clinic and was vital in streamlining the vaccine administration process in East Los Angeles.  Today, William works as a pharmacy technician and is proud to use his linguistic repertoire of four languages to bridge a gap for patients.  He is also a member of Delta Omega, the national honorary society for studies in public health, and he looks forward to eventually combining his pharmacy and public health knowledge to improve community health.