Sam Lau is a third year Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Health candidate at UCLA. He is passionate about improving the quality of public health services for communities of color and using research and data to drive policy change. As a graduate student researcher, Sam has conducted research on the impact of affordable housing investments on the health of  communities most impacted by pollution and has evaluated the quality of care received by Medicare cancer patients. He worked as a health policy intern this past summer at the California Health Benefits Review Program, providing evidence-based analysis to the state legislature on issues related to health insurance benefit mandates. He was also part of the team that won highest honors for their APP on ‘Delivering on California College Promise: Implementing Effective Interventions and Reforms to Ensure Access and Preparation for Community College’.