Education: B.S. in Microbiology and African & African American Studies, University of Minnesota

Policy Experience & Interests: During her undergraduate studies, Akila worked at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Interested in standardizing the treatment of critical limb ischemia, her team led efforts to investigate variability in treatment, outcomes, and cost of care. In her role, she helped establish the first database transitioning from manual data-entry to coded algorithms to capture data across the health system at affiliated hospitals in Minnesota and used to decrease variability in practice. This experience and her background in cultural studies has led her to become particularly interested in the intersection of safe standardization of treatment, quality improvement, and institutional disparities in health care.