Isabel Plakas, a resident of New York City, is pursuing a master’s degree in Nursing at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Her undergraduate degree in Psychology is from Bryn Mawr College. Isabel has spent the past five years working as a harm reduction specialist in Philadelphia, Spain, Boston and Baltimore. She is the recipient of a Nursing Scholar Award from the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and was recognized by the Boston Medical Center for building harm reduction programming at a novel transitional shelter site that also served as a 24/7 overdose monitoring unit. She increased accessibility of medical care for people experiencing homelessness in Boston by running a mobile medical clinic and engaged young people with substance use disorder by developing a novel delivery service. Working at Boston Hope, a 1,000-bed medical center for unsheltered individuals recovering from COVID, she prevented overdose fatalities during a period when people were more isolated than usual. She serves as Co-President of Nursing Students for Harm Reduction at Hopkins. Isabel is also a volunteer for No One Dies Alone, an organization which helps to provide a dignified death to individuals who have no family or close friends to be with them at the end of life. Isabel will study Addiction Recovery at Trinity College Dublin.

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