Ralph Lawton is a student in the MD-PhD program at Harvard Medical School. He was a Robertson Scholar at Duke University, graduating in 2020 with a BS in economics, and started medical school in 2021. As an undergraduate, he cultivated research interests at the intersection of economics and global health, and developed a passion for clinical work as an EMT and public health worker in rural North Carolina. After graduating, Ralph spent a year as an NBER research assistant with Duncan Thomas and Elizabeth Frankenberg. His interdisciplinary research work has included studying the long-term physiologic and economic ramifications of natural disasters (in particular the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami), international drivers of non-communicable disease, and the intersection of economic behavior with metabolic function and cognition. Much of this has involved work in Indonesia, and included developing new methods for measuring health. Outside of clinical medicine and research, Ralph loves trying spicy food, hiking, and shooting archery.