Student Scholar Spotlight – Sarah Lange
Student Scholar Spotlight – Sarah Lange
Featured student work during their time as a college scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Sarah Lange
After witnessing a pressing need for addiction advocacy while scribing in rural emergency rooms around Knoxville, I created the “Addiction and Behavioral Neuroscience” major through the College Scholars Program. I noticed that, despite the opioid crisis disproportionately affecting East Tennesseans, stigmas prevailed in our region that discouraged at-risk individuals from seeking care. Determined to address this health disparity, I now study the biological and socioeconomic basis of addiction and its best course of treatment, combining sociology, genetics, biochemistry, philosophy, neuroscience, and public health courses to evaluate how we can treat addiction not only at an individual level, but as an entire system.
My program examines the therapeutic and pharmaceutical strategies for addiction treatment with a complex understanding of an addiction’s behavioral and neurobiological effects on the brain. My effort to merge scientific with psychological and philosophical perspectives focuses on treating patients as people rather than diseases. My effort to apply scientific coursework to community initiatives highlights my holistic approach to healthcare and underscores my humanist perspective on patient care.