Sophia Magalona

Sophia is a data scientist based in the United States. She began her research career as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducting neuroimaging research on drug treatments for schizophrenia. She developed a strong interest in epidemiology and population-level research after attending a lecture at the NIH and went on to pursue her master’s degree in global health, motivated in part by a desire to conduct work connected to her roots in the Philippines.

‍

She later worked as a monitoring and evaluation officer at John Snow, Inc. on reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health; health systems strengthening; and health informatics initiatives, and as a fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on health data systems and survey research, before completing a PhD in women's sexual and reproductive health at Johns Hopkins. While deeply data-focused, Sophia’s diverse experience working with clinical and implementation researchers and funders reflects her curiosity to understand the full health ecosystem - from clinical research and community engagement to philanthropy and policy - and how data can be leveraged to improve lives and guide funding and policy decisions.

‍

She was drawn to the curiosity and openness of the Sonder team and to their genuine commitment to centering communities and lived experience in research and solution design. She believes that meaningful, impactful research emerges when beneficiaries are engaged as partners throughout the process and was excited to join and learn from a group that puts those principles into practice.