Luigi Nuñez

Mitigating Disease Through Data

Luigi Nuñez, BS ’17, is expanding his technology expertise locally and globally as a technical advisor at Population Services International (PSI), a nonprofit based out of Washington, D.C. 

In this role, he specializes in digital health and monitoring in order to provide new health interventions for the organization’s malaria and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) departments. 

Nuñez graduated from Saint Joseph's with a double major in mathematics and computer science, along with unique service opportunities that opened his eyes to potential career paths. 

“When I entered college, I thought I would go work at a tech company and make six digits right out of college,” Nuñez explains. “But after doing internships on and off campus, as well as coursework and extracurriculars based around service, I knew the tech company life wasn't for me.” 

Following graduation, Nuñez acted upon his epiphany and moved to Uganda for a competitive one-year global health leadership development fellowship as an eLearning officer with PSI’s strategic information office. There, he used his analytical and digital skills to focus on improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes. 

PSI provided the perfect marriage of Nuñez’s skill set with his desire to make a difference in the world; he has been with the company since his fellowship. By leveraging advancements in mobile technology access and increased internet connectivity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), Nuñez and PSI are making access to high-quality healthcare and health information more equitable. PSI’s partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) aimed at fighting malaria through implementing mass campaigns for bed nets is case in point. Nuñez himself collaborated with the Global Malaria Programme at WHO to develop standardized digital tools for monitoring distribution of nets through mass campaigns. 

“These standards are easily adaptable to other contexts, so it was super exciting to see how we were able to use our experience to positively impact the status quo,” says Nuñez. “These campaigns tend to collect data on paper, making it a very cumbersome process. We've already seen countries and ministries of health take up these new tools, moving digital data collection down to the community health worker.”

Connect with Luigi Nuñez