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ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025

United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.

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UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT KUNAL PONKSHE, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.

Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia, United States | Advancing SDG 3 & UNAI 9

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" "I do this work because I believe that innovation in healthcare only matters if it reaches the people who need it most. Being a Millennium Fellow means joining a community that values equity, systems thinking, and action. I'm excited to grow through this experience and bring more thoughtful, accessible solutions to the future of healthcare." "

Millennium Fellowship Project: Diagnostics for All

Diagnostics for All is focused on building a simple and sustainable model for improving access to diagnostic healthcare, specifically in communities where it’s limited or overlooked. I want to combine computational tools with public health information to help determine where those gaps exist and how we can begin to bridge them, even on a small scale. The idea is to use data to identify areas where diagnostic access is low and model strategies that could help combat this problem, whether that’s through local outreach or resource allocation. Alongside the computational side, I also want to explore how low-cost, physical diagnostic tools (like paper-based tests or mobile-integrated devices) could be part of the solution. The goal of this project is not to reinvent the system, but to work with the current data and structure to build something practical: a small, measurable impact in one community that shows this approach is worth continuing. The long-term goal is to develop a platform that could be adapted and scaled, while continuing to bring together technology, healthcare, and community-centered design in a meaningful way.

About the Millennium Fellow

Kunal Ponkshe is a Biomedical Engineering student at Georgia Institute of Technology with a minor in Computer Science. He is passionate about healthcare equity, and his work focuses on combining biotechnology, data, engineering, and systems thinking to improve diagnostic access for underserved populations. With experience in research, clinical work, and community engagement, Kunal is committed to designing healthcare solutions that are not only innovative, but sustainable and accessible. He hopes to use his technical background to build biotech-enabled, data-driven tools and frameworks that support long-term impact and advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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