Celebrating UIL Team Member Akhil Mandalapu's Acceptance to Harvard Medical School

Profile

Akhil graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2023. Since joining the Urban Information Lab in 2021, he has been an integral part of our team, working under the supervision of Dr. Kijin Seong, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab. During his time with us, Akhil has contributed to multiple projects focused on climate change and its challenges within health systems. 

His primary research area in the lab centered on the intersection of urban design and public health, particularly in the context of climate change resilience and environmental justice. Notably, Akhil investigated the impact of built environmental factors and extreme heat on emergency medical service (EMS) accessibility, performance, and utilization. Collaborating closely with Dr. Junfeng Jiao and Dr. Kijin Seong, Akhil has co-authored seven peer-reviewed journal articles and contributed to three projects presented at conferences, including one poster presentation. He is currently working on two more peer-reviewed journal papers.

1. Mandalapu, A., Seong, K., Jiao, J. (2024) Evaluating Urban Fire Vulnerability and Accessibility to Fire Stations and Hospitals in Austin, Texas. PLOS Climate.

2.Seong, K., Jiao, J., Mandalapu, A., & Niyogi, D. (2024). Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Heat Index and Heat-Related Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Sustainable Cities and Society, 111, 105562. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2024.105562

3.Seong, K., Jiao, J., & Mandalapu, A. (2023). Hourly Associations between Heat Index and Heat-Related Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Calls in Austin-Travis County, Texas. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(19), 6853. http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196853

4.Seong, K., Jiao, J., & Mandalapu, A. (2023). Effects of Urban Environmental Factors on Heat-related Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Response Time. Applied Geography, 155, 102956. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.102956

5.Seong, K., Jiao, J., & Mandalapu, A. (2022). Evaluating the effects of heat vulnerability on heat-related emergency medical service incidents: Lessons from Austin, Texas. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 50(3), 776–795. http://doi.org/10.1177/23998083221129618

6.Jiao, J., Bhat, M. R., Azimian, A., Mandalapu, A., & Farahi, A. (2022). Housing market price movements under tech industry expansion during COVID-19. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 16(3), 628-641. http://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-02-2022-0022

7.Mandalapu, A., Jiao, J., & Azimian, A. (2022). Exploring the Spatial Distribution of Air Pollutants and COVID-19 Death Rate: A Case Study for Los Angeles County, California. International Journal of Geospatial and Environmental Research, 9(1). https://dc.uwm.edu/ijger/vol9/iss1/4/