From left: Janissa Delzo, Linnea Langkammer, and Sharnita Midgett
By Linnea Langkammer
Three new interns have joined the Penn Memory Center communications team, bringing together unique perspectives and skill sets for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Janissa Delzo, Linnea Langkammer, and Sharnita Midgett will work with Communications and Marketing Manager Terrence Casey and Communications Assistant Joyce Lee.
“This year’s interns bring backgrounds in public health, health communication and multimedia,” Casey said. “I look forward to seeing the impact they will make during their time at PMC.”
The group will be involved in PMC communication at all levels, assisting with general writing and reporting and taking on more significant challenges like penning Sunday Reads or producing Memory Café videos each month. Their editorial work will explore topics such as stigma and Alzheimer’s disease, caregiving, and the implications of PMC research. Interns will work directly with PMC clinicians, staff, and patients to continue dementia-related reporting.
Delzo and Midgett are both earning their Master’s of Public Health, at the University of Pennsylvania and La Salle University respectively. Langkammer recently received a Master’s of Fine Arts in Film and Media Arts from Temple University.
Delzo is a freelance journalist whose writing has been published by CNN, Newsweek, Everyday Health, Teen Vogue, and Business Insider, and more. She graduated with a bachelor’s in journalism and minors is health and communication and sports communication from Emerson College. She’s passionate about health and science communication as well as mentoring young students.
Langkammer will bring her video experience to PMC as a filmmaker, freelance videographer, and adjunct professor. In addition to her MFA, she has a bachelor’s in film studies and behavioral neuroscience from Connecticut College. With her diverse background in science and storytelling, she hopes to weave compelling imagery, emotional stories, and moral ambiguities.
Midgett has a bachelor’s in English at Temple University and has interned as a writer for several organizations. She is a Gates Scholar who hopes to use media and communications for healthy change. She is currently working on a documentary with Dawn’s Place.