#foreverduke

For Duke biology alumna and medical resident Jennifer Farrell ’04, app development was an unexpected venture, but one that may help to save lives around the world.

While at Duke, Farrell was an on-campus volunteer emergency medical technician. She also participated in the Sanford School’s Hart Leadership Program, which allowed her to pursue her passion for medicine in South Africa. There she implemented a first aid curriculum in 15 schools and experienced her first taste of EMT work overseas.

Following on from this, in 2012 she went to Bangladesh and provided emergency medical response training to around 1,500 people. However, the lack of a 911-style system meant that volunteer first responders had no way of being connected to accidents. In an attempt to bridge this gap, Farrell launched the nonprofit CriticaLink.

The CriticaLink app utilizes location-based mobile networks to alert medical volunteers to nearby accidents. In Bangladesh, where an estimated 82 percent of accident victims die before they reach a hospital, Farrell’s CriticaLink can make the difference between life and death.

Winner of Bangladesh’s National App Award in 2015, CriticaLink has been widely recognized as having significant potential for global application. Based on the success of the pilot phase, which serves the capital city of Dhaka with 150 trained responders, Farrell’s goal is to create a lasting model that operates around the world and provides a life-saving service to those who need it most.

Sunny Frothingham PPS’14 demonstrates principled leadership through her activism in service of marginalized groups. As a senior researcher at Democracy North Carolina, she uses both research and advocacy to expand electoral participation and address issues of social justice.

 Prior to joining Democracy NC, Frothingham was a senior researcher for Women’s Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. and an organizer for Everytown for Gun Safety.

A public policy and women’s studies student at Duke, Frothingham was also a campus activist, working to promote policy reforms on some of the same issues she now deals with at Democracy NC. As co-president of Duke Students for Gender Neutrality she advocated for trans-inclusive student housing and health coverage. Frothingham also served as the Duke Student Government Director of LGBTQ Affairs and Policy and worked closely with university administrators to facilitate policy changes.

She graduated with high distinction for her honors thesis, which tackled contemporary approaches towards gender-neutral housing in higher education. She also received the 2014 Dora Anne Little Service Award in recognition of advocacy work that extended beyond the classroom. 

Classmate Jacob Tobia T’14 said: “Sunny’s support of the trans community and tireless advocacy for gender-neutral housing during her time on campus played a substantial role in making Duke the place it is today.

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