Founder: Alyssa Shah
Alyssa Shah is a high school sophomore who created the DrugSense Initiative, an online digital academy, to educate teens about the dangers of vaping and substance abuse. Alyssa is a caring, hard-working, and innovative self-starter who wants to be a global trailblazer and make an impact.
Alyssa partnered with pediatricians and addiction specialists to create learning modules, videos, and interactive lessons on the brains’ response to nicotine and e-cigarettes, the effects of addiction, marketing tactics that target teens, and advocacy/assistance. Her curriculum uses engaging content that targets teens, the very ones can benefit the most from awareness campaigns. Housed on an interactive platform by EThreeZone, each lesson includes takeaway questions to ensure that the material is being understood, allowing her to tailor the curriculum to provide maximum benefit. In 2018, Alyssa received a grant from The Medical Letter to implement the DrugSense Initiative, and this past year, the online curriculum was used in two middle schools in Westchester, New York, impacting over 500 children.
DrugSense Initiative is already used by several pediatricians in their practices as well. Alyssa has also partnered with 3 additional middle schools in 2020 and hopes to educate as many children as possible about the dangers of vaping and substance abuse. Alyssa plans to use her computer science and biology knowledge to further promote social progress, but when she is not at school or working on the DrugSense Initiative, you can find her on the volleyball court or in a painting studio.
