Madison Walia-Peters

Scientist and Health Equity Advocate

Residence: Hoboken, NJ

Citizenship: USA, Australia

A Bit About Me

Madison Walia-Peters is a junior at Hoboken High School with a passion for public health policy and medicine. A Governor's STEM Scholar and 2nd Prize winner at the USA Physics Olympiad, Madison has written research on the future of genome editing, discussing both risks and potential national and international regulations. Her research on the relationship between access to healthcare and the mental wellbeing of teens is pending publication. This summer, Madison received a full scholarship to attend the Stevens Institute of Technology Pre-College program, where she studied pre-med biomedical engineering.

Beyond her academic achievements, Madison is also actively involved in her community. She served as a council member for the Hoboken Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission and was elected Hoboken High School's Secretary in her junior year. She also co-founded the school's Health and Wellness Committee, which organizes citywide events such as blood drives, suicide prevention fundraisers, and domestic violence awareness seminars. She has advocated for modernizing her high school by corralling her schoolmates to publicly weigh in on a town-wide referendum.

In addition to her academic and extracurricular pursuits, Madison is also a competitive volleyball player. Her club team qualified for the USA Volleyball Nationals in 2019 and 2023 and was ranked in the top 1% nationally last year. She has also been co-captain of the Hoboken High School volleyball team since her sophomore year.

A certified Red Cross lifeguard, Madison enjoys gastronomy and surfing in her spare time. In the future, she hopes to advocate for health equity as a doctor, making healthcare accessible to all.