August 20, 2021
In this alum spotlight, we chat with Ina Liu, Pharm.D., MS (’18, ’20), Clinical Manager at UNC Hospitals at WakeBrook, a behavioral health facility. Recently, Liu participated in a World Health Organization contest to develop a public service announcement to increase awareness of COVID-19 safety precautions. Liu, who won the PSA contest, developed a public service announcement that aimed to “checkmate” COVID-19 transmission. Learn more about where she found her inspiration:
Q: What prompted you to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) contest?
A: I have always had a very strong interest in the intersection of art and healthcare communication and how graphic design can be utilized to share complex ideas in a simple and understandable way. My mentor (Vibhuti Arya Pharm.D., MPH) saw this opportunity and forwarded it my way. Since COVID-19 was a new disease with new complicated science jargon, I wanted to leverage art to promote science communication with a more equitable and understandable reach.
Q: You integrated the game of chess into your PSA. How did you develop your idea?
A: I actually had some trouble coming up with a very catchy/creative idea. So I actually procrastinated in coming up with a design, spending most of my days binge watching the show that just came out during time called ‘The Queens Gambit.’ I then learned in the news and media about how this show and online chess were becoming more popular among the youth during the pandemic as a way to connect people during quarantine. Since this design lab was catered to reaching the youth community, I wanted to leverage the idea of chess and how we can make different moves to ‘checkmate’ COVID-19.
Q: How do you hope to increase awareness with your PSA?
A: I hope the PSA shows people that there are a lot of ways we can work together to beat COVID-19. In doing more research for this design, I found that the concept of chess is naturally a universal connection for all of us as we face and beat the pandemic together, as the chess motto is ‘Gens una sumus,’ or Latin for ‘We are one people.’ Moreover, the design was very intentional to increase awareness of different ways to reduce transmission; for instance, the chess pieces to reduce transmission were white because white moves first in chess, to symbolize how we can be proactive to beating COVID-19. In the end, it was truly an honor working with the WHO team to get the idea into reality and could not have done it without their wonderful collaboration.
Q: How do you help to increase awareness of COVID-19 safety in your day-to-day role?
A: In my day-to-day role here at WakeBrook, we have been working very diligently to increase awareness about COVID-19 for our behavioral health patients. A lot of our recent focus has been centered on the COVID-19 vaccine and promoting vaccine awareness for our patients.
View Liu’s public service announcement on Twitter: