Courtney attended University of California, Berkeley and received B.A.s in Molecular and Cell Biology, Legal Studies, and Gender Studies. While at UC Berkeley as a Rose Hills Fellow, she conducted independent research on the healthcare experiences of lesbian and transgender breast cancer patients and survivors. She was motivated to pursue this research to explore how her mom, a lesbian breast cancer patient, was experiencing her journey through diagnosis and treatment in their rural and medically underserved community. Having solidified her interest in health equity, she attended Harvard Medical School for a Masters in Bioethics. Her research focused on integrating cultural humility into medical education as a way to ensure culturally-sensitive care. Additional research explores how to support LGBTQ+ survivors of sexual violence and provide mental health care for underserved populations.
She currently serves as a Teaching Assistant for PubH 6741: Public Health Ethics-Practice and Policy within the School of Public Health. Additionally, she is a predoctoral fellow for the NCI T32 Cancer Disparities Training Program within the University of Minnesota Medical School Program in Health Disparities. In other capacities she volunteers as a Violence Prevention Educator for The Aurora Center. As a Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration Ph.D. student in the Sociology of Health and Illness track, she hopes to continue advancing social justice and health equity by addressing ethical, legal, and social complexities created when identities intersect within the healthcare system.