This recent Lancet profile featuring Sarah Baird traces her personal and professional journey that led her to become a leading voice in global health and development economics. As featured in the article, a pivotal moment came during her PhD at UC Berkeley, when she spent six months in Busia, Kenya, working under the mentorship of Edward Miguel during the first data collection round of the Kenya Life Panel Survey (KLPS). That immersive fieldwork experience shaped her commitment to causal evidence and policy impact, launching a career focused on improving adolescent health through rigorous research.