Advocacy Initiative — Student Advocates

Leadership

Sarah Lawrence

Program Director
Peace and Conflict Studies BA, UC Berkeley
MD candidate, UCLA

• Led the on-the-ground efforts to redesign healthcare delivery in East Timor.
• Worked on the “Winning the Hearts and Minds” campaign in southern Afghanistan.
• Worked as an emergency medic for two years in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Founded Prosperas International, an NGO working to address maternal and childhood malnutrition in the Philippines through sustainable community gardens.

Anshal Gupta

Content Generation and Education Committee Chair
Integrative Biology BS with emphasis in Human Biology and Health Science, UC Berkeley
Master in Translational Medicine candidate
UCSF

• Anshal is in his first year of the joint UC Berkeley/UCSF Masters of Translational Medicine program. A biologist trained as an engineer, Anshal is interested in building needs-driven technologies that can decrease the gap in global equity. With experience introducing a novel malarial diagnostic tool in Kenya, a country at a pivotal stage in its fight for elimination, Anshal has experience in launching community health engagement projects. In addition, he hopes to learn more about how technology can be successfully integrated into existing infrastructure to promote positive health outcomes in underserved communities.

Clare Mosko

Internship Coordinator
Biology, Political Science double major
UC Davis

• UC Davis Model United Nations team where she competes on the national circuit and serves as the executive officer of public relations.
• Traveled to Ecuador to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary where she rehabilitated and reintroduced animals in the Amazon rainforest.

Betty Nguyen

Program Development and Evaluation Coordinator
Biology, BS
UCLA

• Logistics Co-Chair, Los Angeles Global Health Conference 2016 and 2017
• 2014-2015 President of the UCLA Residential Life On Campus Housing Council, serving as the official student representative for over 11,000 students living
• Conducting ethnographic research interviewing homeless families with substance use disorder in Los Angeles County

Mili Patel

Community Outreach and Engagement Coordinator
Human Biology and Society major

• Member of the Assessing Resident's Ci-Care (ARC) Medical Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
• Research associate for the UCLA Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases,
• Research and development associate of Fellowship for International Service and Health (FISH)

Jacqueline Pei

Advocacy and Training Coordinator
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major
UCLA

• Assistant Politics Editor and the co-Director of Social Outreach of FEM Magazine; helps create accessible feminist literature, resources, and events meant to politically engage communities within and without UCLA.
• Works for the UCSD Institute for Genomic Medicine studying gene editing and stem cell therapies for treating various eye diseases.

Rene Rosas

Social Media Committee Chair
International Development Studies major, Global Health minor and Labor and Workplace Studies minor
UCLA

• Research scholar for the UCLA Grand Challenges Research Scholars Program.
• Currently in Lima & Iquitos, Peru to learn about the health disparities and practices in the country.
• Plans to work at an NGO in the field of international development and/or global health.

Advocates

UC Berkeley

Maya Guhan

Content Generation and Education Committee
Public Health major

• In high school, the majority of her advocacy work focused on criminal rehabilitation, foster care, and minimizing the impacts of human trafficking with different legislative solutions.
• Now teaches high school students in lower income/low resource neighborhoods the tools of advocacy: how to isolate issues in their neighborhoods and how to effectively advocate for pieces of legislation that best represent their interests.
• Writes for the Berkeley Health and Wellness Letter, a publication endorsed by the U.S. News & World Report, Money Magazine, and the Washington Post for number one in health and wellness advice.

Katelyn Klein

Content Generation and Education Committee
Molecular and Cell Biology major, Disability Studies minor

• Health Advocate at Highland Hospital in Oakland connecting patients to public benefits and community resources
• Behavioral Technician with children on the Autism spectrum where she facilitates social interactions and carries out detailed programs to increase the children's capabilities.
• Member of the Disabled Student Union and an Arthritis Foundation Ambassador, advocating for individuals living with disability and chronic illness

Sofia Lochner

Community Outreach Committee
Molecular and Cell Biology major, emphasis on Neurobiology

• Studied abroad in Monteverde, Costa Rica where she conducted research on a fair-trade coffee farm
• Worked in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the Bissell breast cancer research laboratory.
• Mentors low-income, first-generation teenage girls through a STEM summer camp at UCSB.

Megha Majumder

Content Generation and Education Committee
Toxicology, Public Health (Epidemiology), Sociology triple major

• Founder and CEO of Humans of India, a page with nearly 200,000 followers.
• Worked with Indian politicians to assist and help fund the implementation of a community-based reproductive and maternal health initiative.
• Co-founded a student organization on campus, The Alpha Generation, which became an outlet for students interested exploring specific issues

UC Davis

Connor Grant

Community Outreach Committee
Neuroscience, Physiology, and Behavior major

• Member of the Chancellor's Undergraduate Advisory Board
• Research associate within the department of cardiothoracic surgery at the UC Davis Medical Center
• Emergency Medicine Research Associate Program at UCDMC,
• Pursuing a future career in surgical oncology and is looking to combine his passion for healthcare and interest in the political system to this internship.

Brenna Kiniry

Content Generation and Education Committee
Microbiology BS, Microbiology PhD candidate

• PhD in microbiology from UC Davis. Her dissertation work focused on elucidating CD8⁺ T-cell responses to HIV-1 in human mucosal tissues with the aim of informing the development of anti-HIV therapeutics and vaccines.
• Actively involved in community science education, high school STEM mentoring, and local entrepreneurship as a co-founder of a corrective exercise studio.

Brynna Thigpen

Content Generation and Education Committee
Psychology, Anthropology, and French triple major

• Interned at the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Yaounde, Cameroon
• Founded the UC Davis Cross Country and Track club and later walked onto the UC Davis Track and Cross Country teams, where she ran the 800m and 1500m.
• Volunteered at a rural student-run clinic focusing on holistic healing

UC Hastings

Johanna Williams

Community Outreach Committee
JD candidate

• Concentrating in Health Care Law and Policy, and has an extensive background in disability rights advocacy.
• Worked as the Community Relations Coordinator for the city of Aspen, CO, where she spent three years implementing projects to increase the city's ADA accessibility.
• Editor of the Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal

UC Irvine

Elsie Dominguez

Content Generation and Education Committee
Public Health Policy major, Political Science and Management minor

• Executive board member and program manager for Students for Global Peacebuilding (SGP)
• Assistant Public Health Lead for Engineers Without Borders (EWB), she helped design an educational plan for improving the health of the Malagasy living in Maventiebo, Madagascar.
• Currently developing a hygiene and sanitation program to implement in EWB's next project.

Teresa Gaspar

Social Media Committee
Law, Criminology and Society and Education Sciences double major

• ANNPOWER Vital Voices fellow: started her own nonprofit programs to serve low-income youth.
• Teresa is hands on with impoverished communities in Central Mexico, part of an Environmental Hazards Team
• A leader in the National Organizing and Steering Committees in ASUCI, she convenes with student leaders to discuss and strategize on food security, global health, social justice, and education and basic needs efforts on campus.
• Recognized with the Change of the Future Award and represented her city as Miss Oceanside Princess.

Nalima Joshi

Community Outreach Committee
Public Health Policy major

• Works at UCI Environmental Health and Safety, under the Research Safety Department
• Newsletter Committee member and Socials Chairs in Global Health Research, Education, and Translation (GRHEAT), which is a student governed class that promotes awareness of global issues to students across campus.

UCLA

Dana Connolly

Content Generation and Education Committee
Nursing, NP major

• Works in the Emergency Department at UCLA Santa Monica.
• Traveled to Kenya, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua on medical mission trips.
• Taught health workshops to teens at underserved high schools in LA and was on the Global Action in Nursing Board.

UC Merced

Kesia Garibay

Social Media Committee
Public Health major, Business Management minor

• Funded through the CAMP program to conduct research on oral health.
• President of the Public Health Society (PHS) and helped implemented a homeless prevention week and have partnered with the Boys and Girls club to develop a nutrition program for the kids in the Central Valley.

Morelia Marines

Community Outreach Committee
Public Health and Psychology major

• Intern for the Merced County Department of Public Health, where she worked to help improve nutrition in local elementary schools by working with a local school board member as well as the members of the Merced County Department of Public Health.
• Research assistant for Dr. Mariaelena Gonzalez in the Public Health Department
• Traveled to Peru, where she researched the education system of the small villages alongside the Amazon River

UC Riverside

Nicholas Freeman

Community Outreach Committee
Biology BS
Master's of Public Policy candidate

• Conducted research through the MARC U STAR program.
• Clinical Care Volunteer at Riverside Community Hospital.
• Mentors a youth grant-makers committee at the Riverside Community Foundation.
• Nicholas plans to pursue medicine and use his education in public policy to aid in closing the gaps between health and access for all communities.

Janine Gharghoury

Content Generation and Education Committee
Public Policy BA candidate

• Legislative Intern for Congressman Raul Ruiz, MD working on local healthcare initiatives and legislation related to the Affordable Care Act and NIH funding.
• Dean's Student Ambassador for the UCR School of Public Policy, through which she currently serves as the SPP Community Service Chair.
• Currently a Research Fellow for Congressman Ruiz, and intends to pursue a career in Medicine and Healthcare Policy upon graduation.

Kaity McCulloh

Social Media Committee
Master's of Public Policy Candidate

• Kaity studied comparative healthcare at the UC Center London and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
• Kaity is currently interning with the San Diego County Health And Human Services Agency in the Behavioral Health Services division.

Marianne Melleka-Boules

Master of Public Policy

• Since graduation, Marianne has been working on Tobacco Control policy for Riverside County.
• Currently continuing her graduate student research role for the UCR School of Public Policy.
• Marianne is the daughter of Egyptian immigrants and has traveled broadly, seeing first hand the importance of global health funding.

UC San Diego

Samantha Streuli

Content Generation and Education Committee
Anthropology PhD candidate

• PhD student in the Department of Anthropology who uses a biocultural approach to examine the ways in which social inequality is physically embodied to produce health disparities for marginalized women.
• Her research is particularly focused around issues of public health, refugee experiences, gender, race, class, psychosocial stress, migration, and trauma.
• Developed the Anthropology Mentor-Protégé Program (AMPP) at UC San Diego, and currently serves as the director of that program

Bannet Muhoozi

Community Outreach Committee
Biomedical Engineering BS
MD candidate

• Born in Kampala, Uganda and also lived in Tanzania and Ethiopia where he was exposed to regions with limited access to basic healthcare and very low patient-doctor ratios.
• Given this upbringing, he is excited to engage in political advocacy as very practical way to support the communities he was once a part of.
• With a background in engineering, medicine and public health research, Bannet is interested in innovative community based interventions that improve public health outcomes.

Mina Botros

Social Media Committee
Biochemistry major, Global Health minor

• Interned at Loma Linda University as a research associate for Dr. Johnny Figueroa in the Department of Neuroscience.
• MEDLIFE club, where he is able to do community service and give back to the underserved communities.

UCSF

Ashley Yang

Social Media Committee
International Relations and Global Economy BA, French and Natural Sciences minors
Master's in Global Health Sciences candidate

• Worked with EMERGENCY, a European NGO that provides medical treatment to victims of conflict and poverty, during their expansion to the United States.
• Served as a peer health educator to middle school students in underserved areas of Los Angeles.

UC Santa Cruz

Mariati Messinger

Community Outreach Committee
Biology BS

• UCSC Student Ambassador for the Consortium for Global Health (CUGH) Conference.
• Santa Cruz AIDS Project volunteer, assisting HIV-positive clients by conducting HIV testing and delivering educational presentations on social stigma and preventative methods.
• Conducted research for an effective drug treatment for Elephantiasis and African River Blindness.
• Reporter for the UCSC newspaper, City on a Hill Press

Jonathan Tsou

Social Media Committee
Undecided major

• Veterans Benefits Coach
• Advocate for Planned Parenthood
• Member of the UCSC Arboretum Marketing and Communication Board.
• Interned as a Digital Communications intern for Arcadia Unified School District and was a freelance writer for Beacon Media News.