2016-2017 Board

Gabriela Gonzalez, a daughter of Mexican immigrant parents born and raised in South Los Angeles graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor of science in Molecular, Cell and Development Biology. She discovered her interest in medicine while volunteering at the LAC/USC Medical Center as a high school junior in the USC Med-COR program. This early exposure helped her realize the haves and have-nots of her urban desert community. As an undergraduate, she developed key leadership skills as a long term board member for Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine. She collaborated on many initiatives to improve the URM medical student pipeline for UCLA undergraduates and on community projects ranging from health fairs to high school health programming under the advising of Dr. David E. Hayes-Bautista. Her clinical experiences before medical school at the Venice Family Clinic and as a participant of the UCLA Summer Urban Health Fellowship helped her begin to think about creating healthier communities by focusing on the social determinants of health. Her experience in the fellowship was a pivotal introduction to community-based participatory research to assess the health and healthcare access of the Day Laborer population. As a second-year medical student in the UCLA DGSOM Prime program, she still remains involved with mentorship outside of UCLA as a legacy board member with MiMentor. Growing up in a community where youth and especially women of color rarely attend college, yet alone pursue professional training has kept her grounded to continue mentoring. She hopes to pursue a surgical subspecialty and help redesign our health systems delivery approach for underserved communities.

Yosselin Arroyo-Galvan was born in Mexico City, Mexico. Her mother was a teacher and her father was working abroad in the state of Florida as a citrus farmer worker. When Yosselin was one-year old, her mother decided to join her father in America. Together, they moved and settled in Los Angeles California. Every morning Yosselin was reminded “Hechale ganas” /put forth spirit/ in her schoolwork by her mother. Yosselin excelled in grade school and joined the GATE program, where her love for science grew. On weekends Yosselin and her two younger siblings accompanied their parents on their janitorial jobs, helping to dust and sweep convalescent homes.

In high school, Yosselin excelled as a student athlete. She was awarded academic suburban scholar for soccer. On her downtime Yosselin secretly read about liberation theology narratives causing her to elect Azusa Pacific University. It was here at APU where she began her journey into humanism and science. After some humanitarian trips to developing countries, she enrolled in a masters program in USC studying Global Medicine with an emphasis in Business Administration.

In medical school, Yosselin is UCLA’s Charles Drew program and is involved in advocacy of vulnerable populations. She hopes to practice medicine in underserved communities during and after her time as a Military Navy Physician; with a mission to advocate for environmental justice and social disparities. In her free time, Yosselin enjoys exploring LA with her husband, watching her little sister’s soccer games, hiking, singing and playing Rumikub with her family. Her husband is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

"Gabriel Mendoza was born in Santa Ana, California, but lived in Westminster, CA until the age of 4. He then moved to Long Beach, CA, where his family still lives. His parents are originally from Nezacualcotyl, Mexico. Gabriel attended Lakewood High School, and subsequently attended UCLA where he graduated with a major in Neuroscience and minor in Spanish Linguistics. After graduating college, he spent a year with the AmeriCorps organization City Year, mentoring and tutoring 9th-grade students at Jordan High School in Watts. This experience, along with his upbringing in West Long Beach, has stirred a passion towards address health disparities and caring for underserved communities. Moreover, he is currently most interested in Med-Peds as a potential speciality. He is part of the CDU/UCLA Medical Education Program, and is the Treasurer for the Class of 2019. He is also Co-Coordinator of the Ultrasound Interest Group at David Geffen School of Medicine, and is helping conduct Medical Education research in Point-of-Care Ultrasound for the Department of Medicine at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. In his free time, he enjoys to watch and play sports, particularly volleyball and basketball, and dine at different restaurants in LA."

Michelle Didero was born in San Francisco and grew up in SF and Walnut Creek. She went to UC Davis and worked in the student-run clinic, Clinica Tepati, which predominantly served Sacramento’s Latino population. Upon graduating from UC Davis in 2012, she moved to Washington D.C. to work for an education-based non-profit called City Year. Through counseling high school students and running group tutoring and after-school programs, she worked to improve student retention and academic performance. Michelle completed a post-baccalaureate at UCSF and is now a second year medical student in the UCLA PRIME program. She plans to use her dual degrees as a platform for health justice advocacy and policy change to improve long-term health outcomes, especially in underserved populations.

"Leonel Martinez is a first generation Mexican-American born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Growing up in a low socioeconomic community, he was exposed to gangs, violence and a lack of resources that gave him a fist hand experience of the social determinants of health. Being part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, he overcame significant educational barriers and violence to become the first in his family to seek higher education. At UCLA, he majored in Psychobiology and got a minor in Chicano Studies. Motivated by detrimental health issues in his family, he became director of the Latino Student Health Project and a board member of Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine for three consecutive years. Through this role, he provided health care and educational resources to underserved communities in Los Angeles, the California Central Valley, and Tecate Mexico. He proved resilient and demonstrated strong character when his endeavor of higher education was jeopardized by his father’s health challenges and family’s loss of income. Fulfilling a leadership role within his family, he continued his mission to become a physician and learned to connect with patients facing similar challenges. After graduating from UCLA in 2008, he successfully completed post-baccalaureate course work through UCLA Extension while working full time as a Research Assistant at UCLA. His earnest hard work over the course of nine years, in the field of Muscular Dystrophy research, has led to multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals. As a bilingual future physician, who has a wealth of personal experience having grown in an underserved community, he has a passion to address health issues affecting those most vulnerable. As a DREW/UCLA student, he is excited to grow as an agent of change, advocate and servant leader for his community. "

"Marcela is a second year medical student of the UCLA PRIME program. She was born in Mexicali, BC, Mexico, to Chinese immigrant parents. Throughout her childhood, she was immersed in the Mexican culture while maintaining her Chinese ancestry at home. At the age of 12, Marcela and her older sister moved across the border to Calexico to attend school. After graduating from high school, Marcela attended community college and eventually graduated from UC San Diego with a major in Human Biology. Marcela is particularly interested in border health and immigrant barriers to accessing health care. Prior to medical school, Marcela worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator in nephrology and served at various clinics in San Diego, CA, that aimed to provide quality health care to the uninsured in San Diego, including the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic. Over the years, Marcela found her calling in medicine when she found a way to combine social justice with medicine to address the health inequities that many communities face. Marcela hopes to ultimately serve as a primary care physician and address the socioeconomic, linguistic, and cultural factors that affect an individual's health."

After working many odd jobs as a teen and then graduating high school, Jose looked beyond New Jersey for meaningful life experiences and funding for a college education. Soon after, he entered the US Navy where he began serving aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego, California as an aircraft handler, air traffic control tower operator and helicopter structural mechanic. Jose discovered a passion for medicine caring for his fellow sailors and marines while temporarily assigned to North Island Base Clinic in Coronado, California. Determined to become a physician, Jose parted ways with the military for full-time college. Captivated by the psychosocial issues involved in end-of-life care, he began volunteering with Sharp Hospice Care as a respite caregiver while earning a BS in Microbiology and a Minor in Film Studies from the University of California, San Diego. He then started working for the County of San Diego as an Environmental Health Technician and, later, as an Environmental Health Specialist inspecting public facilities, such as restaurants, for compliance with California state health codes and public health standards. Currently a medical student at David Geffen School of Medicine, Jose has a keen interest in social medicine, more specifically, on the structural/societal forces that shape individuals’ psychology and health-related decisions and outcomes.

Cindy Guadalupe Fernandez is a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine and also part of the UCLA PRIME program. She has a history of community service. In her undergraduate career she served on the executive board of Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine at UCLA as the Internal Coordinator working towards the improvement of healthcare access for underserved communities. She continued her passion and dedication to service as part of the AmeriCorps Community HealthCorps team at AltaMed Health Services as a health educator in chronic condition management, with an emphasis on prevention and improvement of a patient’s overall health. During her service years, she worked on a childhood obesity prevention program and strengthening collaboration among family resource centers to combat the socioeconomic barriers patients face in accessing healthcare. As a first generation college graduate and non-traditional medical student, she is passionate about mentorship and helping students realize what their own story and journey is in becoming future health professionals.

Amanda De La Cerda is a second year medical student from Sylmar, CA. After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s College in 2006, she began working as middle school science teacher at Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar, CA. Amanda found that being a leader and role model to kids that were from where she was from, and going through things she could relate to was powerful. This transformative teaching experience further motivated her to continue working with underserved populations. She was dedicated to cultivating an engaging learning environment and worked with students and their families to set realistic goals to ensure student success. During her time as a post-baccalaureate student at San Francisco State University (SFSU), she used her skills as an educator in her role as the Co-Director of the Summer Science Institute at SFSU which worked to promote the entry of underrepresented minority students into the health professions by means of academic support, community building and mentorship. While in San Francisco, she worked as a health coach at the Haight-Ashbury medical clinics. Her dedication to adolescents and the underserved population that these clinics served was evidenced by the positive results she saw with patient-led action plans and the lowering of clinical values like A1C levels. Amanda is in the UCLA PRIME program, which is dual degree program focusing on the development of leaders in medicine who will improve the health care delivery, research, and policy in underserved communities. Her experiences have taught her the importance of patience, the value of dignity and necessity of compassion when serving others.

Brenda Abarca was born and raised in Julian, CA, a rural community east of San Diego County. She grew-up in a tight-knit single parent household with a younger sister. She completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with a minor in Spanish at UCLA in 2013. While at UCLA, she was involved in Chicanos for Community Medicine, a premedical-mentorship organization for first generation students. Being a student leader in LSHP-CCM cultivated her interest in medicine. By organizing multiple health fairs and talks throughout Los Angeles, she gained a better understanding of the socioeconomic factors that impact her family and underserved communities. Brenda was part of the following pipeline programs and is always eager to share what she learned on her path to medicine: NIH Biomedical Science Enrichment Program (BISEP), UCLA Pre-medical/Pre-dental Enrichment Program (PREP), Summer Urban Health Fellowship (SUHF), & UC Davis Postbaccalaureate Program. When she is not in the books or involved with LMSA you can find her at the gym, running marathons, hiking, or hanging out with her sister and family.

Kevin Correa was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the age of 7, his family decided to move to Winchester, VA. While in Virginia, Kevin learned English and was exposed to the American way of life. After finishing 3rd grade, his family decided to move to Hemet, CA in order to be closer to family. Throughout K-12, Kevin developed a strong passion for science and thus, decided to pursue a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside. While at UC Riverside, Kevin was heavily involved with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund where he worked with other members to give presentations at middle schools to showcase the importance of attending college. As a first generation college student, Kevin was eager to explore all the different sides of science so during summers he ventured out and was involved in basic science research, science policy, and medicine. From his first clinical exposure, Kevin was hooked and was fascinated about the ties between medicine and the social implications it has on communities like his. From there, Kevin worked to strengthen his medical school application and was fortunate enough to go straight from UC Riverside into the UCLA – Charles R. Drew Medical Education program.

Jonathan Gomez is a ​2013 graduate from UC San Diego with a BS in Biology and BA in Global Health. In San Diego, he conducted diabetes research in transnational migrant communities on the US/Mexico border, published in the volume "Return Migration, Health, and Sexuality in a Transnational Mexican Community". After graduation, he was a participant in the CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars program. During this time, he interned with the UCLA NIH-funded Corner Store Project, which aimed to decrease cardiovascular disease burdens for residents of East LA through increased access to healthy foods via community-based participatory research. He then worked for two years as a health counselor in safety-net sexual health clinics serving San Francisco's LGBTQ+ Latinx communities. He aspires to obtain an MD/MPP and specialize in health delivery models to reduce inequities among LGBTQ+, Latinx, African-american, and undocumented communities.

Xiao was born in China and lived in southern California for most of her life. She attended UC Berkeley and graduated in 2011 with a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology. She was a part of several pre-health organizations at UC Berkeley, including pre-med honor society and Issues Berkeley Medical Journal. After graduating, she received her M.S. in Physiological Sciences in 2014 at UCLA, where she was involved in Care Extenders and co-founded Mental Health Initiative. She is currently in the PRIME program at David Geffen School of Medicine. In her spare time, she likes to do yoga and run.

I joined LMSA because it provides vast opportunities to contribute to diverse and underserved communities. It also provides a network of supportive medical students, community members, and mentors. Through my participation in LMSA, I hope to make a positive contribution towards our medical school and surrounding communities.

I was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California and went to UC Berkeley where I majored in Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Neurobiology. I did a one year immersion program in Berlin and 6 months in Lome, Togo (West Africa). I discovered a love for medicine after graduating through travelingd, research, patient care, and shadowing, and I am very honored to be attending my dream program here at UCLA. I am passionate about becoming a strong advocate for scientific inquiry, evidence based medicine, novel models of healthcare delivery, the modernization of medical education, and understanding what’s really going on in health care in Los Angeles and the United States. LMSA is a great platform to meet other medical students, mentor pre-health students, and learn from physicians from all over the region and country to share our different perspectives and work together on seeing innovative community service, advocacy, and mentorship ideas piloted at our various campuses and the best practices shared and adapted. When we get together and find a common voice, the message we send carries tremendous weight. I am privileged to represent UCLA DGSOM to LMSA-West for the 2015-2016 academic year, and welcome input from all classmates on how best to do this.

My name is Melissa Lopez. I am a second year UCLA Drew/PRIME student and was raised in Corona, CA. I majored in microbial biology at UC Berkeley and was the first in my family to complete a college education. After college I did Community HealthCorps in the Bronx, NY for two years. During this time I worked at a federally qualified health center as a prenatal health educator and childbirth doula. I then moved back to California and worked for the CA Department of Public Health Prenatal Screening Program at Cedars Sinai. I have an interest in reproductive health, underserved medicine, and global health. For fun, I love being outdoors running, hiking, camping, and swimming.

I was raised in San Diego, CA and grew up travelling to Guanajuato, Mexico with my family. I studied Human Biology and Global Health at UC San Diego. Later, I worked with communities in Yucatán, Jalisco, and Oaxaca, Mexico to understand the impact of migration on health. As an undergraduate, I served as a translator at the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic. My passion for medicine comes from a deep love for the Latino community; the patients and community members I worked with imprinted on me a deep sense of commitment and responsibility to stand with my community to the best of my ability. As a member of the PRIME program at UCLA DGSOM, I hope to study medical anthropology/public health and practice Family Medicine in an underserved community. Outside of school, I love (among many things) the ocean, practicing yoga and meditation, and spending time with my beautiful friends and family.

Beza was born in Ethiopia and moved to Washington DC when she was 8 years old. Her family has lived in Alhambra, CA for 16 years so she is happy to be back to Los Angeles for medical school. She received her bachelor’s degree in Physiology & Neuroscience from UC San Diego in 2010 but she made the decision to enter medicine in her last year as an undergraduate so she attended a post-bacc program in San Francisco.

Having no medical role models among family, she found mentors and clinical exposures through friendships, pre-medical organizations, and hospital visits with loved ones. Her varied experiences placed her in a wide range of settings, each with a different set of privileges and needs. This expanded her understanding of medicine and taught her that each community has a need with which she can assist. As the oldest of four, her natural urge to answer a call for help led her to the UCLA PRIME program and desire to work with underprivileged populations.

She came to DGSOM with the intent to emulate the spectacular physicians with whom she had worked in the past and correct the transgressions she saw in the health care field as a patient and family member. She considers every day in medical school to be a privilege and will continue to work hard to expand her skill set and connect to new communities with which she can work.

Beza is also a co-coordiator for the Emergency Medicine Interest Group, one of the speaker coordinators for the Minority Health Conference and involved with various other student groups at DGSOM. She tries to use any spare time she gets to catch up with family and friends, seek adventure, play volleyball, or sketch.

Cristina Villalpando grew up in Hawthorne, California. She received her Bachelors of Science in Anthropology from UCLA. While at UCLA she was involved in Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine and served as the Coordinator for the Harbor-UCLA Summer Urban Health Fellowship. Before applying to medical school she continued to pursue her interests in working with underserved communities by working at the Mar Vista Family Center where she mentored high school students about the college application process and tutored them in their coursework. She also served as a Community HealthCorps Member at AltaMed Health Services teaching health education classes throughout the community of East Los Angeles. Currently she is a second year medical student at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine through the PRIME program. During her study breaks she enjoys hanging out with her family, playing volleyball and running.