2019-2020 Board

Roberto Gonzalez is a second year medical student in Charles R. Drew University and PRIME-LA at the David Geffen School of Medicine. He learned the importance of perseverance and “ganas” (grit) while growing up as a second generation immigrant and first generation college student in Pacoima, California. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles in psychobiology. Inspired by his community, he leads various local and national mentorship efforts as Chief Mentoring Officer of MiMentor and Co-Chair of CDU LMSA to increase the number of underrepresented students in medicine. His research interests are learning community-based participatory research and conducting research to improve diversity in the healthcare workforce. As an aspiring primary care physician leader, he hopes to continue to learn how to eliminate health disparities that disproportionately affect people of color through education, research, and clinical care. Roberto values familia (family) above all. Welcome to our LMSA familia!

Marcos Muñoz is a second-year student in the UCLA PRIME program. He grew up in Anaheim, CA and is a son of Mexican immigrant parents. After graduating from Savanna High School, he attended UCLA for undergrad where he obtained a Biology, B.S. Through his involvement as a Spanish interpreter at community clinics he saw a need in addressing health care disparities in vulnerable populations. In addition to his passion for medicine, he also has an interest in mentoring the next generation of leaders. At UCLA, he assisted students from undeserved South Los Angeles in successfully applying to post-secondary education. After graduating from UCLA in 2014, he continued working in the education sector as an academic assistant helping at-risk students remediate courses and transition back into a traditional high school setting. During his gap years, he also served as a board member for MiMentor, a national mentorship organization focused on supporting the next generation of healthcare leaders. This past summer, Marcos was selected to participate in the NMF-Primary Care Leadership Program at AltaMed Health Services Corporation. During his free time, he enjoys going to the zoo with his wife and son.

Emmanuel Cordova was born in Mexico and raised in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He credits his passion for medicine being driven by the social factors he faced growing up. He lived as an undocumented immigrant for over 20 years working since the age of 13 to overcome educational barriers and poverty. He first attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania graduating with a double major in Health & Societies, Hispanic Studies, and a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. After college, he spent two years working in a health equity research lab where he came to understand the importance of both medicine and research in alleviating the health disparities of immigrant, underserved, and minority communities. He hopes to become an Emergency Medicine physician conducting health equity research. Currently, he serves as Secretary and Medical Student Representative for the UCLA chapter of LMSA.

Moises Bravo was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada by loving parents who immigrated from Mexico. After graduating with a degree in Biology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he took some gap years and is now a medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine. Growing up in a Spanish-speaking household allowed him to see the struggles his family experienced due to communication misunderstandings. Moises is passionate about advocating for patients who are unable to do so for themselves.

I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad where I grew up. Later in my childhood I moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York. Upon graduating high school, I attended William E. Macaulay Honors College where I triple-majored in biology, psychology, and interdisciplinary studies with a double-minor in physical and cultural anthropology. When I was a child my mother carried me with her on night shifts. She was a social worker in various homeless shelters. These were my first experiences with medicine and public health. I witnessed the effects of mental illness, drug abuse, and limited access to healthcare. In addition to belonging to the Black, Latino, and Caribbean communities I am also a member of the LGBT community. My upbringing has shown me that there are US regions with urgent need for healthcare. I have decided to pursue medicine and be the voice of change that I wish to see. I intend to serve the underserved communities that made me who I am. Serving as the LMSA LGBT representative is one of the many ways in which I am working towards change.

Andreé is a second year medical student in the PRIME-LA program at DGSOM. She was born in Guatemala and migrated to the U.S. when she was six years old. Andreé graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in Human Developmental & Regenerative Biology and a minor in Latino Studies. She is particularly interested in immigrant health and barriers immigrant patients face when attempting to access health care. Andreé’s lived experiences as an immigrant and those of her community led her to develop a deep desire to combine social justice with medicine and she strives to become a physician-advocate that works with and for resilient communities like the ones that raised her.

Diana Lopez was born and raised in South Los Angeles, and is the youngest of four. She attended UC Berkeley where she became involved in Chican@s/Latin@s in Health Education. After graduating in 2014 she attend the UCSF Post Baccalaureate Program and finished in 2015. Diana plans to become a primary care physician working in undeserved communities like the one she grew up in.

I am currently a second year and part of the Charles R. Drew/UCLA Medical Education Program. I was born in Lima, Perú and was raised in the San Fernando Valley. In community college, I was involved with the Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) Program as a tutor where I helped students, most of whom were Latinos from disadvantaged communities, succeed in chemistry and biology. During this time of my life, I began to identify barriers faced by my community, not just in education but also in healthcare. As a volunteer at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, it amazed me how often I was asked to translate for a physician, especially within predominately Spanish-speaking communities where there continues to be a strong need for bilingual healthcare providers. Through LMSA, I aspire to acquire the proper tools to best care for the surrounding communities in Los Angeles with the strong hope of one day serving the San Fernando Valley as a physician.

I was born and raised in the beautiful, sunny City of Angels. I am a first generation college graduate from UC Santa Barbara. At UCSB I worked closely with my organization Los Curanderos, the Education Department, and the MCDB Department as a CAMP Scholar. I also attended the UCSF PostBac, where I gained valuable clinical experience and amazing mentors. Now I am fortunate enough to be back in the LA area as part of the Drew/UCLA program. I am passionate about working with immigrant communities, much like my own, and aspire to become a pediatric hematologist/oncologist. Some of my hobbies include dancing (salsa, merengue, bachata...list goes on), running (working on getting the courage to sign up for my second marathon), and spending time outdoors, especially the beach. I am excited to be part of the LMSA Board as part of the Mentorship and Lennox Fair teams.

I was born in Chicago and raised in a small town in Wisconsin. People often wonder, “Are there paisas up in Wisconsin?” And to tell you the truth, we’re probably outnumbered by the cows. I grew up in an area where most people weren’t very fond of immigrants. Although my family could pretend we didn’t notice, we couldn’t ignore the language barrier. This was especially problematic at the doctor. Often times, physicians thought it simpler to walk away from my parents than to use interpreter services to give them the help they needed. Seeing the impact that had on my parents motivated me to pursue medicine and give back to the immigrant communities.

Jairo grew up and attended school in Inglewood, CA. He graduated City Honors High School (The name has changed to something longer) and attended UC Irvine. He was originally a Mechanical Engineering major but realized that he lost interest within the first few weeks, so he pursued the switch into biological sciences. With biology, he was very interested in pursuing a career in teaching sciences at a high school level. During his third year, he discovered the Chicano/Latinos for Community Medicine (CCM) chapter at UC Irvine. That was his first exposure in health. Over time with more experiences, guidance from mentors, and support from the UC Irvine LMSA chapter he felt confident enough to pursue medicine. It was a perfect field to integrate education, science, health, and tackle on social injustices that are disproportionately affecting certain communities. He hopes to pursue a career in infectious disease with a huge emphasis on health education, destigmatization of infections and illnesses, and community engagement.

Sarai Santos is a first-generation Guatemalan-American born and raised in San Bernardino County. She received her BA in molecular biology at Pomona College where she began pursuing her interest in medicine. Through her work at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, she gained an better understanding of health disparities and the importance of advocacy in alleviating them. During her time in the CDU-UCLA medical education program, she hopes to continue working on issues of social justice and healthcare access of underserved communities.

Alex is the son of immigrants from Chihuahua, Mexico. He spent his childhood years in Duarte, California before moving to Hesperia where he eventually graduated from high school. He attended community college prior to matriculating and graduating from the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) where he majored in biochemistry. It was at CSUSB where he connected with mentors who helped shape his future and provided him the opportunities to excel as a leader. He helped organize pre-health conferences that targeted thousands of students throughout Southern California. Alex also worked as a supplemental general chemistry instructor and as an advisor at the university. Currently, he is in his second year of medical school.

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Vanessa Rangel spent part of her childhood in Mexico, while her father worked as an undocumented gardener in California. Her mother raised her and her siblings in Mexico before they were able to relocate to La Habra, California. Growing up she recognized the opportunity to overcome the challenges that her family faced through a good education. After attending UCLA, she realized that, like herself, many people in underserved communities experienced disparities during situations in which they were unable to pay for their medications and/or were denied access to comprehensive care due to health insurance coverage limitations. Vanessa’s desire to pursue medicine solidified through experiences in organizations such as Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine (CCM), Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC) Summer Scholars Program, UCLA PREP, HIGH AIMS, AltaMed's AmeriCorps Program and many others. With the leadership experience she gained as the President of MiMentor, she hopes to continue implementing innovative mentoring programs to help reach more pre-health professional students in an effort to continue advancing the research and service of the medical field. Vanessa is part of UCLA PRIME pursuing a combined MD/MBA to become a strong leader in medicine for medically underserved communities. Vanessa is excited to be part of the LMSA community that already feels like a second family. =)

A second-year medical student at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine with PRIME-LA, Miriam Ramos, has a passion for serving medically underserved communities and mentoring students. She was born and raised in El Salvador until the age of fourteen. She is a first-generation college student and graduated in 2014 with a BS in Biological Sciences and a minor in Spanish from the University of California, Irvine. As an undergraduate, she shared information in Spanish about healthy nutrition at health fairs to a low-income community as part of the board for Chicanos/Latinos for Community Medicine (CCM). Miriam was also a case manager volunteer and co-coordinator of a diabetes class for uninsured patients. She contributed to the planning of the class curriculum and provided one-on-one support and self-management skills to the patients from the diabetes class. As a medical student, she has volunteered at the Mobile Clinic Project by providing health care services to the homeless population in LA and is currently part of the Pediatric Medical Home Journal Project at UCLA as well as the Medical Spanish Interest Group. She has also mentored high school students and undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in medicine. During her free time, she likes to sleep, spend time with family, exercise, or watch shows on Netflix. Miriam is excited to be part of the LMSA mentorship and community service team this year!

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Justo Caballero, the son of Mexican and Peruvian immigrant parents, was born and raised in San Diego, California. He graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelors of Science in Bioengineering were he pursued his passion for developing affordable and sustainable solutions to unmet medical needs in underserved communities. After college, he worked at a senior community center in the Mission District of San Francisco, as part of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, where he provided essential social services and was an advocate for low-income seniors. Additionally, the year after, he helped increase awareness and improve colon cancer screening rates amongst various clinics in his hometown through the Family Health Centers of San Diego. Now, he is an MS2 at the David Geffen School of Medicine and is part of the PRIME-LA program. He hopes to pursue an MBA in hopes of implementing a more inclusive health systems framework and creating innovative health care centers that provide high quality and equitable care to underserved communities.

Christian is a second year medical student in the Charles R Drew University/ UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine program. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley where he earned a BA in Psychology and Dance & performance studies. During his 2 gap years he researched neuro-ophthalmologic autoimmune disorders of the optic nerve at UCSF and danced professionally in a modern dance company in SF. His desire to work with underserved communities stems from growing up in impoverished circumstances, his family not having access to affordable healthcare, hindrance to healthcare due to immigration status and confrontation with language barriers in the hospital setting. Outside of the grind in medical school, he enjoys binge watching Netflix, yoga, hiking, exploring new bars, exploring LA and all things sci-fi!

Jesus Medina is a second year medical student in the PRIME-LA program and the Charles R. Drew medical education program. He grew up in Lompoc, California and attended college at the University of California, Riverside where he majored in Biology. A first-generation college student, he was part of numerous pipeline and mentorship programs which helped him succeed. He then became actively involved in mentoring undergraduate students interested in medicine, high school students interested in healthcare, as well as tutoring disadvantaged students. Volunteering as a medical Spanish translator at the Riverside Free Clinic, he found his passion for medicine and working with underserved populations. During his free time, he enjoys exploring LA and trying new restaurants.