Alec Calac

Associate Director

Alec is a medical student at UC San Diego, where he is also pursuing a PhD in the Joint Doctoral Program in Public Health at the UC San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science and School of Public Health at San Diego State University. As the national president-elect of the Association of Native American Medical Students, he works tirelessly at the local, state, and federal level, identifying barriers and facilitators to greater inclusion of Native Americans in medicine and the allied health professions. He also works collaboratively with the Global Health Policy and Data Institute on research projects that synthesize public health, global health, social media, and health technology.

 Instagram: @aleccalac Twitter: @ajcalac  

Ashley Cooper 

Co-Director

Ashley Cooper is the co-director of the CPSolvers Antiracism in Medicine Series. She is currently a student at Harvard Medical School, pursuing a Master’s in Media, Medicine, and Health. She recently graduated from Harvard College in 2021 with an A.B. in Neuroscience and Anthropology and also holds an MPhil in Health, Media, and Society from the University of Cambridge. Ashley aims to increase equity in mental health care dispersal, and especially to foster increased accessibility to mental healthcare for the Black community. Ashley is also a musical theater librettist, lyricist, and actor, who seeks to create works that lie at the nexus between mental health and theatrical expression, in an effort to increase awareness of racial gradients in mental healthcare and foster elevated mental health equity for Black individuals. 

Twitter: @AshleyMCooper1

Utibe R. Essien

Team Member

Utibe Essien is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and a health disparities researcher in the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. He additionally serves as the director of the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity Program for Medical Students (CEED II) at Pitt. Dr. Essien completed Primary Care residency and General Internal Medicine fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Essien’s research focuses on developing interventions to advance equity in the management of cardiovascular diseases.

Twitter: @UREssien

Naomi Fields 

Team Member

 Naomi F. Fields is a proud Miami, FL native who studied chemistry, Africana studies, public health, and dance at Williams College. After working as a research assistant and dancer in Boston, she matriculated at the Perelman School of Medicine, where she has focused on support of underrepresented medical trainees, mentoring, and qualitative research regarding young women’s sexual health. Naomi plans to become an Internal Medicine physician and policy advocate for women’s health and reproductive justice. In her free time, you can find her on her Peloton, cooking seafood mac & cheese, and Facetiming loved ones.

Twitter: .@NaomiFFields

Kiersten TâLeigh “Gillette” Gillette-Pierce

Kiersten TâLeigh “Gillette” Gillette-Pierce (she/they) is currently a student at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health pursuing a Master of Science in Public Health with a double concentration in Maternal, Fetal, and Perinatal Health and Women, Sexual and Reproductive Health. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Public Health and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from American University. With almost ten years of experience in the global sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice field, Gillette aims to improve sexual and reproductive health care and outcomes for disenfranchised communities and significantly improve pregnancy-related outcomes for people of African descent. Gillette believes in the power of a holistic approach to health and wellness, advocating for the use of ancestral healing modalities to complement clinical medicine within In the Tradition of Our Ancestors, a holistic wellness business she started in 2020. 

Rohan Khazanchi

Former Co-Director

Rohan Khazanchi grew up in Omaha, NE and spent his undergraduate years studying neurobiology and music at Washington University in St. Louis. He is currently an M.D./M.P.H. student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Minnesota School of Public Health. His research and advocacy work have focused heavily on addressing structural racism and advancing health equity, including projects on neighborhood deprivation & HIV disparities, social & structural vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic, parental incarceration & child/adolescent access to care, and structural competency in medical education. Beyond his academic interests, Rohan is an avid musician, an ice cream connoisseur, and loves exploring new restaurants and hiking trails with his family and friends.

Twitter: .@rohankhaz

Sudarshan “Sud” Krishnamurthy

Co-Director

Sud is from Bangalore, India, and graduated from the University of South Florida, Tampa, with a BS in Biomedical Sciences. After a year conducting research in the molecular basis of aging at the NIH, he matriculated at the Wake Forest School of Medicine to pursue a MD/PhD dual-degree program. Here, he participates in community-level advocacy work and research in health equity. In his freetime, he enjoys embarking on new culinary adventures, listening to a wide variety of music, and exploring the outdoors.

Twitter: @sudkrish

Victor A. Lopez-Carmen

Team Member

Victor Lopez-Carmen, also known as Waokiya Mani in his Dakota language, is an enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe and is also from the Yaqui Nation. He received his traditional name and baptism as a baby on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation, attended traditional ceremonies every year of his life, and remains an active member of his communities today. Currently, he is a third-year MD student at Harvard Medical School (HMS).  He also advocates for Indigenous health as elected Co-Chair of the UN Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, a research Advisory Board Member at Ariadne Labs (BWH), and a city-appointed member of Boston’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force. His writing and research focuses on adolescent mental health, human rights policy, and Indigenous health delivery. In his freetime, he loves to write op-eds, salsa/bachata dance, snowboard, and hike.

Instagram: @Vlocarmen

LaShyra “Lash” Nolen

Team Member, Show Notes

LaShyra “Lash” Nolen is from Los Angeles and deeply passionate about the concerns of underserved and marginalized communities. Currently, she is a second-year student at Harvard Medical School where she is serving as the university’s student council president, the first documented black woman to hold this leadership position. She is a published author and fervent advocate for social justice with plans to pursue a Masters in Public Policy along with her medical degree to advocate for humane healthcare reform as a physician activist. In her free time she enjoys rapping, eating good food, and creating new memories with the people she loves.

Twitter: .@LashNolen

Michelle Ogunwole

Former Co-Director

Michelle Ogunwole is an internist and general internal medicine research fellow at Johns Hopkins. Her research focuses on clinical, policy and community based approaches to improving maternal health equity. Michelle was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and enjoys playing basketball  and competitive games of Uno with her family.

Twitter: .@DrChelleMD

Chioma Onuoha

Team Member

Chioma Onuoha is an MS1 at UCSF and a recent graduate of Harvard University with a B.A. in Human Evolutionary Biology and Global Health. Previously, she worked as a research assistant at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity. Chioma’s research interests include pregnancy complications, sexual and reproductive health, racial hypertension disparities, and global health work. Chioma is an aspiring physician and in her free time enjoys watching television and playing soccer.

Ayana Watkins

Ayana grew up in Sacramento, CA. She recently graduated from Harvard University, where she studied Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Global Health and Health Policy. In college, Ayana focused on expanding access to mental health resources and conducted Parkinson’s Disease research. She is an aspiring physician, and in her free time, she enjoys reading, going to the gym, and spending time with family and friends.

Twitter: @ayanawatkins_

Jazzmin Williams

Team Member

Twitter: @jazzminciara