Naomi Miller-Altuner (she/her) grew up in the Los Angeles area and then attended UC Berkeley studying Social Welfare. She’s had an interest medicine since middle school, spending time volunteering, shadowing, and working as a medical assistant. Naomi spent time abroad studying in Spain, speaks Spanish, and likes to run and hike, try new restaurants, and listen to live music.

Nathan “Nate” Landry (he/him) grew up in rural Maine, then joined the Army after high school. His experiences in Haiti, Iraq and Afghanistan drew him towards medicine and thinking about systems that support health. He became an EMT and gained both clinical experience and witnessed the public health challenges in rural Maine. Nate then attended the University of Colorado for his undergraduate degree with a double major in Cell Biology and Biochemistry, a minor in Arabic, and a certificate in global health. He enjoys spending time outdoors and training dogs. 

Prakrunya Subhasree Badrinarayan (she/her) grew up in Portland and attended the University of Oregon and Robert D. Clark Honors College, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Human Physiology and minored in global health and chemistry. Her journey towards medicine and public health was fueled by a strong scientific curiosity, cultivated through research projects focused on malaria control initiatives in Zanzibar and clinical research examining the impacts of the patent foramen ovale on thermoregulation. In her leisure time, she delights in spending quality moments with her family, indulging in cooking, and relishing comedy shows.

Sarah Bumatay (she/her) grew up in Portland, Oregon, attending Portland State University for her undergraduate degree in Public Health Sciences. Sarah has also been engaged in the Filipino Bayanihan Center in Portland participating in community organizing work, focusing mainly on the center’s Community-based Health Program initiatives and opening their community clinic. In her free time, Sarah enjoys meditation, reading, time with loved ones, fitness, paddle boarding, and traveling.

Meghana Narahari (she/her) grew up in the Portland area and attended Tulane University where she double majored in neuroscience and public health. Her exposure and interest in medicine started early with a desire to help others, inspired by how she was helped as a child with a pancreatic tumor. More recently, she has worked in maternal and child health policy examining structures and policies that drive poor maternal outcomes for black women in New Orleans. She has been involved as a leader in the India Association of Tulane, was on the Bollywood dance team, is an avid runner and does scuba diving in her free time!

Raushun Kirtikar (he/him) grew up in Arizona and then attended Stanford University where he majored in human biology and minored in history. His interest in medicine was born from a love of science and his experiences witnessing his grandparents’ struggles with their own chronic illnesses. His passion lies in bridging medicine and public health to ameliorate health standards in low-resource settings in and outside of the U.S. For fun, he loves to hike, read historical fiction, explore local coffee shops, and binge-watch the latest TV show.

Jill Kumasaka (she/her) grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington where she majored in biology and minored in global health. Jill’s interest in medicine comes from a deep desire to help others along difficult journeys, an interest she has examined via experiences working as a scribe in family medicine and in hospice. Jill has developed her public health interests via completing a summer internship at the CDC and was later a CDC research fellow after college. She has worked as a coffee barista and for fun she loves to try new cafes, ski, play volleyball, and spend time with friends and family.

Anabel Mendoza (she/her) is a first-generation Mexican-American raised in Medford, Oregon. She majored in bio-health sciences at Oregon State University. Her inspiration to pursue medicine stemmed from identifying health disparities within her community throughout her childhood and observing her mother’s passion as an RN.  Anabel is striving for a combined degree in medicine and public health because she is passionate about making health system changes to improve access to quality care and health-related education, especially among rural and migrant communities. In her spare time, you can find her outdoors, either tending to her garden or in the mountains doing various recreational activities. She is also a food fanatic and loves learning about people through food.

Madeleine “Maddy” Myers (she/her) grew up in New Mexico but left the familiar to pursue professional athletics and an undergraduate degree in Public Health at UC San Diego. Maddy competed internationally for Team USA in Olympic weightlifting. During her off seasons, she competed in the CrossFit Games as an individual and on a team. Sidelined from sports due to orthopedic injuries, she fell in love with research. Most recently, she has contributed to research that seeks to understand the phenotypic spectrum of traumatic brain injury in post-9/11 service members and veterans. In her free time, she enjoys cycling, skiing and climbing.

Tim Valuev (he/him) grew up in the Portland area and attended Northeastern University where he majored in Biology. After college, he served in the Marines for four years as a mortarman and forward observer. Tim’s interests in medicine and public health come from personal experiences of seeing the direct effects of poverty on health and how improving community access and resources can affect health outcomes. He has worked at a biophysics lab in Russia, as a medical assistant in China, and as a volunteer at a clinic serving a primarily Slavic population in Happy Valley. He enjoys dancing Brazilian zouk and bachata, as well as mountaineering and hiking.

Gergana Alteva (she/her) grew up in the northeastern U.S. after immigrating with her parents from Bulgaria as a child. She attended Barnard College, majoring in computer science and minoring in anthropology. She served in the U.S. Army for the last five years in positions such as platoon leader and executive officer, earning the rank of captain. She is interested in the combined degree to be an effective advocate for patients by improving access and equity in healthcare for immigrants and other marginalized communities. She recently learned jiu jitsu, loves traveling, and teaches blacksmithing.

Katie Brown (she/her) grew up in Delaware and attended the University of Rochester, double majoring in American Sign Language and Psychology. Her interest in medicine developed through shadowing and working as an emergency room technician. Katie brings substantial research experience having worked as a research assistant on projects in social psychology, social neuroscience, adolescent mental health and autism, and as a lab manager in a sensorimotor rehabilitation engineering lab. Katie enjoys spending time with the Deaf community, was president of the American Sign Language Club in college, and founded a tutoring program for Rochester School for the Deaf. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing and cycling.

Tara Allison (she/her) grew up in the Bay Area of California and attended UC Davis where she majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Spanish. Her interest in medicine and public health began early with a family member’s experience with diabetes. She then further developed an interest in understanding the social determinants of health in college and examined how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) influence health outcomes. That work led her to co-found the R.I.V.E.R. clinic at UC Davis, a student-run clinic that serves local elementary, middle and high school institutions. Tara played soccer for the UC Davis Women's Club Soccer team as a midfielder, and enjoys running half marathons and long distance races.