Maisie Bailey (she/her) grew up in Eugene, Ore., graduating with a degree in biology from the University of Oregon. While there, she received a lifesaving award for intervening when a student suffered a sudden cardiac event in the university library. Maisie’s interest in the MD/MPH program comes from the desire to help others and to better understand the role public health policy plays in community health. She spent time in Peru doing research on cysticercosis (a pork tapeworm infection), investigating biomarkers in tears of confirmed patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Most recently, she was part of the COVID-19 response team for Lane County Public Health, focusing first on outbreak investigations in long-term care facilities and later as deputy epidemiologist. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and her dogs Dottie and Bronco, and reading literature and poetry.

Jared Cloutier (he/him) grew up in the Portland area before attending Grinnell College in Iowa, earning a BA in Biology. His interests in medicine came from exposure at a young age as well as several clinical shadowing experiences. His interest in public health developed through experience seeing structural issues underlying health outcomes and access. Cloutier has been working as a public health associate for the CDC in rural Utah where he has worked on several programs including housing regulations and protecting renters. In college, he volunteered with Grinnell’s Liberal Arts in Prison program and worked as a home care volunteer for seniors. Cloutier played competitive soccer in college and has continued to work and volunteer as a soccer coach.

Suryaa Gupta (she/her) grew up in the Chicago, attending The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and majoring in Molecular/Cellular Biology & French. Her interest in medicine began from a young age. She became interested in the intersection of medicine and public health via several experiences in research settings - including the All of Us study and work on vaccine hesitancy. She has been a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health, working on two studies focused on obesity and diabetes. She was also a social isolation volunteer during the pandemic, and was on the American Cancer Society leadership team for four years. She loves traveling, cooking and plays the flute in her spare time.

Jeremiah J. Henderson (he/they) grew up in the northwest. He holds a bachelor's degree in public health from Oregon State University and a master's degree in public administration from Seattle University. His interest in medicine began at a young age seeing how the healing process could transform lives. His interest in public health developed later, out of health policy and advocacy work. At OSU, his policy work for LGBTQ students led to a Building Community Award and a trip to the White House for outstanding leadership. After college, he worked as the project director for Transform WA, a public education project of the Pride Foundation. He then became the Director of Programs and Strategy for Pride Foundation, revising the grant-making and scholarship programs and leading internal organizational culture work. He is interested in the intersections of marginalization and is passionate about transgender care. He serves on the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Health Committee where he is also a tribal member. He has three kids and is passionate about art and advocacy.

Olivia Krol (she/her) grew up on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington, then attended the University of Portland as a double major in Mathematics and Biology. She then completed a post-baccalaureate program at Portland State University. Her interest in medicine came from her own experience as a patient and cancer survivor, something she has continued to explore working in clinical research. Her desire to help others through preventative care led her to volunteer with the Red Cross and with people experiencing homelessness. In her free time, she loves to run, cook and travel.

Erica Leser (she/her) grew up in Southern California, where she attended the University of California, Riverside, majoring in Neuroscience. She then obtained her Master of Science in Law with an emphasis in Health Law and Policy from Northwestern University, Pritzker School of Law, in Chicago. Her interest in medicine came from exposure to her parents' optometry practice at a young age. Her work at their practice as office manager, as well as being a hospice volunteer and gaining an EMT license, fostered her dedication to medicine and health equity. She currently works as a project manager at the CDC Foundation at the Chicago Department of Health overseeing the Healthy Chicago Equity Zones project and other immunization and health equity-related work. She served in the Peace Corps in South Africa, was a Clinton Global Fellow on behalf of a mentoring program promoting diverse students in higher education, and has sustained volunteer activities at Crisis Text Line and for Operation Gratitude. In her free time, Erica enjoys traveling, collecting and reading old books, and refurbishing vintage typewriters.

Gabriella Macera (she/her) grew up in Pennsylvania and went to Drexel University where she majored in Biology. Her interests in medicine and public health have centered around infectious diseases. She has cultivated that interest via courses on disease outbreak investigations, research on flaviviruses, work in a laboratory on malarial drug development and a case-control study in Malawi on clean water access. She has sustained service in volunteering with houseless populations and as a peer mentor. She loves art and music, playing guitar and writing songs, and she has experience doing improv.

Ruhika “Ru” Prasad (she/her) grew up in the Portland area before moving to Emory University to study Anthropology. Her interest in medicine and public health developed from work as a medical assistant and scribe as well as early exposure to health disparities as a child visiting her ancestral home in India. She has experience working with women’s mental health in India, focused on empowerment. She has also worked as a quality care coordinator, which gave her insights into the practical side of addressing health disparities. She currently works as a scribe in emergency rooms across the Pacific Northwest. She co-founded a social media story board supporting families at the beginning of the pandemic, engaged in lots of volunteering at Emory and has done competitive Indian fusion dance since age three.

Lola Sosanya (she/her) grew up in NE Portland and attended Seattle Pacific University, majoring in physiology and minoring in chemistry and sociology. While there, she served as the student body president. Her interests in medicine and public health came from early exposure to the healers and healthcare workers in her mother's lineage, and she has since developed an interest in health disparities in maternal health - particularly among Black women. She has worked as a clinical research assistant in women’s health for three years, and has experience as an assistant editor and writer for Verywell.com. She has strong connections to Nigeria, as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, and enjoys writing, including freelance writing, trying new cuisines, and reading.

Alexa Stefanko (she/her) grew up in the Bay Area, attending Duke University. She majored in computer science before doing a post-baccalaureate at Portland State University. Her interests in medicine and public health sprung from early exposure as a child and grew through volunteering at OHSU and as a doula. These interests were cemented by her time founding Cascadia Community Doulas, a doula organization focused on improving doula access in rural areas of Oregon. Before moving into medicine, she worked as a software engineer, then an engineering manager, and finally a director of engineering at three companies including an early-stage start-up. She has extensive volunteer experience ranging from working with the Bedouin community in the Negev desert, to the homeless community in Portland. In her spare time she is a volunteer data analyst for a cardiovascular epidemiology lab, a hobby taxidermist and a licensed falconer.

Hana Warmflash (she/her) grew up in the Portland area before moving to New Hampshire to study Biology at Dartmouth. Her interest in the intersection of medicine and public health was sparked by an experience working in the Bronx at a Federally Qualified Health Center along with epidemiology coursework at Dartmouth. She worked in a Patient Support Corps supporting patients with chronic illness and after college moved into a job as a life sciences consultant, to better understand the financing and structure of healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. She did consulting work for BIPOC businesses during the pandemic and enjoys running, hiking and snowboarding - and holds a black belt in taekwondo.

Cora White (she/her) grew up in rural Oregon just outside of Prineville. She attended Oregon State University where she majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Her interest in medicine came from a young age, merging her desire to help others with her scientific curiosity. She further developed those interests through volunteering in hospice, shadowing and in a clinical research internship. Her more recent work as a contact tracer during the pandemic and as a college access advisor through AmeriCorps - along with her own family's experience with health disparities  - has spurred her interest in public health. Her research on aortic dissection showed her how research can inform policy. She received several academic achievement awards, and has a long love of the outdoors and animals that was borne from early experiences with 4-H projects.