Melina is in her final year of medical school at Charité University in Berlin, Germany. Her commitment to social justice and health policy was deeply influenced by working with a medical team at a homeless shelter in Berlin. There, she witnessed significant disparities in healthcare access between refugees and regularly insured patients in Germany. These experiences shaped her dedication to improving access to medicines on both a local and global scale.

She joined UAEM during the pandemic, becoming an active member of the Berlin chapter. Melina helped organize demonstrations against Pfizer, delivered lectures on neglected tropical diseases at her university, and facilitated a session on health equity during COVID-19 with the former Director of the Robert Koch Institute, Lothar Wieler.

Melina is excited to contribute to the impactful work UAEM does as the only student-led NGO in the access-to-medicines field. She strongly believes in the organization’s proven ability to drive change from within universities, empowering young researchers to challenge systemic inequities and create lasting solutions. Melina joined the board in 2024.

Cassidy joined UAEM North America as Program Manager in June 2025. Prior to joining UAEM, Cassidy was a Program Associate in the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, where she worked on access to health innovations and led program operations and communication. Previously, Cassidy worked on drug pricing and access to medicines within Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines team. She currently serves on the Board of the Global Surgery Student Alliance. Cassidy received an MSc in Global Health Policy from the University of Edinburgh, where her research focused on access to medicines and intellectual property within the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. She holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Baylor University.

Secretary