SERNAH ESSIEN

Sernah Essien is a first generation Ghanaian-American advocate for access to medicines and racial health equity. She joined UAEM in 2016 as a general member at Boston University, and later became an Advocacy and Campaigns intern. Since joining the CC in 2018, she has led the North American Empowerment Committee, which is focused on providing resources and supporting university chapters and campaigns. She was a project manager for the first two seasons of the Free the Vaccine campaign. Sernah is also involved in the US Take Back Our Medicines (TBOM) campaign, working at the national and university levels to promote equitable licensing of publicly-funded intellectual property. Through her work, she seeks to increase trust of the medical profession by promoting transparency and open dialogues between marginalized communities and the medical profession. She holds a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Boston University, an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences from Tufts University School of Medicine, and will be entering medical school in Fall 2021. Her interests include hip-hop, astrology, African socialism, and community building.

ANMOL GUPTA

Anmol is a third-year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine and has been a member of the UAEM North American Coordinating Committee since 2018. At UAEM, he has served as the project lead for the latest iteration of the U.S. University Report Card project and was a campaign manager for the first season of the #FreeTheVaccine campaign in early 2020. He has been involved in health advocacy for several years, initially working to protect and promote Medicaid expansion across the U.S. Today, he works on access to medicines issues with UAEM and Doctor for America's Drug Affordability Action Team, motivated to reform the conventional rules of R&D and global trade that too often fail to protect affordable access to essential medications for his own patients. He has written in The Dallas Morning News and Policy Prescriptions, and his advocacy work has been featured in Teen Vogue and STAT news, among others. Anmol currently plans to complete dual training in adult and pediatric medicine where he hopes to focus on access to hospital-level care for underserved families and communities. You can follow him @medstudentanmol on Twitter.

VICTORIA EL-HAYEK

Victoria is a first-year medical student at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and a recent graduate of Columbia University where she received her Master's of Public health. Previously, she received a Bachelor's in Psychology and Masters in Bioethics with a focus in Medicine, Society, and Culture. She worked with UAEM North America as their Advocacy and Campaigns intern twice before joining the Coordinating Committee this past year. She is currently working on UAEM's Take Back our Meds North America campaign. She is interested in global health and program development for healthcare access.

NEDA ASHTARI

Neda is a second-year medical student at the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM). She became involved with UAEM in her first year of medical school and soon co-founded UCLA’s UAEM chapter. Her efforts have largely revolved around the UAEM Xtandi campaign, an advocacy initiative aimed at increasing access to a lifesaving prostate cancer drug developed on UCLA’s campus. Outside of these roles, Neda also enjoys working with several other advocacy organizations. She serves as co-president of the DGSOM American Medical Student Association (AMSA) chapter, co-chair of AMSA National’s Pharm-Free Campaign, and Legislative Director of the UCLA Graduate Student Association. Her research interests include ensuring access to healthcare for justice-involved youth and research translation to policy. Upon receiving her medical degree, Neda plans to pursue a career in both clinical medicine and health policy.

Sumin Lee

Sumin is a second-year undergraduate student at Queen’s University studying Health Sciences. She became involved with UAEM through the COVID-19 Mapping Project and has continued to help with the Canadian University Report Card Project. While volunteering at hospitals and Youth Mental Health Canada, she became passionate about helping to narrow the disparities within marginalized populations in healthcare. Sumin is interested in health justice, access to care and student advocacy.

NEELU PALETI

Neelu is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied Health & Societies and Biology. She became involved with UAEM in 2018 as a member of the Transparency Campaign team, where she helped develop the 2019 and 2021 reports focused on clinical trials transparency at US universities. She is also currently researching the amount of public funding and cost of clinical trials that support the development of COVID-19 vaccines in the US using FOIA requests. Outside of UAEM, Neelu works with the Penn Center for Healthcare innovation to develop proactive mental healthcare platforms for healthcare workers and patients. Neelu is a 2021-22 Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Fellow, pursuing research on C-section rates and maternal health in South India. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career at the intersections of medicine, public health, and policy. 

SAPNA RAMAPPA

Sapna is a recent graduate of UCLA, where she studied Human Biology and Society with a concentration in Bioethics and Public Science Policy. She joined UAEM in 2019 with the Xtandi campaign and helped develop the UAEM UCLA chapter which started later that year. She has also been involved with various UAEM international and national projects such as the 2020 US Report Card, the COVID-19 University Mapping Project, and the Free the Vaccine Campaign. Outside of UAEM, Sapna is researching sensory processing behaviors in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center and volunteering with unhoused communities in West Los Angeles with the UCLA Mobile Clinic Project. She hopes to pursue a career at the nexus of medicine, public health, and health policy.

TAYYIABA FAROOQ

Tayyiaba is a graduate student at Boston University pursuing a Masters's in Medical Sciences. Tayyiaba became involved with UAEM in December of 2019 after interning with Public Citizen's Access to Medicines Group. She joined the empowerment committee and started a local chapter of UAEM at her university and is currently working as a Project Manager for the Free the Vaccine Campaign. On-campus Tayyiaba has worked on refugee issues, previously interning with the International Rescue Committee and now tutoring recently re-settled students within the Washington D.C. Metro Area. In the future, Tayyiaba aims to pursue a career in medicine where she hopes to integrate the practice of medicine with policymaking in the public health sphere.

Maanasa Gurram

Maanasa is a rising third-year undergraduate student at the University of Maryland College Park, majoring in neurobiology and physiology and minoring in public policy. Her involvement with UAEM began when she joined the leadership team of the newly-founded UMD Chapter in 2020. She led the ETAF Committee, building the access to medicines campaign on campus and communicating with university administration to encourage the implementation of more socially responsible licensing policy. She served as a Project Manager for the Free the Vaccine Campaign in 2021. This past year, she has also worked with a pipeline program for West Baltimore minority populations to address health educational inequalities. As a premed student pursuing a career in the medical field, she hopes to continue leading efforts for reform within the system and advocating for the underserved. 

PARTHU KOPPANA

Parthu is a 3rd Year student in Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science (MCPHS University). Currently majoring in Pre-medical with a Minor in Health Psychology. He has been the treasurer for the UAEM MCPHS chapter for one year and sectary for another. He also has been involved with the MCPHS Coply event, Insulin Pricing Simulation in MCPHS, and he wants to make a series workshops to make it easier for new chapters when they are starting up. He is in the Path of becoming a Surgeon in the future.

AVANI REDDY

Avani is a recent graduate of UCLA, who majored in Neuroscience. She joined UAEM in her sophomore year as part of UAEM UCLA’s chapter. Since then, she has expanded her involvement in UAEM by taking action in and working on various national UAEM campaigns, including Free the Vaccine and the COVID-19 University Mapping Project. Working on both of these campaigns increased her passion and commitment to the Access to Medicines movement, eventually joining UAEM North America as an Advocacy and Campaigns Intern where she worked on expanding UAEM’s outreach via social media and various press outlets. Her advocacy work with UAEM allowed her to expand her research interests, with her current focus pertaining to the de-stigmatization of HIV and advocating for an AIDS-free and stigma-free generation, which is facilitated by her work in HIV/AIDS advocacy, outreach, and clinical research. In the future, she aims to pursue a career at the intersection of medicine and public health. In her free time, she enjoys songwriting, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones. 

Debbie Wang

Debbie is a Sophomore at Vanderbilt University studying Biology and Neuroscience. As a STEM student on the pre-med tract and aspiring physician, she hopes to encourage transparency within the global healthcare system. Her positions as a UAEM CC member and the UAEM podcast’s host allows her to lead a conversation between physicians, public health experts, pharmaceutical companies and patients.

Declan Sakuls 

AMBIKA VERNA

Ambika recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles after studying Human Biology & Society, Global Health, and Professional Writing. Ambika found her interest in access to medicines after getting involved with UAEM as a Advocacy & Campaigns Intern in 2018, working on the Xtandi Campaign: a campaign focused on promoting the accessibility of Xtandi, a tax-payer funded cancer drug developed at UCLA with a steep price tag. Since then, she has presented at the LA Global Health Conference, founded UCLA’s chapter of UAEM with the intention of educating students about Xtandi and medicine accessibility, and taught a small seminar at UCLA about access to medicines. UAEM has allowed her to combine her interests in healthcare, advocacy, and policy and truly shaped not only her undergraduate experience but also her future goals. Currently, she is on a gap year prior to matriculation at Yale's School of Public Health to receive her Master's in Public Health (MPH). In her free time, she enjoys traveling, photography, hiking, and spending time with her pets and family.

YEJI LORI SONG

Lori is a second-year undergraduate at McGill University majoring in Physiology. Lori has been part of UAEM since 2020 through the McGill chapter, where she is now the VP Logistics of. She has been and is currently involved in various UAEM projects such as the Canadian University Report Card and the McGill Open Science Workshop. She is also leading the development of a PPE/donations tracking website, aiming to ameliorate inequitable distribution of PPE/donations in Montreal. Outside of UAEM, Lori is an active volunteer at the Montreal Chinese Hospital, and she is passionate about global health.

JENNIFER NGUYEN

UAEM Australia Coordinator

Jennifer is an incoming graduate student at Western University, studying a Master of Clinical Dentistry (Orthodontics) '25. She first became involved with UAEM as a co-founder of the UAEM Western chapter in 2014 and later helped establish UAEM Australia while studying at the University of Sydney. She is currently a NA CC fellow and a North American representative for UAEM's ComEx. Jennifer is passionate about health equity and access to healthcare, and has coordinated multiple campaigns with UAEM, including the COVID-19 Mapping Tool, Free the Vaccine, R&D for Health, and advocacy for neglected tropical diseases. Outside of UAEM, she is trained as a hospital dentist and provides trauma-informed dental care at CAMH, Canada's largest psychiatric hospital. She also teaches third and fourth-year dental students at the University of Toronto.

NAVYA DASARI

Navya is a 2L at NYU Law and a member of the CC since 2016. She has served
primarily on the Free The Vaccine, Transparency, and Global R&D Campaigns, and is interested in intellectual property law and innovation policy. At NYU, Navya is a Furman Public Policy Scholar, an Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar, and a Student Fellow at the Engelberg Center for Innovation Law and Policy. She also serves on the boards of Rights Over Tech, the South Asian Law Student Association, and the Coalition on Law and Representation. Prior to attending law school, Navya worked on access to medicines issues at the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 with a B.A. in Health and Societies.

Ted Malpass

There is no other problem that I feel as strongly as I do for access to essential medications. After living with type one diabetes since my diagnosis at 2, I have experienced what it means living from prescription to prescription. Patients with Cancer, Covid-19, and countless other conditions that require uninterrupted access to life saving treatments will understand this too. As a new member of the CC, I hope to contribute to UAEM's mission of open access, accountability, and equity to not just fight for my access, but access for all. 

MADELINE CHUNG

Tiffany Cacy

Tiffany recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles where she studied Physiological Science and Global Health. She joined UCLA's chapter of UAEM her sophomore year and became involved in the 2020 United States Report Card Project, the Xtandi campaign, and Free the Vaccine. She served as Internal Relations Executive for UCLA's chapter of UAEM in 2021-2022 and will continue her work with UAEM as part of the coordinating committee. Additionally, Tiffany volunteers in South Los Angeles promoting preventive health education and mentors for the Youth Justice Scholars Program to prepare the next generation of advocates. She hopes to get her Master's in Public Health in addition to pursuing a career as a physician assistant to contribute both to the clinical and public health sides of medicine.

Megan Curtin

Megan is a senior at the University of California, Berkeley, studying Molecular and Cell Biology with a minor in Nutrition. Megan is involved in research investigating the pathways of Alzheimer’s Disease and aging in the brain at UC Berkeley. She believes impactful drug development and research must be met by effective policy. Through her role as president of UAEM at Cal, Megan works with UC Berkeley administration to develop affordable gene editing therapies and investigates market failures in healthcare expenses. Megan also teaches a course for UC Berkeley students about limitations to access in healthcare, social determinants of health, and the role of universities in the price of medicines. UAEM has enabled her to connect with resourceful professionals from medicine and law who have shed invaluable wisdom on mechanisms for change in drug pricing. In conjunction with her work at UAEM, Megan volunteers as a Health Advocate with UCSF to break down social determinants of health such as rent, food, or legal assistance.

Ishika Seth

Ishika is a rising third-year undergraduate student at UCLA studying Human Biology and Society. She joined UAEM in 2020 as part of the UAEM UCLA chapter and participated in a California legislative advocacy project. Since then, she has become the National Liaison for the UCLA chapter and has become involved with the Xtandi and Affordable Access Plan campaigns. Outside of UAEM, Ishika is researching the impact of clinical telehealth interventions in reducing the risk for substance use disorders as well as volunteering in a pain management clinic for underserved communities in Los Angeles. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, reading, and traveling and in the future, she hopes to pursue a career at the intersection of medicine, public health, and health policy and management.

Julia Bartow, Generation Patient Liaison

Julia Bartow is the Design and Program Coordinator at Generation Patient, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering the next generation of patients, led entirely by young adults with chronic and rare conditions. She further works on Generation Patient’s nonpartisan and focused initiatives–the Health Policy Lab and the Crohn’s and Colitis Young Adults Network–dedicated to increasing the health literacy, confidence, self-management skills, public policy knowledge, and advocacy strategies of young adult patients. Living with multiple chronic and rare conditions herself, she has first-hand knowledge of the difficulty of living with serious illness and the challenges of advocating for your medical needs from a young age.