HRC Coordinating Team

Ivy Tran (she/they) served as Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. She was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she grew up listening to stories from her parents about their childhoods in Vietnam and their experiences as refugees during the war. Later moving to the east coast, Ivy graduated with a BA in Evolutionary Biology and a minor in Studio Arts from Harvard College. Her interest in the intersection between humanities, story-telling, and advocacy led her to holistic and narrative medicine. 

Shivany Y. Condor Montes served as Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. She grew up in a small town cradled by the Peruvian Andes named San Pedro de Cajas. At age 10, she immigrated to the United States alongside her family, seeking and being granted asylum. With the many new education opportunities, Shivany to explored various fields as she tried to make sense of her community's experience in the face of unjust social and structural systems at the U.S. and Global levels. She explored political science and education, finding her passion in the interplay of public health and medicine. Shivany received a B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology, and a B.A. in Public Health, alongside an MPH from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Sapna Ramappa (she/her) served as Pediatric Clinic Co-Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as  a first-year medical student at UCSF. She grew up in San Jose, California, and received her bachelor's degree in Human Biology and Society from UCLA. Prior to medical school, she volunteered with UCLA's Mobile Clinic Project to serve unhoused communities in Los Angeles, conducted autism research at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and advocated for increased medicine accessibility with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines. 

Daniel Luis Zager (pronouns: he/they) served as Adult Clinic Support 2023 – 2024 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. He grew up in Philadelphia, PA before graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in Justice and Peace Studies. Daniel wrote their senior thesis on the Sanctuary Movement in Washington, DC and has spent time organizing with immigrant communities to stop deportations and overhaul the US immigration system. Between graduating college and starting medical school, Daniel worked as a labor organizer in Chicago. 

Riya Master served as Pediatric Clinic Support 2023 - 2024 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. Riya grew up in the Washington DC area before moving to the Bay Area for undergrad. During her time at UC Berkeley, she pursued a degree in Integrative Biology and research in social medicine. Riya is passionate about global health equity and has worked in both clinical and academic spaces on migrant and refugee health. 

Samar Shaqour served as Adult Care Team Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as a first-year medical student at UCSF, from Miami, Florida. She graduated from Tufts University in 2021 with a major in Biopsychology and a minor in English. Her personal and family experiences with the immigration system sparked a passion for and commitment to health equity for immigrant populations. She also has extensive experience in free clinic work, community outreach, and research in health disparities. 

Austine Peng (she/they) served as Pediatric Clinic Co-Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as first year medical student at UCSF. They grew up in Springfield, IL, Taoyuan, Taiwan, and Reno, Nevada. Austine graduated from UC Berkeley majoring in Public Health and Molecular and Cell Biology with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. They spent the last five years working in grassroots community organizing with folks experiencing homelessness in the East Bay, serving as Executive Director at organizations like the Suitcase Clinic, and co-founding the Berkeley Outreach Coalition. Most recently, Austine worked as a Community Health Worker and Intensive Case Manager for people experiencing homelessness in downtown Oakland through Lifelong TRUST, coordinating care and working with clients to eliminate barriers to health. 

Mahika Nayak (she/her) served as Referral Coordinator 2023-2024 as a first year UCSF medical student from Pleasanton, California. She graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a major in Neuroscience and a double minor in Global Health and South Asian Studies. Throughout her time at UCLA, Mahika was involved with increasing accessibility to culturally-sensitive mental healthcare resources, on and off campus, for marginalized sectors of the South Asian population. After graduation, Mahika worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service in NYC where she organized community health fairs for the taxi driver population to provide them with linguistically and culturally responsive healthcare resources, insurance navigation, and case management. 

Melat Birbo served as Affadavit Co-Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as a first-year UCSF medical student from San Jose, California. She graduated from Stanford University in 2019 with a B.S. in Bioengineering. Her previous experiences include volunteering at Highland Hospital, where she helped underserved patients navigate obtaining government benefits from social welfare programs. She is passionate about health equity and addressing social determinants of health. 

Mandy Quan served as Affadavit Co-Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as a first-year UCSF medical student from Boston. During her undergraduate training at Rice in sociocultural anthropology and gender & sexuality studies, she conducted ethnographic research on the role of humanitarian clinics in shaping the social memory of the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. She became interested in the role of medicine in facilitating political relationships and collaborated with directors of Columbia’s Human Rights and Asylum Clinic to create a narrative competency toolkit for medical affidavit writing during her Master’s training. Mandy is passionate about legal-medical partnerships and continues to work at a disability law firm today. She believes in medical affidavit writing as a way of asserting the personhood of those systemically erased.

Nebyou Mergia (he/him) served as Research and Training Coordinator 2023 – 2024 as a first-year medical student at UC San Francisco School of Medicine. He graduated from Northeastern University where he studied Biology, Public Health, and Gender Studies. Nebyou is very passionate about health equity and rebuilding trust in medicine within historically underserved communities. In the past, he worked as a health educator for under-resourced Boston public schools and youth homeless shelters. His experiences impressed the importance of using the legal system to address the systemic issues in our healthcare. 

Mariam Carson served as Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator 2022 – 2023 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. She was born and raised in a Persian American home in Boulder, CO, later moving to California to pursue a BS in Bioengineering and a minor in Spanish at UCLA. Mariam continued exploring her interests in health and healthcare disparities through community-engaged research as a global health master’s student at UCSF.

Victoria Liu​ served as Pediatric Clinic Co-Coordinator 2022 – 2023 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. Victoria grew up in Taiwan and Australia before moving with her family to the Bay Area. During her time at UCLA, she pursued a degree in Global Health and Psychobiology. Victoria is passionate about health equity and accessibility, and has worked extensively in advocacy, outreach, and research with a focus on social and structural determinants of health on a local and global level.

Riley Jackson served as Pediatrics Care Team Coordinator 2022 – 2023 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. Riley is originally from Los Angeles, California. She graduated with a BS in Human Biology from Stanford University and an MS in Community Health and Prevention Research. She spent five years volunteering with Stanford Medicine's Arbor Free Clinic coordinating referrals and conducting follow-up calls for a diverse patient population.

Em Pham served as Adult Care Team Coordinator 2022 – 2023 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. She is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants and grew up in Sonoma County, California. Through her studies at Brown University and her work at San Francisco’s Homeless Prenatal Program, Em developed a passion for holistic healthcare, health equity, and integrated, community-based support networks. Additionally, Em is constantly inspired by her parents' histories as former refugees of the Vietnam War and by her older brother’s work as a public interest labor rights attorney.

Ruth Chincanchan (she/her/hers) served as Pediatric Clinic Co-Coordinator 2022 – 2023 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, she graduated from UCLA in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in Psychobiology. During her undergraduate years, Ruth practiced community outreach, worked in mental health research at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and learned trauma-informed care for pediatric populations. Coming from a family of Latinx immigrants, her passion for immigration advocacy has led her to the Human Rights Collaborative, where she is excited to serve as the pediatric clinic co-coordinator.

Daniela Liera served as Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator 2022 – 2023 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. She grew up in Arizona, frequently crossing the border into Mexico, and became aware of glaring disparities in healthcare between populations. Daniela received her Bachelor’s degree in neurobiology, with a secondary in social anthropology, from Harvard College. After graduating, Daniela spent a year with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program’s AmeriCorps cohort, where she began learning how to navigate intersections between legal, medical, and social systems. Her passion for serving underserved communities has led her to the Human Rights Collaborative, which she hopes to remain involved with throughout medical school and throughout her career.

Mai Vu​ served as Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator 2021 – 2022 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. Mai immigrated to the US with her family from Vietnam and grew up in San Bernardino County. She attended UC San Diego where she volunteered with the San Diego Rapid Response Network and Refugee Shelter. This inspired her to continue her involvement with the refugee community through the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. 

Laksmita Candrisari served as Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator 2021 – 2022 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. After immigrating from Indonesia, she spent the first few years in the United States seeing her family struggle to acquire legal documentation. She remembers clearly the stress and anxiety from that process. Now, she feels passionately for advocating for vulnerable populations and especially for immigrant communities. This passion has led her to the Human Rights Collaborative, where she will be serving as the Adult Clinic Co-Coordinator.

Sohini Halder served as Pediatric Clinic Co-Coordinator 2021 – 2022 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. She is the daughter of Bengali immigrants and grew up in Irvine, CA. Sohini identifies as a queer, bisexual, Desi woman and her life experiences have led her to the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative, where she hopes to work with immigrant and LGBTQ populations. Sohini received her Bachelors degree in Human Biology and Society from UCLA. She worked extensively with the LGBTQ student community and has experience in research, outreach, and support services for marginalized communities. 

Leo Garcia (he/him/his)served as Pediatric Clinic Co-Coordinator 2021 – 2022 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia and raised in Houston, TX. Leo studied Sociology with a Secondary in Chemistry at Harvard University. He draws upon his experience with youth work at the Fort Bend Women’s Shelter in Houston and within the Phillips Brooks House Association as the Programming Chair. His deep commitment to immigration advocacy, a world without borders, and strong belief in healthcare for all draws him to the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. Other commitments at UCSF include the Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Student Collaborative and Clínica Martín-Baro volunteer.

Neha Zahid (she/her/hers) served as Care Team Co-Coordinator 2021 – 2022 as a first-year medical student at UCSF.  Originally from New Jersey and born to immigrant parents from India, Neha first became interested in immigrant health and global health after visiting her father's village in India and witnessing stark differences between healthcare access in India versus in her hometown in NJ. In her undergraduate and graduate career at UC Berkeley, she explored the intersection of health, medicine and poverty through various research and extracurricular opportunities, particularly focused on women's health. 

Chioma Onuoha served as Provider Coordinator 2021-2022 as an MS1 at UCSF. She graduated from Harvard University in 2020 where she studied Human Evolutionary Biology and Global Health and Health Policy. During her gap year, she worked at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, where she focused on research projects related into increasing health equity in hypertension care and management for African Immigrant populations. She is also a team member on the Clinical Problem Solvers Anti-Racism in Medicine podcast. 

Brandon Chu served as Data Analyst 2021-2022 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. A son of immigrants, he grew up in the Bay Area and studied public health at UC Berkeley, where he received a BA in Public Health and MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. In his previous research, he studied the different aspects of an individual's neighborhood and community that may influence health outcomes, including the built and socioeconomic environment. 

Sean Joyce served as Research Assistant 2021-2022 as a current first year medical student in the UCSF-UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program. He is originally from Frederick, MD, but since graduating college he has spent the last several years at UCSF as clinical research coordinator. His previous experience in global health research related to international migration, coupled with his time working with incarcerated youth in the Bay Area, drew him to the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. 

Sana Alsamman served as Elective Coordinator as a first year medical student from Sacramento, California. As a daughter of Syrian immigrants, she became passionate about understanding how the traumatic experience of displacement impacts health and how we can better serve refugee populations. As war and persecution in Syria drove many people out of their homeland after 2011, she found opportunities during my undergrad to partner with community organizations in supporting new families through their resettlement. 

Shweta Chawla served as Legal Coordainator 2021-2022, building on her experiences volunteering in shelters, clinics, and on the streets of Los Angeles.

Cesar Nava Gonzales served as Clinic Co-Coordinator 2020-2021 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. He was born in Peru and grew up in the Central Valley. Immigrating here introduced him to the healthcare and law disparities experienced by underserved communities. His interest in correcting these disparities motivated him to volunteer at the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. As a co-clinic coordinator, he manages our clinic's operations and handles communications with our legal and community partner.

Sabrina Mendez-Contreras served as Clinic Co-Coordinator 2020-2021 as a first-year medical student in the PRIME-US program. She is the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants and grew up in Burlingame, CA. Her commitment to health equity and immigrant justice, as well as an interest in exploring medical-legal partnerships, led her to the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. As a co-clinic coordinator, she manages the clinic's operations and handles communications with legal and community partners.

Marcos Armendáriz served as Care Team Coordinator 2020-2021 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. He was born in Mexico and raised in a small town in southern New Mexico. His family was undocumented for the first few years after immigrating to the United States, an experience that has contributed to his passion for advocating for vulnerable populations and expanding health care to the underserved. As the care team coordinator, he helps manage the follow-up outreach to clients after evaluations, connecting clients with community resources and maintaining a longitudinal, trauma-informed channel of communication.

Alice Lu served as Research Coordinator and Elective Coordinator 2020-2021 as a first-year medical student at the University of California, San Francisco. Her early experiences witnessing the intersection of health and human rights lead her to pursue a global health major, and then a master's degree at Northwestern Law where she got involved with the legal side of a human rights clinic with the Center for International Human Rights. As a research coordinator with the Human Rights Collaborative at UCSF now, Alice is excited to contribute her experiences with medical-legal partnership, innovation, and data-driven care towards identifying best practices and centering quality improvement initiatives on the populations that we serve.

Gabriela Steiner served as Elective Coordinator and Research Coordinator 2020-2021 as a first-year medical student at UCSF. A Bay Area native, she grew up in Richmond, CA. Her mother and grandparents immigrated to San Francisco from El Salvador during the Reagan administration and were undocumented for several years. Her family's history has ingrained in Gabriela a tremendous respect for immigrants and has made her passionate about human rights work and advocacy.

Gerardo Velasquez served as Provider Coordinator as a first-year medical student at UCSF. Gerardo grew up in a small town in southern California. As the child of immigrant parents from Mexico, he grew up hearing about the difficulties involved with immigrating to the United States. Gerardo hopes to play a part in making the immigration process easier through the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. As the provider training coordinator, he manages the training experience of new providers interested in performing their own evaluations and organized the annual all-day provider training.

Ali Zahir served as Clinic Co-Coordinator 2019-2020 as a second-year medical student in the UCSF/PRIME-US program. He was born and raised in San Francisco, California. As the proud son of low-income immigrants from Pakistan, he has witnessed how social, cultural, and structural factors can influence the trajectory of life’s outcomes. His upbringing and his passion for addressing inequities in all dimensions brought him to the UCSF Human Rights collaborative. As a co-clinic coordinator, he manages our clinic's operations and handles communications with our legal and community partners

Zoë Onion served as Clinic Co-Coordinator 2019-2020 as a second year medical student at UCSF. She was born and raised in rural Maine. Coming from a background in social work, Zoë is interested in the intersections of social factors and health. Introduced to immigration law through personal experience, she wants to do what she can to make the system more accessible and compassionate. As a co-clinic coordinator, she manages our clinic's operations and handles communications with our legal and community partners.

Nathan Coss served as Elective Coordinator as a second year medical student at UCSF. Nathan grew up in the rural community of Tehachapi, CA. Nathan's interests focus on the intersection between medicine, health disparities, and medical innovation. Nathan's family history of migration from Mexico to the United States introduced him to migrant health at a young age and this drew him to the UCSF Human Rights Collaborative. 

Katrin Jaradeh served as Clinic Co-Coordinator 2019-2020 and was a Co-Founder as a current third year medical student at the UCSF. She and her family immigrated to the United States in hopes of a better and safer future through asylum, and it has been both a tough and humbling journey. It has always been a dream of hers to work with folks on a similar path and rely on our shared experiences to advocate for their safety and wellbeing as a future physician. 

Francesco Sergi is one of the student leaders and founders of the UCSF HRC 2019-2020 as a third year medical student at UCSF. His interests include immigrant justice as well as work in diversity, equity and inclusion. He is excited about continuing to work with immigrants in his future career through advocacy and direct clinical care.

Ifechukwu Okeke served as Training Coordinator for a portion of their first year as MD/PhD student at UCSF. Prior to UCSF, they studied neurobiology at UC Berkeley as community college transfer student after immigrating to the US at 16, from Lagos, Nigeria where they were born and raised. Current and past immigration case proceedings for them and various close friends and family members have been laced throughout their educational journey since arriving in the US and these first hand experiences are what inspired their interest in the UCSF HRC.