The Center for Community Health Equity engages many students in health equity activities.

Isha Sallah

DePaul University 

Isha Sallah is a third-year student at DePaul University studying Sociology and Women/Gender Studies. Driven by a commitment to human-centered and solution-producing research, she is currently developing a qualitative study on queering heteronormativity to contextualize the complex social lives of LGBTQ+ populations.

Currently working as an English tutor at DePaul University’s writing center, Isha has developed linguistic justice training efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in academic spaces. She is now working to extend these inclusionary practices to DePaul’s teaching and advising staff and receiving positive feedback.

Rebecca Zeidman

Chicago College of Medicine 

I am a third-year medical student at Midwestern University interested in women’s health, patient education, and outreach to address disparities in healthcare and to improve healthcare outcomes. Research in these areas has allowed me to analyze current trends in the provision of healthcare in Chicago and to consider solutions that expand healthcare access to patients among underserved communities.

Faith Nwokorie

Saint James School of Medicine

Faith Nwokorie is a 4^th-year medical student at Saint James School of Medicine and currently the Geriatrics Extern for Illinois Academy Family Physicians. Faith Nwokorie is presently participating in the Match 2022 cycle with an interest in pursuing a fellowship in Geriatrics. My hobbies include dancing with my toddlers, reading, and cooking.

Amanda Kohler-Gopen

Saint James School of Medicine

Amanda Kohler-Gopen is a recent graduate of Saint James School of medicine and is currently in the process of interviewing for Family Medicine residency programs. Amanda is working as an IAFP Extern for the Geriatrics Member Interest Group of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians to advance healthy aging for diverse, older adults in Illinois. Amanda was previously a Hospice and Palliative care nurse in Ontario Canada, and hopes to continue this path by pursuing a career in Family Medicine with a focus on Geriatrics and Palliative Care. In her spare time she enjoys volunteering with Elara Caring Hospice, crafting, hiking and knitting/crocheting.

Samuel Auger

Rush University Medical Center

I am a fourth year medical student at Rush Medical College with a passion for patient education and addressing health disparities. My current research centers on cancer of the head and neck, with a focus on the effects of race, gender, and socioeconomic status on outcomes.

Gabriella Dupont

Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine

I am a third-year medical student at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine with a Masters of Engineering in Bioengineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I am interested in medical education structure and health equity and where we can unite the two to train our healthcare providers so they can help alleviate healthcare inequities.

Laura Hurley

Rush University Medical Center

I am the Student President and Health Equity Extern for the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (IAFP). I have completed my third year of medical school at Rush Medical College and am currently pursuing my Master of Public Health at Northwestern University. I am passionate about behavioral and maternal/infant health and aim to work at the intersection of public health and primary care to reduce inequities in care access and outcomes.

Sarah El Mouatassim Bih

Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine

I am a third-year medical student at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine with a Masters of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Northwestern University and several years’ experience as a data analyst on a Population Health team. I am passionate about health equity and education, with a particular interest in the roles social determinants of health play in health disparities. Understanding the mechanisms underlying boundaries to care will help me to play my part in dismantling them and improving patient access and outcomes.

Terrence Murphy, MPH

Rush University Medical Center

I am a second year medical student at Rush Medical College. I completed my Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from Saint Louis University in 2014. My primary areas of interest include preventative medicine and the utilization of healthcare information technology to improve community health assessment, clinical care, and address health disparities.

Shivali Patel

Rush University Medical Center

I am a fourth-year medical student at Rush Medical College. My primary areas of interest are global health, behavioral health, and health equity. My research and community service focuses on understanding the health disparities of Chicago’s diverse communities. I am passionate about this work because it aims to increase city-wide collaboration to help overcome these disparities and improve health outcomes.

Sara Zhukovsky

Rush University Medical Center

I am a medical student at Rush Medical College which has allowed me to work with populations within Chicago that face the greatest challenges to health care access. This has led me to become very passionate about identifying solutions to health care disparities within our community. I am particularly interested in studying interventions that reduce inequalities in maternal and fetal outcomes.