Name: Catalina Angel
Email: catalina.angel@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Stanford University
Major: Human Biology
Nogales Trip Position: Fundraising & Publicity
Mini-Bio: I grew up in Colombian family in Houston, Texas, and have a longstanding interest the health of Latino/a communities. During my undergraduate studies at Stanford, I developed an interest in global health, and in the ways that healthcare provision and needs differ in resource-constrained settings. I volunteered with an HIV/AIDs prevention nonprofit in Tanzania, where I learned firsthand about the importance of culturally appropriate education and prevention efforts for HIV/AIDS. Additionally, my time volunteering at the student-run clinic at Mt. Sinai has taught me about the challenges uninsured and undocumented patients face domestically. I am excited about the Nogales trip because it will give me the opportunity to learn more about rural and border healthcare, and because it will give me the chance to use the knowledge I’ve gained in medical school to educate the Nogales community on how to improve and/or maintain their health. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, yoga, volleyball, and leisurely runs.
Name: Jennifer Bailey
Email: jennifer.bailey@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: University of Southern California, 2016
Major: Social Science
Nogales Trip Position: Treasurer
Mini-Bio: I am from Chicago, despite having spent the last four years in Los Angeles and being constantly mistaken for a Californian. In college, I studied social science with an emphasis in psychology, with minors in Spanish and Healthcare Studies, which is essentially a summary of my interests in medicine. I am interested in the social aspects of healthcare and the barriers specific populations face, such as language and housing instability. Because of this, I’m excited to learn more about immigrant health while on the trip. Recently, I was given my first taste of rural medicine in upstate New York so I hope to explore this further in Nogales as well. In my free time, I watch way too much TV, knit infinity scarves, and brunch.
Name: Brielle Cardieri
Email: brielle.cardieri@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: City University of New York – Brooklyn College, 2016
Major: Psychology
Nogales Trip Position: Fundraising & Publicity
Mini-Bio: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where I attended Brooklyn Technical High School and CUNY Brooklyn College. I am interested in primary care medicine, particularly in medically underserved communities. I am interested in attending the Nogales trip to learn more about the social determinants of health that affect patients (ex: rural health and quality of care, health access and immigration status), and to bring back my newfound knowledge to my patients in New York City.
Name: Sarah Duncan
Email: sarah.duncan@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Columbia University, 2012
Major: Biology
Nogales Trip Position: Co-Leader
Mini-Bio: Originally from Boston, Mass, I graduated from Columbia University in 2012 with a major in Biology. During college, I was interested in global health and went on two week-long global health trips to Panama with Global Brigades, but felt frustrated that we weren’t providing a more long-term solution for our patients there. After graduation, I decided to make a more substantial commitment. I lived on the US-Mexico border in Texas for two years teaching high school science with Teach for America. Here I learned about many of the unique issues facing border communities, and the problems of lack of access to resources common to rural, poor areas. I applied to Sinai’s Primary Care Scholars Program hoping to ultimately practice in communities like the one I taught in. I am really excited to go on the Nogales trip to learn about the border through a healthcare lens, and to bring this perspective back to New York. In my spare time, I enjoy singing, drawing, being outdoors, and seeing live music.
Name: Emily Schlussel Markovic
Email: emily.markovic@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Cornell University, 2013
Major: Human Development
Nogales Trip Position: Curriculum
Mini-Bio: I studied Human Development at Cornell University, graduating in 2013. At Cornell, I got my first taste of global health, participating in a service-learning trip to Nicaragua. After graduating, I worked for Microsoft as a Technical Account Manager. Upon deciding to pursue a career in medicine, I attended the Byn mawr College post baccalaureate program. I spent a year working at the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute working on HIV quality impromement and developing an HIV tobacco cessation improvement campaign. I am very interested in learning about different cultures, both globally and within the US, and have had the opportunity to live abroad in both Israel and Italy. I am looking forward to Nogales and am most excited to learn about Native American culture and health and immigration health.
Name: Amara Plaza-Jennings
Email: amara.plaza-jennings@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Princeton University
Major: Molecular Biology
Nogales Trip Position: Fundraising & Publicity
Mini-Bio: I am originally from Alameda, California and grew up very close with my grandparents, who moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico. Because of this I have always been interested in immigrant health and in working with the Latino community. In college I took a lot of classes through the Latino Studies department, including one class where I focused on border health. I am very interested in this topic, so I was excited to have the opportunity to go to Nogales and learn about it firsthand. I am also passionate about biomedical research and am an MD/PhD student. I plan to do neuroscience research for my PhD.
Name: Chris Root
Email: chris.root@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Vassar College
Major: Latin American and Latino/a Studies
Nogales Trip Position: Curriculum
Global Health/Other Interests: I grew up in Los Angeles, California and moved to New York State in 2006 to attend Vassar College. My interests in the border and migrant health began at Vassar where I majored in Latin American and Latino/a studies. My senior project focused on addressing language barriers faced by Spanish-speaking patients accessing emergency medical care. I spent two weeks on the border in 2009 on an academic trip and it was probably the most impactful experience of my college career. After I graduated Vassar I moved to New York City and worked full-time as a paramedic for six years as I slowly took all the med school pre-requisites that aren’t covered by a Latin American and Latino/a studies degree. My studies as an undergraduate and my work experience since made me passionate about caring for marginalized, immigrant populations and I’m incredibly excited to be on this trip and learn more about the border from a health care perspective.
Name: Cindy Saenz
Email: cindy.saenz@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Columbia University
Major: Biology
Nogales Trip Position: Curriculum
Mini-Bio: I was born in Nicaragua and immigrated to the US with my family in 2004. As an immigrant myself, I’ve always been fascinated by issues of immigration and the politics of the border. I’m excited to learn more about how immigration policy and border policing affects the health and daily lives of the residents of Nogales, and to learn about how healthcare is provided in a variety of different settings. I hope to become a primary care doctor to immigrant communities, and I hope that this trip will give me a glimpse into what that looks like!
Name: Neha Sikka
Email: neha.sikka@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Rutgers University, 2016
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Nogales Trip Position: Co-Leader
Mini-Bio: I was born, raised, and have lived my entire life in the NY, NJ, PA tristate. As an undergraduate, I studied Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University, and led an Engineers Without Borders project in Guatemala that solidified an interest in helping neglected, hard-to-reach populations through the realm of Global Health. I am fascinated with the idea of “appropriate technology”, utilizing resource-relevant innovation to create health interventions for these populations. I was interested in the service-learning aspect of the Nogales trip team, especially the opportunity to interact with rural, border, and Native American populations and learn about their specific health needs.
Name: Emmy Yang
Email: emmy.yang@icahn.mssm.edu
Undergraduate School and Graduation Date: Yale University, 2016
Major: Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Nogales Trip Position: Transportation
Mini-Bio: I come from the forested city of Atlanta, Georgia where I appreciated growing up among a diversity of people & cultures. For this reason, I am also excited to be living in NYC where I hope to begin a career of working with vulnerable populations. In particular, I am interested in the well-being of immigrants. I feel grateful that as a Mount Sinai student, I am able to work with the East Harlem community to bring medical care to its uninsured patients. In college, I took a class called Borderlands and Bordercrossers in which I studied the history of the US-Mexico border and considered contemporary issues surrounding the border. I am excited to be able to visit this area and more importantly, engage with the local community in Nogales. Outside of these interests, I love to play ultimate frisbee, eat wholesome food and take walks in Central Park.