Battle Cry

Halan Mohamed is a chemical engineer and PhD candidate in chemical engineering. She received her master's degree in the same field at University College London. Her research interests involve nature-inspired solutions to the "dirtying" of membrane filters during water purification.

Dr. Kareem Redmond was born and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He attended North Carolina State University to receive a bachelor's degree in Chemistry.He went on to earn his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from UNC Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. During his time in dental school, Dr. Redmond developed a strong passion for using his dental knowledge to help the community.                    Following graduation from UNC- Chapel Hill, he went on to complete a 2 year  Residency program at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, with a focus in treating medically complex patients, dental surgical procedures, implant dentistry, and IV sedation. He currently runs and operates his own dental practice is his home state of North Carolina.         When Dr. Redmond isn't working he enjoys spending time with family, cooking, and spending time outdoors. You will often see him around town playing basketball, enjoying the great outdoors, or hanging out with his wife and kids.  

“Dr. Christopher Warlick is an associate professor and chairman of the urology University of Minnesota Department serving as the first Black chairman at the institution. He received his MD/PHD from the  University of Minnesota (M.D., Ph.D.) and completed his urology residency at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore MD (Urology). He is a nationally recognized leader in Active Surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer as well as the use of MR imaging in prostate cancer, the development of novel tests to help determine early signs of disease progression, and on programs to increase the use of shared decision making around PSA screening and prostate cancer treatment decision making.”

Dr. Ramla Kasozi is a board certified family medicine physician and advocate. Having lived in three different parts of the world (Canada, Uganda, and USA) and worked in the health sector in two different countries (Uganda and USA), Dr. Kasozi has had the privilege of seeing healthcare in different settings. As a former refugee child, she recalls the many frustrations and disappointments her parents had experienced while navigating the health care system. Dr. Kasozi's keen interest in refugee health has been life long with particular interest in tackling health disparities through health equity initiatives. Working as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHE) Fellow at Emory University's Center for Humanitarian Emergencies, Dr. Kasozi conducted research with the Emergency Response and Recovery Branch (ERRB) on refugee health and participated in projects to offer primary healthcare to the uninsured, refugee population in Atlanta. As a former refugee, it was such an honor for Dr. Kasozi to give back and help the migrant refugee population in the community. Consequently, her experience at Emory has given her working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research.    Witnessing the impact of racial bias and the various microaggressions her parents experienced as Ugandan refugees, really sparked her interest in becoming a doctor. Dr. Kasozi completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Minnesota's St. John's Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program. During her residency training, she was involved in scholarly and community work addressing health equity and race-based medicine. As a Board-Certified Family Medicine Physician, Dr. Kasozi plans on continuing her scholarly work in improving medical education to be more relevant to communities. She practices full-scope Family Medicine while also working in academic medicine. She plans on bridging comprehensive clinical care with community public health in an effort to reduce health disparities by creating community-oriented primary health care initiatives. In the long-term, Dr. Kasozi hopes to pursue translational research and establish domestic and global health collaborations dealing with refugee health.

Dr. Blake Montgomery is a current pediatric orthopedic surgery fellowship at Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard.  Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he  went to undergraduate school and medical school at University of Missouri Kansas City combined 6 year accelerated MD program. While there he participated in a year of research at the National Institutes of Health through the Medical Research Scholars Program. He  attended orthopaedic surgery residency at Stanford University. 

Dr. Kendalle Cobb is a family medicine provider at Cleveland Clinic and currently serves as the associate chief of staff with a focus on diversity and inclusion.  She received her bachelor's degree in history from  Harvard University and her medical degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC. She then headed back west where she completed her family medicine residency at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana, CA.  She serves as a Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, where she was Director of Diversity and Inclusion from 2010 until 2019. In 2016, she was awarded a one-year Chief of Staff grant. Her project explored the successes and challenges that the Clinic faces in creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. In 2018, she was elected to the Board of Governors at Cleveland Clinic before Dr. Mihaljevic asked her to step down to lead of Differentiated Lifetime Care, which will transform the way that the Clinic delivers care. In March 2021, she was appointed Associate Chief of Staff, where she focuses on making this the best place to practice medicine for physicians who work in the outpatient setting and on recruitment and retention of physicians, with a specific focus on those traditionally underrepresented in medicine. Dr. Cobb and her family live in Shaker Heights.

Dr. Kevo Rivera is a psychiatry resident and soon-to-be child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at the University of Iowa. They identify as a queer, agender, Filipinx-American, and they respond to all pronouns. In addition to being a first-generation physician, Dr Rivera is actively involved in their community as an appointed member of the Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation Commission and as a worship leader for Sanctuary Community Church.

This special episode delves into the myth of professionalism as it pertains to underrepresented minorities within the field of stem. join us as our battle cry alumni and new guests discuss their unique experiences and take at the myth of professionalism and how they have reclaimed their voices and identities within this construct. Our guests include Dr. Valeria Valbuena, a general surgery resident at the university of Michigan. She is a prior BattleCry alumnus and you can check out her episode in episode 25. Dr. Chase Anderson, a child psychiatry fellow at the University of San Francisco. He is also a BattleCry.alumnus and you can check out his episode in episode 23. Our newcomers include Dr. Ebone Evans an ENT resident at the University of Minnesota and Dr. Blair Peters a gender confirming surgeon and microsurgeon at Oregon Health Sciences.  

Dr. Farrah Amoy Fullerton is a soon to be PGY-1 pediatric resident at the Medical College of Georgia. She received her undergraduate degree from Mary Baldwin University she majored in Biology with a Biomedical Sciences emphasis and a double minored in Physics and Chemistry. She will complete her MD from the University of Alabama in May 2021. A passionate advocate she is the organizer of the twitter hashtag and social movement #MedGradWishlist Organizer,  Leader of student-led Anti-Racism Movement at her medical school and Founder of @LaidBlackLive podcast. 

Dr. Alex Frano is a physics professor at the University of California San Diego. Born in Honduras, he had a non-traditional road into STEM with a career as a professional musician prior to obtaining his masters in Physics in 2010 from the University of Stuttgart. Prior to that, he received his B.S in physics from the University of Honduras. He ultimately completed his PhD in physics in 2014 from the Technical University of Berlin/Max Planck Institute. He completed a post doctoral fellowship at UC Berkley. He is still an avid musician and supporter of underrepresented minorities in STEM. 

Dr. Daniel Colon Hidalgo is a Pulmonary and Critical Care fellow at the University of Colorado. He is originally from Dominican Republic but spent his childhood in Mexico before migrating to the US for his education. He is passionate about the biology of pulmonary vascular diseases and social justice. In the future, he wants to be a basic scientist and continue to work on health equity.            

Alex Coston (pronouns they/them and she/her) is a queer, Black third year medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine. They were born and raised in Maryland and graduated with a BA in Chemistry and English from Amherst College. She is a passionate advocate for anti-racism and racial justice work, LGBTQ2IA+ rights and health care, inclusive medical education, addiction medicine, and health care for housing insecure communities. When they aren't studying or working to create more equitable systems, they enjoy reading, baking, and attempting to keep their growing collection of houseplants alive. 

Dr. Uju Anya is a linguist and university professor in the field of language learning and teaching. She's a polyglot who speaks six languages, a single mother of two brilliant children, an atheist, and politically outspoken lesbian. She authored the award winning book, Racialized identities in second language learning: Speaking blackness in Brazil (Routledge 2017), multiple journal articles, and she engages in debates on multilingualism, feminism, pop culture, racism, and LGBTQ rights as a public intellectual on Twitter. She speaks regularly at invited lectures, conference keynotes, and leads workshops on race, gender, sexuality, equity and inclusiveness in education, and intercultural communication.

Aboubacar (Abou) Kaba is a lover of Beyoncé  and graduating 4th year medical student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine where is the outgoing Student Government Vice President. He is a recently matched incoming Urology resident at UCLA.  He completed his undergraduate studies at the ILLUSTRIOUS (his words not mine) Alabama State University, a HBCU located in Montgomery, AL, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Biology with a concentration in Pre-Health and a Double Minor in Chemistry and Math. He grew up in Atlanta, GA after his family immigrated from Guinea when he was 5 years old. Growing up in a predominately Black environment and then attending an HBCU, he has always been surrounded by people who believed in him. He shares his experiencing navigating the world with this unparalleled support and how it led him to being the confident, determined person he is today.

Dr. Faith Dukes is the manager of K-12 STEM education and outreach programs at the  Berkeley National Laboratory where she combines her passions for science and education. She received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Spelman College. She then went on to Tufts University to obtain her doctorate in Chemistry.  She went on to develop educational programs as the Education Coordinator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum before transitioning to Washington, DC as an American Association for the Advancement of Science,  Science Technology Policy Fellow. During her time as a Fellow, she served at the National Science Foundation in the Education and Human Resources Directorate. At her current role as the manager of the K-12 STEM education and outreach program she is an advocate for removing barriers and helping students find their way into STEM majors and professions Outside of the Lab, Dr. Dukes is an avid boxer, podcaster and reader after joining a mixed martial arts gym while in graduate school.

Dr. Williams is a fourth year pathology resident at SUNY Upstate Medical University. He earned his M.D from the Jacobs School of Medicine in Buffalo, NY.  He has been named the The Power List 2020 of pathologists and  ASCP 40 Under Forty program recognizes members under the age of 40 for their achievements and leadership qualities that are making an impact on pathology and laboratory medicine. He plans on doing fellowships in #forensics and #Neuropath to one day become a medical examiner. 

Dr. Denise Asafu-Adjei is currently a Fellow in Andrology (Male Sexual Dysfunction and Infertility) at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She completed her residency in urological surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.  She obtained her Bachelor of Science from Carnegie Mellon University. She received her M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School and an MPH in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.   In the future, she aims to utilize her clinical research to help healthcare systems achieve access to equitable and high quality healthcare. She is passionate about mentorship and continues to actively mentor medical students and residents. Finally, she seeks to ultimately create and expand urological exchange programs and partnerships in her family's country of Ghana and other African countries.    She enjoys leisure international travel, golf,  musicals, political history, and cooking.s

Dr. Sherita King a urologist specializing in male and female sexual dysfunction and prosthesis at Medical College of Georgia, Augusta.  She is a former division I track athlete at the University of Georgia where she majored in Biology. She then went on to Medical college of Georgia for medical school and completed her residency at the Medical college of Georgia. She then further specialized in female and male sexual medicine/prosthesis at San Diego Sexual Medicine with the world renowned Dr. Irwin Goldstein.

Dr Fenwa Famakinwa Milhouse is a fellowship-trained, board certified urologist specializing in female pelvic floor reconstruction at Dupage Medical group in Illinois.Originally born in Nigeria, she grew up in Texas where her undergraduate degree in Biology at the University of Texas Austin.  She then went on to University of Texas at Houston for medical school where she developed her love for urology after hearing a lecture about urology given by an African American woman urologist. She trained at the University of Chicago for urology residency.  Thereafter, she completed her fellowship at Metro Urology in Minneapolis in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. She is a wife and mother of 3. She is passionate about introducing young people to urology and mentoring underrepresented minorities pursuing medicine.   

Dr. Ben McDonald is a postdoctoral scholar in the Swager group at MIT, utilizing synthetic chemistry to develop new functional organic materials for chemical-warfare agent responsive surfaces and dynamic biphasic emulsions. Dr. McDonald earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina Asheville in 2012 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University in 2018. There, as a NIH predoctoral fellow he explored the total synthesis of polyphenol natural products and the development of new chemical methods for small molecule synthesis. Ben is an aspiring academic who beyond his scientific work, seeks to normalize intellectual inquiry in young students of color. In his free time, he enjoys biking, rock climbing, and woodworking.

Bri Christophers (she) is an aspiring physician-scientist interested in bringing social justice to the lab bench and hospital bedside. Born and raised in Miami, Bri found herself moving to New Jersey to attend Princeton University, where she fell in love with developmental biology while staring at fish hearts down a microscope in the lab of Rebecca Burdine, PhD. Much of her advocacy work as an undergraduate focused on amplifying the voices of Latinx, BIPOC*, and first-generation/low-income students through organizations like Princeton Latinos y Amigos, the Latinx Collective and initiatives like Project Welcome Mat: A Guide for First-Generation Students. Her work was recognized with the Frederick Douglass Service Award given during graduation ceremonies, the Spirit of Princeton Award, and the Santos-Dumont Award for Innovation. She continued her journey in developmental biology by working in the lab of Robert Heuckeroth, MD, PhD at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, moving from the heart to the enteric nervous system. Now as an MD-PhD student at Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program, she is pursuing graduate training with Mary Baylies, PhD, studying muscle development. Briana has continued to bring together her passion for scientific discovery and advocacy, serving as diversity representative on the Weill Cornell Medical Student Executive Committee, co-running the Association of Diverse Physician-Scientists in Training (ADePT), and developing the Mini Lessons by Medical Scientists video series aimed at introducing children and adolescents to physician-scientists. More recently, Bri has turned to writing as a way of communicating science and advancing social causes. Her works have been published in Academic Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, The Lancet Global Health, Pediatric Research, Scientific American, and in-Training magazine. She co-authored and was lead editor of “The Free Guide to Medical School Admissions,” an e-book in its second-edition available at tiny.cc/MedAppGuide. You can follow her reflections on being a Latina growing into a pediatrician-scientist on Twitter, where she is also the co-leader of @LatinasInMed and @MedStudentChat.

Ralph White III, a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia, is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry from Furman University in 2017, where he studied the thermodynamics of the inhibition of High Mobility Group A proteins bound to AT rich DNA with Netropsin . Currently, his research is focused on evaluating the synergy and corresponding biological mechanisms of combination therapy involving select kinase inhibitors and the standard of care for treating Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. In addition to his research, Ralph is involved in STEM outreach within the Twin Cities community, engaging all with his love of science through demonstration and discussion. His long-term career goal is to become an independent investigator, with a focus on understanding cancer physiology to improve upon current therapeutics, all the while teaching the next generation of scientists

Dr. Valeria Valbuena is a General Surgery resident at the University of Michigan. Originally from Colombia, she completed her undergraduate education starting in her local community college, the State College of Florida. She obtained a B.A in Biochemistry from the New College of Florida and her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she was an active member and leader of the Latino Medical Student Association. Valeria's research interests include workforce diversity with a focus on medicine and surgery, healthcare disparities, community-based intervention to increase access to safe surgery, and organ donation and transplantation in minority populations. She was selected as part of the 2020-2022 cohort of the National Clinician Scholars Program where she will be completing her Academic Development Time while pursuing a Master's Degree in Health & Healthcare Research Dr. Valbuena is the program lead for the LEAGUES Fellowship, a pipeline program designed for medical students interested in the intersection of racial and gender equity and surgery. As the Resident Life Director of Recruitment at Michigan Surgery, she hopes to redesign the surgical residency selection process focusing on holistic review of applications with the goal of making surgical training accessible to candidates of all backgrounds.

Dr. Utibe Essien is a  board-certified generalist internist,   Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and a health disparities researcher in the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion. He received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and my Masters of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed residency and a research fellowship in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.   His research focuses on racial and ethnic disparities in the use of novel therapeutics and technologies in the management of cardiovascular diseases.  He has applied this research framework to the disproportionate toll COVID-19 pandemic is taking on minority communties. He is also the Director of the University of Pittsburgh's Career Education and Enhancement for Healthcare Research Diversity (CEED) medical student scholars program and was a 2019 National Minority Quality Forum 40 under 40 Leaders in Minority Health awardee. Outside of work, he enjoy srunning (marathoner x 2) traveling abroad, visiting new restaurants, and loudly singing show tunes from the award-winning musical "Hamilton." 

Dr. Chase T. M. Anderson, MD, MS is currently a child psychiatry fellow at University of California at San Francisco and recently graduated from adult psychiatry residency at The Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital.   He completed his undergraduate education in Chemistry at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his master's in Biological Engineering at MIT as well, and is a graduate of The Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.   In his free time, he enjoys going for long walks, listening to K-pop, reading fantasy books, playing soccer, writing, and planning dinners with friends.

Anny Reyes is a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology at University of California, San Diego. She received her undergraduate degree from State University of Albany and her Masters Degree from New York University. She is passionate about epilepsy research, social justice and advocacy. She has over 30 publications and is an avid educator and mentor of LatinX and Black minorities in STEM. 

Alyasah “Ali” Sewell (they/them/their) is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University and Founder and Director of The Race and Policing Project. Advancing quantitative approaches to racism studies, they assess empirical links between the political economy of race and racial health(care) disparities using policing and housing policy data. Published in a wide array of sociological and interdisciplinary outlets, their research garnered support and recognition from the National Institutes of Health, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Planned Parenthood named them, “The Future: Innovator and Visionary Who Will Transform Black Communities”. They received their Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Indiana University with a minor in Social Science Research Methods and their B.A. summa cum laude in Sociology from the University of Florida with a minor in Women's Studies. 

Dr. Eseosa Ighodaro is a native of Kentucky where she was the 1st African American female to complete the combined MD/PhD program at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.  During her training, she has published over 15+ articles in the areas of hippocampal sclerosis of aging, cerebral small-vessel disease, and neurological health disparities in African Americans.  In addition, she has received numerous awards for her activism work on campus and within the community. Currently, she is a neurology resident (PGY-2) and neuroscientist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. After residency, she plans to matriculate into a stroke or behavioral neurology fellowship. Her research interests focus on understanding the role of racism in neurological health disparities.   In her spare time, she mentors students at various training levels interested in medicine and research. She also creates educational videos related to neuroscience for the general public. You can find her educational material on Facebook (@Dr.Ighodaro), Youtube (Dr. Eseosa Ighodaro, MD, PhD), and Twitter (@Dr_Ighodaro). 

Dr Gifty Kwakye, MD is a Clinical Assistant Professor for Surgery in the Division of Colorectal Surgery at the University of Michigan. She graduated from Yale University with a BSc degree in both Biology and Psychology. She received her medical degree from Yale University in 2010 and holds a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins. She completed her general surgery residency at the Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 2017 and colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota in 2018. Dr Kwakye joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2018. As a resident she received multiple awards including the Robert T. Osteen and the Partners Health System Medical Education awards for excellence in teaching. Her passion for global health was also recognized with a Global Health Scholarship award from Johns Hopkins during her public health training.Along with her many academic publications, she is also a NYTs contributor. 

Dr. Erick Marigi is a second year orthopedic surgery resident at the Mayo Clinic. He completed his medical school training at the University of Minnesota. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Biology from St. Olaf college where he also played collegiate football. You may have heard about him earlier in the podcast as his wife Dr. Bearrick was our first guest!  

Dr. Omar Mesina is an obstetrics and gynelcology intern at University of California San Diego. He received  his bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and completed medical school at the University of California- San Francisco. We discuss his journey as a first gen, formerly undocumented, queer & latinx physician and the influence it has played in his advocacy work. 

Dr. Joseph Acquaye is a chief resident at the University of Minnesota. He completed his medical school training at Meharry Medical School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto. In this episode, we discuss Dr. Acquaye's non-traditional route into medicine, his book and his passions/goals outside of medical school. 

Leah Puri is a rising third year medical student at Stony Brook University. She completed her undergraduate degree at Fordham University. She then went on to pursue a degree in ethics prior to medical school.Leah's upbringing in Nigeria gives her a unique lens to the systemic racism African Americans have faced in America which we discuss at length.  Outside of staying busy in school, she is poet, advocate and chef. 

Dr. Tiara Moore is an environmental ecologist completed her B.S. in Biology in 2011 at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. . She received her M.S. in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Science in 2013 from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. After completing her M.S., she spent 2 months in Bali, Indonesia identifying the diversity and abundance of meiofauna in marine sediments across the coral triangle. Dr. Moore earned her PhD in Biology from UCLA.  Dr. Moore is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington and The Nature in order to increase biodiversity. She dedicates her time to mentoring minority women in the lab and in afterschool programs. She is also the founder of A WOC SPACE, Dr. Moore aspires to make a safe and inclusive workplace for all women of color (WOC) through WOCShops and individual personal trainings. To round things off Dr. Moore combines her experiences as a WOC Scientist with her upbeat personality in her Academic Standup Shows, both communicating science and the struggles of being a minority in STEM.

Dr. Candice Williams is a anesthesiologist, pain medicine specialist and a Premedical and Medical Student Coach. She earned her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley then went on to UCLA Medical School. She completed her anesthesiology residency at UCLA as well as a pain medicine fellowship. In this episode, we talk about callings outside of medicine which include her love for music. 

Today's episode is a little different as the guest being interviewed will be myself, the creator and host of The Battle Cry Podcast. In this episode, we flip the script as we explore my journey as being the first black woman to match into urology from my medical and the first to graduate from the University of Minnesota at 28 years old. My guest host is my good friend Dr. Sabena Hussain. Dr. Hussain is a pediatric cardiology fellow at the Indiana University which is where she also completed her pediatric training. She is a graduate of the prestigious 6 year BLA/MD program medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

Dr. Chierika Ukogu is an incoming intern at Harvard Combined Orthopedic Surgery residency. She is also a former Olympic rower representing Nigeria in the 2016 Olympic games. She rowed collegiately at Stanford University where she earned her Bachelors of Science in Biology. She then went on to Ichan School of Medicine for medical school. Her motto is "lift as I climb" and she lives by those word in everything she does. 

Dr. Yewande Alimi is a graduating general surgery chief resident at Medtown Georgetown University Hospital. She earned her B.S in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and graduated from Emory Medical School in 2009. She then earned her Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University during her surgical residency. She will be completing a minimally invasive fellowship at Stanford University for the 2020-2021 academic year. She is a musician, enjoys fine dining and is passionate about systems optimization within hospitals. 

Dr. Anezi Uzendu is a graduating cardiology fellow from the Ohio State University. He will be pursuing an interventional cardiology fellowship at Harvard Mass General Hospital. He completed his undergraduate and medical degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City 6 year combined BLA/MD program. He then completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama. He is also the founder of Make BLS Basics which is an organization that provides CPR training to low income families with the goal of decreasing out of hospital cardiac arrest deaths by empowering individuals with knowledge. The idea for this comes from a very personal place for Dr. Uzendu- who is alive today in part due to the immediate CPR initiated by bystanders after suffering an out of hospital cardiac arrest at the age of 25.

Dr. Tanisha Hutchison is a graduating otolaryngologist from the University of Minnesota. She will be completing a fellowship in facial plastics for the 2020-2021 academic year. This former division I track and field star, earned her undergraduate degree from Alabama State.  She obtained her Masters of Science and MD from the Medical University of South Carolina. She is an artist, foodie and mentor for many in her field. 

Christle Nwora is a first year med-peds resident at John Hopkins Hospital. She completed her medical school training at McGovern Medical School located in Houston, Texas. Prior to medical school, Christle earned a Bachelor of Arts in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. During her undergraduate career, Christle worked with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on the University of Texas vs Fisher II Supreme Court Case and served as a NAACP LDF Youth Delegate at the National Urban League Civil Rights Summit in New York. She has served on national committees including the Association of American Medical Colleges as their student representative.

Dr. Russell Joseph Ledet is a medical student at Tulane University and co-founder of The 15 White Coats. Prior to medical school, he received his PHD in molecular oncology from NYU. He earned his bachelor of science on chemistry and biology from Southern University and A&M College with a BS in Chemistry where he graduated  (Summa Cum Laude). He then completed a masters of science with a focus on cellular biology at NYU. Prior to formal academic training, he served as a cryptologic technician First Class Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy for 9 years and is a proud US veteran. He is the recipient of multiple scholarships and graduate fellowships, including the highly coveted Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Studies. He is a passionate advocate for cross generational mental health advocate, community organizer, and just an all around awesome person. 

Vanessa Anyanso is currently enrolled in the counseling psychology PhD program at the University of Minnesota. She has a undergraduate degree in psychology from Columbia University. In this episode we discuss black mental health, boarding schools, representation and the brilliance of Janelle Monae. 

Amanda J. Calhoun, MD, MPH is a Yale Psychiatry resident in the Albert J. Solnit Integrated Adult/Child Psychiatry program.  She received her BA in Spanish from Yale University and her MD and MPH from Saint Louis University.  Amanda J. Calhoun currently leads the Yale Resident Spanish Initiative and is co-Vice Chair of the Diversity Council of the Yale Resident Fellow Senate. She has been published in the Connecticut Psychiatric Society newsletter and AAP Council on School Health.  In this episode, we candidly discuss race, self image, self esteem and the role it plays for black females.  Explicit language used in this episode 

Dr. Brian Williams is a Harvard trained trauma surgeon as well as a first generation college graduate with a degree in aeronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy. He is well-known for his role in treating victims of the July 7, 2016, Dallas police shooting as he was the trauma surgeon working the night seven injured officers were urgently transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital. His poignant comments during a press conference about race, policing and gun violence was chosen as one of Huffington Post's most powerful TV moments of 2016. In addition to his work as a trauma surgeon, Dr. Williams travels the country as a sharing his unique insight on resilience, gun violence, and racial justice. He is also an opinion writer featured in The Chicago Tribune and The Dallas Morning News, and hosts the podcast Race, Violence & Medicine. 

LaShyra "Lash" Nolen is a rising second year medical student at Harvard Medical School. She is the first African American female to be elected class president at Harvard medical school. She graduated with honors with a B.S. in Health and Human Sciences (human biology and public health emphasis) from Loyola Marymount University where she also served as the 2016-2017 elected student-body president. She is a former Fulbright scholar and served in the Americorps prior to starting medical school.   

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Elizabeth Bearrick, a second year urology resident at Mayo clinic. She is the first African American female to train at this institution in urology.  

Inaugural podcast, hope you enjoy!

Today you hear from Ben and Kaitlin from our programming team giving an update and sharing fun stories! Stay tuned for more episodes!