Adriana Gutierrez Yllu
Adriana is a first-year Master of Public Health student at Emory University. Born and raised in Peru, where she got her medical degree. She spent over a year working in remote Andean communities, where limited access to care meant that preventable diseases often went untreated. Later, as a surgical physician assistant in Lima, she saw the stark contrast in healthcare access between urban hospitals and rural clinics. These experiences inspired her to pursue an MPH to address the systemic barriers that keep essential care out of reach for so many. Now, as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Vascular Surgery Department at Emory, Adriana focuses on cardiovascular diseases, and the impact of social determinants on health outcomes.
Her goal is to improve healthcare access for underserved populations and use implementation science to bridge the gap between evidence-based interventions and real-world healthcare delivery.
Christian Fernando Guerrero-Juarez
Christian Fernando Guerrero-Juarez is a third-year medical student in the Physician-Innovator Training Program at Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He is humbled to have been selected as a MOLA-MRF Scholar for a second consecutive year. Christian was born and raised in Morelia, Michoacán, México. He emigrated to Southern California in his teen years. He received dual B.S./B.A. degrees in Biology/Biochemistry from California State University, San Bernardino, and completed M.S./Ph.D. degrees in Biological Sciences at University of California, Irvine. He currently serves as Research and Grants Director of Avicenna Community Health Center and is the founder and current director of the Dermatology and Wound Care Community Clinic – a clinic in Urbana, IL, that provides 100% free culturally-competent dermatology and wound care services for uninsured/underinsured patients in Urbana-Champaign and surrounding areas. He is an aspiring clinician-scientist interested in dermatology and hopes to pursue a career in academic medicine.
Dayane Padilla
Dayane Padilla is a first-generation college student originally from Jalisco, Mexico, and raised on the South Side of Chicago. A graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in Biological Sciences and Public Health, she is currently pursuing her master’s degree at UIC. Her research project focuses on identifying the perceived health needs and lifestyle factors influencing health behaviors and quality of life among middle-aged and older Latino migrants. While also examining the role of culturally sensitive definitions of health and exercise and sharing health behaviors within this population. Through her work with the Mobile Migrant Health Team and its associated free clinic, Dayane seeks to address barriers to healthcare access and physical activity while developing culturally sensitive interventions to improve the health of underserved Latino communities. Dayane’s ultimate goal is to become a physician committed to providing culturally competent care and improving healthcare equity for marginalized populations.
Jimena Collado
Jimena is a first-generation immigrant, proud of her Mexican roots. Raised in Puebla, she then emigrated to Chicago during her high school years. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Neuroscience with a minor in Global Health. She is currently in her third year of medical school at Feinberg School of Medicine, working towards her goal of becoming a physician advocate for immigrants and the Latino community. As an aspiring anesthesiologist, Jimena is particularly interested in addressing the perioperative needs of Spanish-speaking patients. In her free time, you can find her on the dance floor dancing along to Latin rhythms such as salsa, bachata, cumbia, and merengue.
Jose Nieto
Jose Nieto was born in Mexico and raised in Chicago by immigrant parents, where he witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by underserved communities in accessing quality healthcare. A first-generation college student, Jose received his B.A. in Marketing and worked as a Contract Management Specialist for John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County before pursuing a Doctorate in Pharmacy. He is currently a third-year PharmD/MBA candidate at Roosevelt University and is passionate about addressing healthcare disparities within the Latinx community. In 2024, he self-started a research project focusing on the underrepresentation of Latinx patients in HIV-1 clinical trials. Dedicated to advocacy and public health, Jose aspires to a career in clinical pharmacy, specializing in infectious diseases, where he can aid underserved communities, using his platform to drive meaningful change in healthcare equity. In his free time, Jose enjoys spending time with his family and friends, cooking, and biking.
Lyan Basora Dorville
Lyan Basora Dorville is a Dominican-born first-generation immigrant and medical student from South Florida, where he earned triple BSc degrees with honors in Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry through the Honors College of Florida International University. As an undergraduate, he conducted translational immunology research at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. During his gap years, Lyan worked as a Quality Engineer in the medical manufacturing and aircraft engine maintenance industries. Using his skills as an NBCMI-certified medical interpreter, Lyan is actively involved in expanding access to language-concordant care for uninsured Latino patients served by the CommunityHealth (CH) free clinic. While he joined the clinic in 2022 as a remote interpreter, he currently also trains new CH interpreters and was recently recognized as ‘2024 Clinic Volunteer of the Year in Spanish Medical Interpreting.’ Inspired by his experiences at CommunityHealth, Lyan switched careers and now serves the clinic’s patients as a first-year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. His research interests include investigating applications of deep learning in computational histopathology, and leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance the training and quality assurance processes within medical interpreting.
Maria De Los Angeles Almaraz Villanueva
Angeles Almaraz Villanueva is a Mexican immigrant who grew up in California’s Central Valley. Her roots deeply shape her commitment to both medicine and social equity. Now a second-year medical student at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, Angeles is driven by a passion to advocate for underserved communities. She works closely with pre-health students, Latinx/POC populations, and undocumented individuals, focusing on expanding access to higher education, healthcare, and social services.
Angeles’ current research began during her time as a Summer Emergency Medicine Fellow for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She focused on investigating the legal needs of patients at the San Francisco General Hospital- Emergency Department. Through this work she aims to explore how legal determinants of health, such as policies at the local and national level, impact healthcare outcomes for Latinx and under-resourced populations. Inspired by Medical-Legal Partnerships in primary care, she envisions expanding this model into acute care settings to address the broader needs of vulnerable patients.
Nowadays, Angeles is drawn to emergency medicine, as it serves as a critical interface between medical and social emergencies that many communities face.
Monica Soto Noveron
Monica Soto Noveron was raised in Southern California’s Inland Empire by two hard-working, humble, Mexican immigrant parents. She was the first in her family to attend college, earning full cost of attendance scholarships to attend University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 2017, she graduated with a BS in Psychobiology and later completed a post-baccalaureate program through UCLA Extension. After 5 enrichment years, Monica matriculated into her top choice at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in the PRIME-Leadership and Advocacy program (PRIME-LA). Monica has an interest in addressing health disparities among Latino and underserved communities. This summer, Monica will start a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) through UCLA Anderson School of Management to gain tools to implement solutions that will decrease disparities in healthcare access. As a third-year medical student, her research has focused on uncovering barriers to dermatologic care in Los Angeles county’s safety-net hospitals. In addition, she plans to research the intersection between occupational health risks and autoimmune diseases, such as scleroderma. Monica plans to pursue a career in dermatology in order to provide this specialty care in medically underserved communities.
Nicole Villalba
Nicole Villalba is a rising third-year medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She grew up in New Jersey and is the daughter of two Ecuadorian immigrants. Currently, she is completing a dedicated research year at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where her work focuses on the experiences of Spanish-speaking families whose children have undergone epilepsy surgery, exploring the emotional, social, and practical challenges they face. She has also been investigating the current state of folic acid intake among Hispanic women in the United States for the prevention of neural tube defects. As a MOLA-MRF Scholar, Nicole aims to build on this work by further studying dietary patterns and barriers to folic acid intake among Hispanic women. She is passionate about health equity and hopes to integrate her research interests into a future career in neurosurgery.
Pablo Eduardo Puente
Pablo Puente is a second-year medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. Born and raised in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, he moved to Miami, FL, at the age of twelve. He earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a B.A. in Natural and Applied Sciences from Florida International University, becoming a first-generation graduate. He later completed a post-baccalaureate program at the CaRE2 Health Equity Center at USC, where he researched cancer disparities among Black and Hispanic/Latino populations.
At UICOM, Pablo is an Urban Medicine Scholar actively engaged in community outreach, including teaching diabetes classes to Spanish-speaking patients and assisting migrant populations. His research focuses on health disparities in bladder and kidney cancer among Hispanic/Latino patients. He currently serves as the Urology Interest Group (UIG) President and Urology Specialty Section Leader for LMSA. Pablo aspires to become a urologist, combining his passion for research and policy to address healthcare disparities and improve patient outcomes in underserved communities.
Pedro Bonilla
Pedro Bonilla is a second-year medical student at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Born and raised in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, Pedro is the proud son of Salvadoran immigrants, an experience that has deeply shaped his commitment to serving historically underserved communities. Before medical school, he earned a degree in Biochemistry from Boston College and pursued a research master’s in Chemistry with an option in Biochemistry at California State University, Los Angeles. Pedro’s research has spanned cancer biology, molecular genetics, and now, disparities in hearing healthcare among Hispanic populations to improve access to culturally competent treatment. Passionate about dismantling systemic healthcare inequities, he has been a mentor for Latinx students, an advocate for LGBTQIA+ health, and a volunteer in community-based medicine. He aspires to become an otolaryngologist, merging surgical care with advocacy and preventative medicine to address disparities in head and neck cancer, hearing disabilities, and gender-affirming care.