2023 Cohorts

I am incredibly excited to join the Irma Ferrer Health Justice Fellowship (IFHJF) and do my part to promote patient advocacy and community-based change within Latinx communities. As an aspiring medical social worker, I am deeply committed to minimizing racial health disparities in this population. Through this fellowship, I hope to gain experience in advocacy work, research, patient navigation, and community-based education. Most importantly, I look forward to expanding equitable health services with a team of amazing Latina/x women leaders.

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Alejandra will gradute from SJSU  in 2023 with a degree in Social Work

I am originally from Arizona and I am a first-year medical student in the Physician Scientist Training Program at Stanford University. My passion for cancer health equity was formed through my own personal experiences with the disease. I have seen first-hand how coming from a low-income, minority background can lead to longer diagnosis periods and more advanced stages of illness. I am honored to be selected for this fellowship so that I can explore this passion further with the Hispanic community in Santa Clara County. During the next 10 months, I hope to learn ways to create better cancer prevention, more equitable treatment options, and learn how I can better support patients during the long path to survivorship. In the future, I hope to become an Oncologist and believe this fellowship will give me the unique insight and training toward achieving these goals in my clinical practic

Hi! My name is Diana Sanchez, and I’m a junior at Stanford University studying Bioengineering from the Southwest side of Chicago. I’m excited to take part in the Irma Ferrer Memorial Health Justice Fellowship, which is vested in topics I’m passionate about such as organizing and social change through health education. I aspire to be an academic physician, particularly interested in health communication from a bioethical perspective. I hope to change and broaden the language semantics of health education in marginalized communities and physician circles. I’m passionate about healthcare equity, health justice, and bioethics broadly within marginalized communities. I look forward to drawing from my own personal and academic experience to create social change, as well as hearing and learning from the narratives of the individuals who come into contact with Latinas Contra Cancer, as well as the staff who make it possible.

As a first-generation Latina to hold a bachelor’s degree, I am thrilled to be a part of the Irma Ferrer Health Justice Fellowship and have the opportunity of working alongside a strong community of health advocates. I am excited to learn, grow, and expand my knowledge as well as my skills in community health work and patient navigation to support those living with cancer. I also hope to learn more about community organizing and gain experience working with local health organizations that promote health education and outreach to their community members.

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Kinberly will graduate from SJSU in 2023 with a degree in Public Health

I am so excited to come back to the Irma Ferrer Health Justice Fellowship for a second year. I really enjoyed the projects I did last year, and I learned a lot about the issues that are impacting the local Latine community. Through working with a non-profit organization, I have really appreciated community engagement and community-based work in the health domain. It is something I hope to apply to future research endeavors and throughout my career. I'm excited to work with and learn from the new fellows this year.

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Laisha is an undergraduate student at Stanford University.

My name is Lizbeth Luevano (she/her/ella) and I am a current undergraduate student at Stanford University studying Environmental Anthropology and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. I’m excited to be a part of the Irma Ferrer Health Justice Fellowship with Latinas Contra Cancer and be in community with a cohort of peers all dedicated to achieving public health equity in the Latine community. Coming from a community of migrant field workers, I look forward to unraveling the unlimited possibilities of how social justice may be applied in the public health sphere and untangling the systems of land and labor exploitation that coalesce of migrant working bodies, using a community-based approach to advocate for a better and more just world