Faculty, Staff, & Scholar Bios

Name: N Ewen Wang (she, her, hers)
Role: Faculty Director, REACH Scholars in Health Equity MD/Masters Program and Professor in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics
Hometown: Salt Lake City, UT
Talk to me about: The new REACH scholars in Health Equity MD/Masters program, my Stanford Impact Labs project (https://impact.stanford.edu/el-encuentro), anything!
Interests/Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, traveling to places off the beaten track
Contact Email Address: ewen@stanford.edu
Preferred Name: Ewen

Name: Nancy Cuan (she/her/hers)
Role: The Community Health of the Underserved Clerkship Director
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Talk to Me About: Design thinking, behavioral change, working with patients with chronic illness
Interests/Hobbies: Photography, scrapbooking
Contact Email Address: cuannan@stanford.edu
Preferred Name: Nancy

Name: Stephen Richmond (he/him/his)
Role: Faculty Director, REACH Health Equity Scholarly Concentration and Clinical Assistant Professor Division of Primary Care and Population Health
Contact Email Address: srichmond@stanford.edu

Name: Reena Thomas (she/her/ella)
Role: Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology, Associate Dean Stanford Medicine
Hometown: Pasadena, CA
Talk to Me About: Medical school education, career in academic medicine, neuro oncology, clinical trials, translational research
Interests/Hobbies: Swimming, my two boys
Contact Email Address: reenat@stanford.edu

Name: Kevin Schulman (he/him)
Role: Professor of Medicine; Faculty Director Stanford MCiM; Professor, Graduate School of Business (by courtesy)
Hometown: Short Hills, NJ
Talk to Me About: Health policy, health economics, health care innovation
Interests/Hobbies: Hiking, skiing, sailing, travel
Contact Email Address: Kevin.Schulman@Stanford.Edu
Preferred Name: Kevin

Name: Sonoo Thadaney Israni
Role: Advisor (REACH MD/MS Program) + Director, REACH-HBMC Summer Scholars Program
Hometown: Pune, India
Talk to Me About: JEDI - justice equity diversity inclusion; Leveraging Conflict for Constructive Change; Restorative Justice
Interests/Hobbies: Reading, travel, trouble making
Contact Email Address: Sonoo@stanford.edu

Name: Adela Tapia (she, her, ella)
Role: Special Projects Coordinator, REACH MedEd Programs and the Biosciences Grant Writing Academy
Hometown: Monterey Bay, CA
Talk to Me About: Project management, digital marketing
Interests/Hobbies: Reading, journaling, traveling, spending time with family, and creating digital illustrations
Contact Email Address: adetapia@stanford.edu

Name: Joel Adu-Brimpong
Joel Adu-Brimpong, originally from Ghana and raised in southwest Michigan, holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience, as well as a Master's in Health Informatics from the University of Michigan. Prior to medical school, Joel served as a biomedical research fellow at the National Institutes of Health and a digital health and healthcare administration fellow at the Cleveland Clinic. Joel is passionate about leveraging emerging technologies to help shift healthcare delivery away from hospitals to homes and communities to better enhance health outcomes, particularly for medically disadvantaged populations. In his [limited] free time, Joel enjoys socializing with friends, learning Bachata and Salsa dancing, and indulging in PBS Masterpiece Classics.
Masters Degree: MBA

Name: Jacky Chu (he/they)
I was born and raised in San Francisco and completed my undergraduate degree in Human Biology at Stanford. Through the REACH Scholars Program, I am excited to build and learn from a community that has the collective goal of contributing to health equity. I am interested in learning how to apply scholarship to advocate for equitable public health and policy efforts in LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities. In my free time, I enjoy cooking new recipes, playing video games, learning languages, and taking care of my water plants!
Masters Degree: MPH

Name: Marzan Hamid (she/her)
Marzan Hamid is a second-year medical student born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and raised in Toronto, Canada. She graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University with a degree in Health Sciences. Marzan is the recipient of the National TD Scholarship in Community Leadership for her work reducing health disparities in low-income, immigrant-concentrated neighborhoods in Toronto. The core of Marzan’s academic philosophy is the idea that adequate healthcare is incomplete without meeting people’s social needs. She has been a part of projects that address food insecurity, public washroom availability, and COVID-19 vaccine rollout disparities at the neighborhood level. She also spent time working at one of Canada’s eminent think tanks to work on economic inclusion policy, and was recently named a Haas Graduate Public Service Fellow. Her current research focuses on interventions to address the opioid epidemic in Santa Clara County. Marzan looks forward to a career rooted in public service, and hopes that she will be a champion for public health and health equity as a practicing physician. She hopes the REACH program will foster a community that can help her grow as an advocate. Outside of her academic interests, she loves solo travelling, reading, cooking for her friends and family.
Masters Degree: MPH
Preferred Name: Marzan

Name: Kelly Hyles (she/her)
I am from New York City, by way of Guyana. I earned my B.A. in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology from Harvard College. After graduating, I worked with the Ministry of Health and a private dialysis center in Guyana, focusing on enhancing access to dialysis services for remote communities. I am interested in Cardiothoracic surgery and health equity research. As a REACH scholar, I am eager to share my knowledge, engage in interdisciplinary discussions, and collaborate with fellow scholars to develop innovative approaches to address health disparities. In the future, I hope to have the economic acuity to solve challenging accessibility issues for underserved communities. Beyond my studies, I find joy in creating vlogs.
Masters Degree: MBA

Name: Grace Jin (she/they/ta)
Grace Jin is an artist and medical student born in Ohio but raised by her grandparents in rural Zhejiang, China. Grace received a BA in Global Affairs from Yale University, where she studied politics and pathologies of imperialism, racism and patriarchy that enact violence upon marginalized bodies. She has conducted research and fieldwork to expand access to care in Nicaragua, South Africa, China, with organizations including UNICEF in Angola, Fulbright in Taiwan, Covax and the WHO in Geneva. 

Grace’s practice in art, just as in medicine, is a quest to bear witness to suffering in the hopes of transforming it. Using oil painting, Chinese calligraphy, installation and performance, she creates altars for healing in the Sino-diaspora, drawing wisdom from traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist spirituality, decolonial and intersectional feminist theory. Through the REACH scholarship, Grace will be pursuing a Master in Fine Arts (MFA) at California College of the Arts. She aims to use social practice art to radically reimagine the body as a site for revolution, build disruptive coalitions for health justice, and open portals toward collective liberation.
Masters Degree: MFA 

Name: Nathan Makarewicz (he/they)
I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and attended Princeton University for undergrad, where I studied Visual Arts, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and competed as a varsity athlete. After Princeton, I completed a graduate Public Health program at the University of Utah and continued competing as a varsity athlete. Since graduating, I have spent much of my time doing both basic science and clinical research. As a REACH scholar, I hope to use my passion for research to improve health outcomes in the LGBTQ+ and disability communities. Outside of my academic obligations, I work as a visual artist and mentor students interested in pursuing a career in medicine.
Masters Degree: MS, Epidemiology and Clinical Research
Preferred Name: Nathan

Name: Sidney Owen (she/her/hers)
Sidney Owen, originally from Sacramento, California, holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from UCSC. Sidney is currently in her fourth year at Stanford Medical School and is about to embark on a Master's in Business Administration at Stanford GSB. She aims to gain skills from the REACH program to help her pioneer multidisciplinary solutions for healthcare equity. Her vision includes seamlessly integrating social determinants of health into patient care, a mission she plans to champion in her future career as a pediatrician or internist. Outside of academia, Sidney enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and watching any and all sporting events.
Masters Degree: MBA
Preferred Name: Sidney

Name: Megha Patel
My name is Megha Patel and I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. I completed my undergraduate degree in Public Policy at The University of Chicago and spent some time teaching 5th grade, then being a full-time foster parent before moving out to California to attend Stanford. While all dimensions of health equity are important to me, I take a special interest in health equity for vulnerable youth, Asian-Americans, and the LGBTQ community. Outside of school, I am an avid cook and love binging medical dramas.
Masters Degree: MPH

Name: Dina Sheira (she/her/hers)
Dina Sheira, from Morris Plains, NJ, is a first-generation Egyptian-American who is pursuing a dual MD/MBA degree. Dina earned a bachelor of arts in biology and concentration in sociology from Columbia University. She aspires to be a clinician and hospital manager to advocate for underserved patients in all facets of the hospital system. She is currently working with Dr. Stephen Richmond to investigate hospital policies that limit publicly-insured patients receiving care, and plans to propose policy change to expand care for underserved populations. Dina is hoping to more deeply understand systemic discrimination in healthcare through the REACH program. Dina grew up playing soccer competitively and was on the NJ Olympic Development Team and the Columbia University Women’s D1 soccer team.
Masters Degree: MD/MBA
Preferred Name: Dina

Name: Overbeck Christian Takou Mbah (he/him/his)
My name is Christian. I grew up in Cameroon and was born in Senegal. I went to school at the University of Massachusetts Boston where I studied Biology. I am an international medical student planning to pursue a Master’s in Epidemiology and Clinical Research. As a future population health expert, I want to focus on preventative approaches to improve the social determinants of health in resource-limited communities. From REACH, I hope to gain a diverse community of peers and mentors who will help me shape and scale my objectives. In my free time, I like to draw, write, and play board and video games.
Masters Degree: MS, Epidemiology and Clinical Research
Preferred Name: Christian

Name: Apoorva Rangan
Apoorva Rangan, from Los Altos, California, is pursuing an MD at Stanford School of Medicine. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a bachelor’s degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Philosophy. Apoorva aspires to a career working with researchers, community organizations, and older and seriously ill patients to improve quality and equity in geriatric and palliative care. She is involved with UCSF’s AMEND and the Medical Justice Alliance, contributing to medical-legal partnerships that petitioned for the early release or re-sentencing of older incarcerated adults. She is also involved with the Stanford Center on Longevity, where she studies ageism and curricular representation of geriatrics and palliative care. She has lived and worked in an intergenerational nursing home in the Netherlands. She is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar.
Masters Degree: MD