Student Division President

Jennifer Uyere is a MS4 student at UAG. She is proudly of Nigerian and Mexican descent and was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science, both in Biology, from California State University, Los Angeles. During her undergraduate and graduate years, she was an NIH scholar, which allowed her to partake in research that focused on elucidating the virulence and pathogenicity of Candida albicans. Prior to medical school, she worked at two, large hospitals in Los Angeles, California as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist. During her first year of medical school, she had the opportunity to participate in UAG AMWA events and quickly found that she identified with its mission, inspiring her to become a national AMWA member. During her second year, she was elected UAG AMWA President and proudly led the organization to receive recognition on campus, in the community, and at international conferences for its achievements. In addition, during her leadership, the UAG chapter increased from 15 members to over 200 members. Moreover, Jennifer is interested in pursuing a career in Emergency Medicine or Surgery. In her free time, she loves to spend quality time with family and friends, volunteer with Guimedic Medical Humanitarian Organization and Soroptimist International, travel, and try new places to eat. She is very excited at the opportunity to serve as the President of the AMWA Student Division and she greatly looks forward to a positive and fruitful term.

Student Division President 2025-2026

Taylor Goss, MPH, MBE, is a third-year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Biomedical and Health Sciences from the University of Central Florida, received her Master of Public Health in Health Policy & Management with a certificate in Comparative Effectiveness Outcomes Research from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and completed a Master of Bioethics from Harvard Medical School. Before medical school, Taylor worked as a Senior Associate for a patient engagement and advocacy consulting firm advising biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies on incorporating the patient voice into drug development. She has been involved with AMWA since 2016, founding a premedical branch at her undergraduate institution, serving on Premedical National AMWA leadership as Regional Director and President, and more recently serving as President of her medical school branch and National Advocacy Chair. Throughout graduate school, Taylor has remained involved in AMWA through research with the Opioid Addiction in Women task force. Overall, her research has included menstrual health equity, opioid addiction in women, patient perspectives on cell and gene therapy, and adolescent health behavior indicators. Taylor is passionate about mentorship and is interested in pursuing clinical ethics consultation in her future practice.

Immediate Past President

Emily Forester (she/her/hers) is a graduating fourth-year medical student at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. She is excited to begin OB/GYN residency at Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey this summer.

Emily first began her involvement with AMWA through the Rowan-Virtua chapter, where she became Vice President. She spearheaded their first pre-med mentoring program, which helped to match medical student mentors with pre-medical students at various colleges in Southern NJ. At the AMWA national level, she has worked with the Sex and Gender Health Collaborative on the Sex and Gender Differences Factsheet project, while also serving on the AMWA Student Division’s Award Committee. She was later elected to be president-elect and eventually president of the AMWA Medical Student Division.

Outside of medicine, Emily is an avid long distance runner. She completed her first marathon in the fall of 2022 at the Philadelphia marathon. In her free time, she also enjoys cooking, going to the beach, and knitting/crocheting.

Student Division Secretary

Zainab Imami is a third-year student at Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM). Combining her passion for physical health and women’s empowerment, she hopes to practice Sports Medicine with female athletes and, in the true spirit of Osteopathic Medicine, work on incorporating a holistically healthy lifestyle to improve athletic performance as well as quality of life. In 2023, as President of AMWA at ACOM , she led the organization of a Women in Medicine panel to expose fellow students to various opportunities and provide them with physician mentors in the local community and hosted a hygiene drive for the local women’s shelter, House of Ruth. As the AMWA Medical Student Division Region 5 Director, she both supported existing AMWA medical school branches and aided with establishing and developing new ones as well. Her conference – “Prescription for Success” – helped medical students navigate the next phase of their journey and promoted self-reflection to recognize their achievements. Lessons she learned through her experiences, including the importance of investing in one’s community and being truly passionate about one’s work, motivate her to accomplish her goals within this field and to continue making this an empowering space for all women in medicine.

Student Division Treasurer

Student Division Treasurer-Elect

Sanjana Davuluri, MHS (She/Her) is a rising third-year medical student at Rowan-Virtua SOM with a Master of Health Science from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She served as the AMWA National Student Division Mentorship Chair in 2024-2025, during which she published a mentorship guide, hosted physician and resident panels, and organized novel mentorship programming for the 2025 AMWA Annual Meeting. As Vice President of Rowan-Virtua’s AMWA chapter and Founder/President of the Association of Women Surgeons chapter, she has worked on coordinating family planning and women in medicine/surgery panels, a premedical mentorship program and various hands-on workshops. She is involved in surgical research at Shriners Children’s Hospital and Wills Eye Hospital. In the past, she has traveled to Panama with Global Medical Brigades, led leadership boards of cultural and performing arts organizations, and served as an academic and social mentor. Sanjana is deeply committed to community service, research, and mentorship, especially in empowering fellow women in medicine and surgery. In her free time, Sanjana enjoys weightlifting, reading and Bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance).

Emily Chestnut

Emily is a second-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine serving her second term as Advocacy Chair. She received her Bachelor’s of Biological Sciences at The University of Alabama, where she also studied Spanish Language and Culture. She is passionate about rural health and preventative health, as well as patient advocacy for those who do not utilize English as their first language. Emily spent four years conducting public health research for The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The University of Alabama, studying HIV/AIDS transmission and stigma in rural African-American communities. Emily has been an active AMWA member since 2019 and serves as the Founder and President of the Surgery Student Interest Group at Indiana University School of Medicine – Terre Haute. Emily is currently involved in otolaryngology and plastic surgery research, front-running projects that analyze health outcome discrepancies between different racial/ethnic/geographic groups. Her hobbies include cooking and trail running.

Pooja Prasad

Pooja Prasad is a third-year medical student at the UConn School of Medicine. She is interested in pursuing OB/GYN in residency. Her research interests include how we evaluate women’s pain in a medical setting. She presented her clinical research on development of a non-invasive blood test for fibroid screening at the 2023 Discover Brigham Conference and has published work on biomarkers for pelvic pain among youth with endometriosis. As the 2024-2025 AMWA Advocacy Co-Chair she had the opportunity to amplify the advocacy interests of medical students nationwide. As a board member of UConn Med’s AMWA chapter, she has harnessed her interest in women’s and reproductive health by collaborating with Take Back the Night and UConn emergency medicine residents to create a school event on trauma-informed care in the ED. She had the opportunity to transform this event into a class she taught during the UConn Med M1 curriculum to inform the broader student body about this important topic.

Student Division Awards Chair

Sabrina Escobar is a medical student at RUSM with a passion for advancing women in medicine and promoting academic excellence. She has held leadership positions such as secretary and vice president at her previous campus AMWA branch, where she demonstrated strong organizational, communication, and teamwork skills.

As Awards Chair, she aims to streamline the awards process, ensuring fairness, transparency, and increased awareness of available opportunities. She is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the achievements of AMWA members, fostering a culture of inspiration and excellence within the organization.

Outside of AMWA, Sabrina is committed to her studies and values meaningful connections with peers and mentors. She looks forward to contributing to AMWA’s mission and empowering its members through her leadership.

Courtney Chau

Courtney Chau is a second-year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned her B.S. in Nutritional Sciences: Toxicology and completed minors in Global Public Health and Data Science. Her previous roles in AMWA have included Premedical Division President + President-Elect (2022-2023, 2021-2022), Premedical Division Conference Co-Chair (2020-2021), Domestic Violence Prevention Committee Co-Chair (2021-Present), and Internship Program Coordinator (2020-2022). She has been a member of AMWA since 2019 and has dedicated much of her time over these years to advancing AMWA as an organization by both being involved in leadership and administrative roles. Courtney appreciates how AMWA creates a space for women in training to advance their leadership skills and connect with other trainees and physicians. Some of Courtney’s favorite memories during her undergraduate education were AMWA events and she remains close friends with many of her AMWA colleagues.

Lanah Almatroud is a second-year medical student at MSU CHM with a keen interest in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN). Her current research includes two major projects: one examining how socioeconomic factors—such as education, marital status, and insurance coverage—affect HPV and Pap test completion rates, with the aim of identifying disparities and informing targeted interventions for cervical cancer screening. The other project evaluates the impact of the Fruit and Vegetable Prenatal Nutrition Prescription program on food security and perceptions of food affordability among pregnant women in Flint, Michigan.

In her role as Vice President of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) at MSU CHM, Lanah worked with fellow board members to create a highly successful 6-week elective course focused on women’s health for medical students. She is also actively involved in academic research, including reviewing abstracts for research conferences, and has presented at multiple conferences. Lanah is committed to advancing women’s health, promoting educational opportunities, and addressing health disparities through her work with AMWA.

Student Division External Relations Chair

Alise Leiboff is a second-year medical student at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Elmira Campus. Alise first joined her AMWA chapter in 2023, going on to serve as Secretary for the 2024-2025 academic year. Over the course of her tenure, she facilitated clinical rotation Q&A events connecting multiple generations of students as well as established new community relations with Catholic Charities Chemung/Schuyler, through which she was able to help raise funds for victims of domestic violence. Beyond AMWA, Alise has also served as Class Vice President and Dermatology Interest Group Chair; some notable contributions in these roles include the founding of a free, recurring student-lead skin cancer screening clinic and a LECOM Health Speaker Series in collaboration with the local Economic Opportunity Program.

Before medical school, Alise received her bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Science and the Humanities with minors in French and Visual Art from Johns Hopkins University, followed by her master’s degree in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. Her passion for medicine is derived from these intersections between the health sciences and culture. In her free time, Alise enjoys visiting museums, reading, skiing, painting, and spending quality time with her friends.

Student Division Global Health Chair

Jade Tso is medical student at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, where she is a part of the honors research pathway. As an undergraduate at Duke University, she began a community-based nutrition project in Argentina and conducted research on mosquito-borne diseases in Costa Rica. She spent 6 years organizing with the grassroots advocacy arm of Partners in Health and served on the National Steering Committee for Partners in Health Engage from 2018 to 2021. She began working at Advance Access & Delivery in 2019 as the Zero Tuberculosis Initiative’s Data for Action Fellow before acting as Program Manager. While in medical school, Jade served as the co-director of a student run clinic for low-income and uninsured Asian immigrants in Sacramento. As a former American Medical Women’s Association Global Health Fellow (2021-2023), Jade worked on a pilot project implementing a stomach cancer screening program and assessing barriers to care for endoscopy in Roatan, Honduras. An aspiring “attorney for the poor” and global surgeon, Jade is passionate about framing healthcare as a human right and proving that high standards of care can be provided in low resource settings.

Student Division Mentorship Chair

Mina Hemmati (she/her/hers) is a third-year medical student at the University of the American School of Medicine. She first became involved in AMWA as a member of health and lifestyle initiatives, and member of the mentorship team through her passion for education and mentorship . As an undergraduate at the University of Houston, she founded her first mentorship program, authored a mathematics textbook, and produced educational CDs to help students improve their academic performance. She also served as a tutor in physics, chemistry, and biochemistry, and held leadership positions as President of the National Society of Leadership and Success and Officer of PACE in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
During medical school, she continued her commitment to education by tutoring MD students while also conducting research on gender differences in lung cancer incidence. Beyond her clinical training, she is dedicated to mentorship and professional development. As a Service Learning Mentor for Mentorship USMLE, she supports students transitioning from pre-med to medical school. She is also actively involved in mentorship programs through AMWA, AWIS, and IAW, where she guides and empowers aspiring medical professionals, particularly women pursuing careers in medicine.

Outside of medicine, she enjoys reading, volunteering, painting and personal fitness. Having overcome personal challenges, she remains resilient and driven to make a meaningful impact in both patient care and medical education.

Philanthropy Chair

Alex Schick is a third-year medical student at the University of Rochester and has been an AMWA member since 2020 when she joined as a premedical student. Most recently, she served as AMWA’s Region 2 Director, organizing an in-person regional conference and working to foster connections between premedical and medical students in the region. As President of her school’s AMWA chapter for two years, Alex expanded the chapter’s reach and launched its inaugural Women in Medicine conference to enhance networking opportunities for students and physicians in Western New York. For her leadership, she was honored with the Anne C. Carter Leadership Award.

Alex is deeply committed to mentorship and advocacy. She serves as Vice President of her student body and a founder of the Meliora Educational Pathway Program, a NYS STEP initiative aimed at diversifying medicine through mentorship and experiential learning for high school students. She also founded GLAD, a Deaf Health group focused on teaching sign language and addressing Deaf health disparities, and leads the Rochester Medical Accessibility Coalition, advocating for patients and students with disabilities.

In her free time, Alex enjoys spending time with her cat, Fern, reading, and exploring local coffee shops.

Student Division Program Chair

Alexa Simonetti is a second-year medical student at Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine in New Jersey. She is a student ambassador for Rowan, where she participates in touring prospective students and discusses her love for medicine and experience in medical school. Prior to matriculation, Alexa received her Masters in Biomedical Sciences. Alexa played collegiate soccer and was a campus captain for the Hidden Opponent, which was a mental health non-profit specifically for student athletes. Since graduating, Alexa developed a love for running marathons, and now combines her love of running with fundraising for different organizations such as St.Judes Children Hospital, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and For the Kids (FTK). She recently ran the New York City Marathon and Philadelphia Marathon. Alexa is also an avid reader, and her favorite book series is A Court of Thorns and Roses. She hopes to use her position in AMWA to connect and create friendships with women in medicine at a national level. Alexa believes it is imperative for women to support women in order to grow our presence in fields historically dominated by men. Her current specialty interest is Orthopedic Surgery.

Student Division Recruitment Chair

Ambika Sharma is a first-year medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford. An active member of AMWA since 2016, she has dedicated her efforts to creating inclusive environments and fostering meaningful connections among aspiring female physicians. She served as Public Relations Chair (2017-2019) and President (2019-2020) at her undergraduate branch and led a resume workshop at the AMWA LEADS Conference in 2021. She currently serves on AMWA’s advocacy subcommittee and is working to revive the AMWA branch at her medical school.

Before matriculating into medical school, Ambika helped develop a botanically derived antiviral to resolve COVID-19 symptoms and designed a clinical trial to assess its safety and efficacy in non-hospitalized patients. Her professional interests lie in clinical research, innovative medical therapies, and patient-centered care. Outside of AMWA, she is an active member of the American Medical Association and the Illinois State Medical Society. In her free time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, watching scary movies, and traveling.

Jennifer Ude is currently a third-year medical student at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She is originally from Detroit, MI. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan and went on to earn a Master of Science from Vanderbilt University. Her medical interests include psychiatry and women’s health.

She is passionate about research and increasing research opportunities throughout medical education. She first got involved in research in 2013 at the University of Michigan where she conducted a study assessing the effects of racial discrimination on African American adolescents. Since then, she has led multiple research studies through her roles as a Clinical Research Coordinator, Epidemiologist, Research Specialist and Project Manager. She currently conducts research through the Department of Psychiatry at MSU CHM where she is evaluating neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with early life anemia in sub-Saharan Africa.

She joined AMWA in 2024 and served as the Co-president of her chapter in addition to her position as the President of the Psychiatry Student Interest Group Network, Medical Outreach Chair for the MSU Spartan Alliance for Disability, Inclusion, and Equity, and her role on the Council on Diversity Education.

Areeha Khalid is a third-year medical student at Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2022 with a BA in Biology and Comparative Human Development, and received departmental honors for a thesis on the conceptualization of mental illness by Muslim Americans. As an undergraduate, she was involved in mental health and diversity advocacy, as well as both clinical and social science research. In medical school, she was president of the AMWA-CCOM chapter, where her goals were to create open spaces for women in medicine to lift each other up on-campus. She was also a coordinator for a student-run free health clinic, and involved in neurotoxicology research. Outside of medicine, her interests include reading, plants, and graphic design.

Gillian McCarthy is from Southern New Jersey. She is a second-year student at Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine where she is currently serving as the Co-President of Project R.E.A.C.H, the secretary of the Rowan Student Pediatric Medical Association and a student ambassador. She is passionate about preventative health and enjoys volunteering with community programs that promote healthy diets and exercise. She is excited to work as an AMWA social media co-chair and looks forward to expanding AMWA’s social media presence!

Veronica Arroyo Rodriguez (she/her/hers) is a rising third year medical student at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Originally from Puerto Rico, Veronica was raised in Orlando, FL, where her involvement with the American Medical Women’s Association during her undergraduate studies at the University of Central Florida ignited a passion for women’s health and leadership.

Currently serving as Class representative for the UCONN SOM AMWA Chapter, Veronica advocates for women’s health initiatives and facilities student engagement. These experiences have reinforced a deep commitment to empowering others, particularly women in medicine.

As Region 1 Director, Veronica’s focus is on expanding mentorship networks between premedical and medical students with physicians, promoting collaboration across institutions, and amplifying the voices of women in medicine throughout the region.

Region 1 consists of the following states: CT, MA, ME, NH, VT, RI.

Student Division Region 2 Director

Hannah Schneider is a third-year medical student at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She has served as president of her school’s AMWA chapter for two years and has enjoyed success in hosting events geared towards mentorship and highlighting the careers of women in medicine. These events include an annual faculty-student dinner, lunchtime conversations with physicians, and an inaugural Women in Medicine conference that emphasized navigating gender-based challenges female physicians may experience, such as establishing careers in leadership and family planning/infertility.

Outside of AMWA, she has been actively involved in student leadership and has held positions in community service groups with various foci, such as serving dinners to families of cancer patients, directing vision screenings for students in local schools, and providing eye care at community health fairs. She has also led the university’s Internal Medicine-Pediatrics and Family Medicine interest groups where she hosted career talks and faculty-student dinners.

She is currently planning a career in Internal Medicine-Pediatrics and hopes to pursue primary care or hospital medicine. In her spare time, Hannah enjoys exploring new coffee shops with friends, reading fantasy novels, and spending time with her family.

Student Division Region 3 Director

Hira Peracha is a medical student and a passionate leader dedicated to empowering her peers. As the secretary of her local AMWA chapter, she plays an active role in mentorship and leadership initiatives aimed at supporting aspiring female physicians. Additionally, Hira holds important leadership positions on the Asylum and Migrant Issues Committee of Student Physicians for Human Rights, underscoring her commitment to improving access to universal healthcare. She is deeply invested in fostering mentorship, advocating for change, and empowering women in medicine.

Outside of her medical career, Hira is an avid artist and calligraphy enthusiast. In her leisure time, she loves traveling, creating art, and exploring new coffee shops!

Student Division Region 4 Director

Melissa Chow is a third-year medical student at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. She went to the University of California, San Diego where she received a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, with a minor in Business with a concentration in organizational behavior. After graduating, Melissa worked as a Clinical Research Supervisor at the University of California, San Francisco where she enrolled patients with metastatic melanoma onto clinical trials. She has been involved with AMWA since the start of medical school in 2022. She has been an active member of her school’s AMWA division, holding roles such as AMWA mentor, Teaching Empowerment Advancement conference committee member, and most recently finished her second term as USF AMWA President. Melissa is a passionate AMWA member who is dedicated to empowering women in medicine, expanding opportunities for mentorship, and creating spaces for meaningful dialogue and professional growth. In her spare time, she enjoys trying new restaurants, crocheting, hiking, cuddling with her dog, and spending time with loved ones.

Student Division Region 5 Director

Student Division Region 6 Director

Student Division Region 7 Director

Grace Trello is a fourth-year student at Saint Louis University School of Medicine (SLUSOM) who intends to pursue residency in Pediatrics. Grace became involved in SLUSOM’s AMWA almost immediately after starting medical school, serving as the chapter’s social media intern during the fall of her first year. In that role, she expanded the use of the chapter’s Instagram, and developed and distributed a bi-monthly newsletter highlighting the chapter’s events and members’ achievements. She also served on her chapter’s leadership team which founded and organized new personal and professional development events, and implemented a new curriculum for the chapter’s mentorship program. Additionally, she assisted the Region 7 Director in planning and hosting the 2023 Regional Conference. Grace is passionate about mentoring younger medical students and pre-medical students and, as an Air Force HPSP student, encourages female students to pursue diverse roles in medicine. Outside of school, Grace enjoys running, Orange Theory fitness classes, reading, and traveling.

Student Division Region 8 Director

Azlan Tubbs is a medical student at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. She completed her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and statistics from Colorado School of Mines. In 2020, she joined AMWA, discovering inspiration and mentors that empowered her to apply to medical school and found a premedical AMWA branch. In medical school, she became president of her AMWA branch and led an outreach event for high school girls. She has a passion for supporting and elevating women in STEM fields, and she enjoys participating in advocacy initiatives and mentorship opportunities. In her free time, she reads, practices piano, plays soccer, paints, and spends time with her family and friends.

Region 9 Director

Brooke Pierson is a medical student at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Washington while competing as a Division 1 rower. She also served as a peer advocate in the athletic department, receiving specialized advocacy training. Brooke earned her Master’s Degree at Colorado State University. She had the opportunity to work as a medical scribe and ambassador, where she trained incoming scribes. Prior to medical school, she was a Research Associate at MedStar Washington Hospital Center Burn Laboratory, where she contributed to pre-clinical and clinical trials and co-authored manuscripts on burn care.

At PNWU, Brooke has had the pleasure of being involved in mentoring local middle and high school students, by introducing them to the healthcare field. As the National Liaison for the Women in Medicine Club, which includes both AMWA and the Association of Women Surgeons, she has further developed her leadership and advocacy skills. Passionate about women’s health, Brooke aims to build on these experiences to continue advancing equitable healthcare, ensuring that all individuals have access to the resources they need to thrive.

AMWA AMA-MSS Delegate

Emma Theisen (she/her) is a first-year medical student at Rush Medical College. She first became involved with AMWA through the University of Michigan chapter during her undergraduate years before going on to serve as National Advocacy Chair, where she represented pre-medical students on the physician policy and advocacy committee. Emma was recognized as the 2023 AMWA Premedical Branch Member of the Year for her leadership and advocacy efforts.

Beyond AMWA, Emma is deeply engaged in health equity work. She founded and served as Executive Director for the Lunar Doula Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free bereavement doula support for reproductive loss. She also aided in establishing Community HealthEd, another nonprofit focused on public health education.

At Rush, Emma is involved in health policy and advocacy work within the state of Illinois and serves as President of the Rush Medical College AMWA Chapter. She also volunteers to teach anatomy and clinical skills to high school students from schools on the West Side of Chicago. Additionally, she works on quality improvement initiatives at student-run free clinics in Chicago.

In addition to her academic and advocacy work, Emma enjoys exploring the National Parks, gardening, and trying new restaurants in Chicago.