Leadership
President
Alec Calac (Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians – MS2 MSTP)
Born and raised in San Diego, Alec graduated from the University of Arizona in 2016 with a B.S. in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science and Molecular & Cellular Biology, and minored in Biochemistry. Before starting medical school, he was a postbaccalaureate research fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD and a health policy fellow at the National Indian Health Board (NIHB) in Washington, DC. He is passionate about Indigenous health equity, and is a second-year medical student in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at UC San Diego.
Program Coordinator
Luis Gasca (MS2)
Born and raised in Southern California, Luis graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2016 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Biochemistry. Before starting medical school, he worked as a scribe in Orange County and Los Angeles County, and developed an interest in patient-provider interactions and how policy affects the delivery and availability of healthcare services.
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Tommi Gaines, DrPH (Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation)
Dr. Gaines is a trained biostatistician whose work specializes in modeling the interactions between social conditions, geographic location, and individual characteristics using advanced spatial and statistical analyses from various study designs (cross-sectional, retrospective, and longitudinal). Her current research utilizes geographic information system (GIS) technologies to visualize and analyze the physical features of residential environments as it relates to unsafe sexual and drug using behaviors.
Alumni
Ashley Ott (Choctaw Nation)
Born and raised in Northern California, Ashley is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation. She graduated from UC Davis in 2014 with a B.S. in Cellular Biology and minors in Chican@ Studies and Art Studio. She matched into Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. She is passionate about combating the health disparities that Native American communities face.
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