Meet the Team
Tran Tieu, Incoming Co-editor in Chief
Tran Tieu was born in a refugee camp and made in America. She is a career shifter with 15 years experience in e-Commerce Marketing Operations for Fortune 50 Speciality Retailers & Software Sales and now pursuing a Nursing Degree. Her world view was shaped by lived experience while growing up in KS, MS, AL, WI, NY and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. Tran is a published artist and author of “When Language Barriers is a Health Disparity”, JUST Health eMagazine, Fall 2021. Her gateway into health[that]cares was volunteering at Stanford Asian Liver Center as a Vietnamese Community Liaison in 2007 using her bilingual skills and cultural competence to help promote the grand opening of the Hep B Free Clinic in San Jose, CA. She believes JUST Health eMagazine is a publication that embodies the courage of Social & Health Activists working to improve access across the United States.
Patricia Moreno, Incoming Co-editor in Chief
Patty is excited to join the wonderful JUST Health team as the Incoming Co-Editor-In-Chief and wants to give her contribution by continuing to make sustainable changes in health and social justice. Patty was raised in Stockton, CA and is a first-generation Mexican-American graduate from San Joaquin Delta College and UC Davis, where she studied Global Disease Biology. She is currently a Patient Navigator with the Addiction Care Team (ACT) at UCSF where she is committed to providing patients, living with substance use, compassionate and culturally competent care. As an aspiring addiction specialist, her focus is giving back to her community through healing, advocacy, and trust. Patty has been a part of the Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), Knights Landing One Health Center (KLOHC), and Morning Sign Out (MSO) where she dedicated her time and energy to efforts in equity, health, and social justice. She also participated in the Stanford Summer Community College Pre-Medical Program (SSCCPP) 2018 Cohort, the Stanford Leadership Education for Aspiring Physicians (LEAP) Program 2019 Cohort, and was a guest speaker for the Stanford University Minority Medical Alliance (SUMMA) Prehealth Conference in 2021 and 2023. Her overall goal is to continue serving those who are historically disadvantaged and continue informing and practicing passionate care to those who were subjected to cultural trauma.
Jeremy Miller MD MPH, Incoming Staff Editor
Dr. Jeremy Miller is a current first-year general surgery resident with Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and will be transitioning into a new program in California with Desert Regional Medical Center for the remainder of his training. Following completion of his residency, Jeremy hopes to pursue a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care. As a bay area native, Jeremy completed his B.S. at San Francisco State University and went on to complete his Doctorate at Ross University School of Medicine. During medical school, Jeremy concurrently completed an MPH through the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he focused his studies on community level gun violence and its impact on community growth and health. As a first-generation college graduate, Jeremy has a passion for mentorship and service and consistently is seeking new opportunities to help lift and support the future health leaders of tomorrow.
Ethan Beltrand, Incoming Staff Editor
Ethan is a rising senior at St. Olaf College that is on the pre-medicine track, where he aspires to pursue a career in orthopedic surgery in the future. Ethan is a Leadership Education for Aspiring Physician (LEAP) alumni, where he pursued a project surrounding rural healthcare in America. As an individual who grew up in a rural community, he is highly passionate regarding healthcare in rural communities along the healthcare related disparities that these communities face. Ethan is a published author in the fall 2022 JUSTHealth issue which highlights the ways in which the American healthcare system is failing rural America. As a first generation college student, Ethan is passionate about mentorship as he serves as a mentor to youth in his community. Through JUSTHealth Ethan seeks to be able to help advocate and amplify the unheard voices of underrepresented communities and groups in healthcare.
Ali Quezada, Incoming Staff Editor
Ali Quezada graduated from UC San Diego in 2022 and obtained her B.S in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology. After graduating she spent time continuing her research in molecular medicine at Scripps Research Institute and volunteering with a nonprofit in various parts of San Diego and Tijuana. Ali is a SSCCPP and LEAP alumni, where she pursued projects researching the health risks of working in the fields of Oxnard, California. Most recently, she worked on the JUST Health podcast team interviewing healthcare professionals to discuss various health disparities. Her passion in research, public speaking and advocacy for spotlighting disparaged groups have led her towards a path in medicine. She is aspiring to become a psychiatrist and work with incarcerated youth and adults. Through JUST Health Ali hopes to shine light on health disparities to increase awareness and education in communities across the country.
Sarah Siddiqui, Incoming Outreach Staff
Sarah Siddiqui graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2021 and obtained her B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology with an emphasis in Cell Developmental Biology and Medical Physiology. After completing her undergrad, she worked as a Life Science Research Professional in the Department of GI and Hepatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. In addition to her passions in women’s health, dermatology, and social justice, she served as a staff writer for a variety of publications at UC Berkeley, such as The RightsStuff Magazine, Threads, and Morning SignOut. She has also worked as a content writer for the UCSF Synapse and the Stanford JUSTHealth Magazine. Her background in research, journalism, and health advocacy have motivated her to pursue a career in the medical field. She is currently working as a Medical Assistant at Golden State Dermatology. As someone who has witnessed health inequity across many communities, she hopes to address these injustices and raise awareness for patient literacy and health advocacy. Through JUSTHealth, she aspires to highlight the challenges that members of marginalized communities face in healthcare and network with healthcare professionals to eradicate these barriers and emphasize the importance of patient literacy.
Marcella Anthony, MPA, Staff Editor
Marcella is the Assistant Director of Outreach Recruitment and Engagement in the Stanford Center of Excellence in Diversity in Medical Education and the Program Director for the Leadership Education for Aspiring Physicians (LEAP) Program. For more than ten years, she has creatively applied her background as a student development officer to premedical student development through programs, events, and activities that promote educational access, pre-health training and education, and opportunities for Northern California college students considering careers as physicians. Her work focuses on student empowerment and the ability to enact change as pre-professionals. Marcella is committed to making all college students good societal citizens who will advocate for individuals and populations from socially, economically, and educationally vulnerable communities in the Northern California region and beyond.
Past Members
Derek Chen, Co-editor in Chief
Derek Chen is a Life Science Research Professional in the Genetics Department at Stanford University. His interest in health disparities stems from his learning as an undergraduate, and this inspired him to teach a class on the topic at Stanford Splash. As a member of the Leadership Education for Aspiring Physicians (LEAP) ‘19-20 cohort, he led a hepatitis B educational program aimed to address hepatitis B disparities within the Asian & Asian Pacific Islander population. As one’s education relates to health, he’s also passionate about closing the STEAM representation gap in higher education. To this end, Derek served as an AmeriCorps from ‘18-19 in Seattle, Washington, where he designed science curricula and taught youth from underrepresented, low-income, immigrant, or refugee backgrounds. Derek hopes JUST Health can serve as a platform to elevate individuals who are working towards dispelling health disparities, highlight their perspectives, and amplify their voices.
Makaelah Murray, Co-editor in Chief
Makaelah Murray is a medical student at UCLA DGSOM a part of PRIME-LA. She dedicated time during her 2 gap years to catapult JUST Health to where it is today because she is passionate about elevating the voices of those often neglected. She aims to continue finding unique ways to serve the underserve and help share their stories throughout her medical education and as a practicing physician in order to eliminate health disparities — the true goal of JUST Health!
Muhammad Khan, Social Media
Muhammad is a pre-medical student researcher at San Jose State University majoring in Physiology. Currently, he is studying the mechanisms of protease function in Aedes Aegypti, a mosquito known for spreading yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika. As a Leadership Education for Aspiring Physician (LEAP) participant, Muhammad created a website to help people in the community navigate the various food organizations available in the Bay Area. He is also passionate about teaching and will be working with the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley to educate patients on diabetes. With JUSTHealth, Muhammad is looking to amplify the voices of individuals and highlight health disparities that millions face. He hopes that contributing to this journal will allow him to be a better community member, a better student, and ultimately, a physician who addresses health issues both in the examination room and community.
Anuoluwapo Adepegba, Graphic Designer
Anuoluwapo Adepegba is a current pre-medical student at Howard University majoring in Biology and Psychology, and minoring in Chemistry. Her passions for mental health and children has led her to seek a career in Child Psychiatry. Anuoluwapo seeks out roles that allow her to follow her passions. As a mentor in the M.Y.T.H. program at her university, she fosters a safe space for school-age children to grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Her position as an executive board member of Healing Bison enables her to prompt discussions about mental health and advocate for the importance of therapy among the student body. In the future, Anuoluwapo aspires to establish mental health clinics in underrepresented communities across the United States and abroad. As someone who has experienced the effects of health disparities, she wants to transform the healthcare system by providing equal access to resources and facilitating holistic wellness. “Mental health is as important as physical health” is the mantra she will teach people to live by. Through JUSTHealth, Anuoluwapo hopes to provide visual representations of healthcare topics, offer a different form of viewing these issues, and create an emotional response within the audience, inspiring them to take action.
Melodyanne Cheng, Editor Emeritus
Melodyanne is a UCLA medical student who was an undergraduate and Master’s student in the Department of Comparative Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine. Her passions in neuroscience, health equity, & community health drew her towards understanding human health from both a sociocultural perspective and a biological one. As an undergraduate at Stanford, she explored how health experiences are influenced by issues of race and ethnicity, with a focus on inequitable health access in primarily low income, under-resourced communities. Currently, she is working on addressing health disparities in the patient communities served by Ravenswood Family Health Clinic in East Palo Alto through community-based research. Through JUST Health, she hopes to open up the academic public health forum to emphasize the important work that all health activists, and not just students, are contributing towards eliminating the health disparities in their communities.