Meet Our Scholars

Graduate Student Mirandy grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was a survivor of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This inspired her to go to medical school, after witnessing the health and resource disparities that resulted from the storm. She attended Emory University, where she studied biology and global health. After graduating, Mirandy returned to New Orleans as an MD/PhD student at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC). As the only queer woman of color in her medical school class, she joined, led, and created organizations that focused on student activism. As co-president of Tiger Pride, Mirandy organized community seminars on PrEP, and regularly volunteered to test individuals for HIV and Hepatitis C at local homeless shelters. In her second year of medical school, Mirandy established the Diversity Advisory Committee at LSUHSC, through which she facilitated a monthly “Social Justice Talk,” where students discussed issues of social justice on campus and in the community. Mirandy was also co-president of LSUHSC’s chapter of Medical Students for Choice (MSFC), where she organized student trainings on IUD insertion, contraception counseling, and abortion. For her work, she was selected as a MSFC Reproductive Health Extern in 2017, and was awarded the Women in Medicine Leadership Award in 2018. Mirandy decided to pursue her PhD in public health, where she could research health disparities that marginalize vulnerable populations. Her dissertation focuses on smoking cessation strategies for LGBTQ populations. After graduating with her MD/PhD, she plans to continue her health disparities research, while also being an abortion provider.