# Our Alumni #### Hanna Amanuel Position while at PIL: MD student at Harvard Medical School and PhD candidate in anthropology at Harvard University ![hanna amanuel](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/hanna_amanuel_photo.jpg?itok=xNCKk30G) Hanna Amanuel is an MD-PhD candidate in anthropology at Harvard, where she studies surveillance and the criminalization of pregnancy in the US. #### Isaiah Baker Position while at PIL: MPP student at Harvard Kennedy School ![baker](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/li_pic_0.jpg?itok=q23YG6oU) Isaiah Baker graduated from Iowa State University in 2018 and was an MPP student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government during his time with PIL. His research and advocacy interests lie at the intersection of human rights at borders, refugee/asylee policy, and public health. Prior to HKS, Isaiah spent two years working (including a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service) at a refugee resettlement agency, where he was an advocate for inclusive, accessible, and humane immigration policy at the city, county, and state levels. He graduated from HKS in 2023. **Brian Benitez** Position while at PIL: MD student at Harvard Medical School ![Brian Benitez](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/brian_benitez.jpg?itok=YQh0Ca6z) During his time at PIL, Brian Benitez (he/him) was a Harvard medical student, graduating as a member of the class of 2024. He graduated from Williams College in 2018 majoring in Art History and Biology. He then worked for two years as a research assistant at Boston Children's Hospital, studying the effects of maternal stress and trauma on child development. During that time, he also worked with Spanish-speaking immigrants to better understand how various traumas have affected the lives of mothers and children. He is now a resident in obstetrics and yynecology at UCLA, furthering his passion for improved healthcare quality and access for immigrant populations. **Elizabeth (Liz) Chin** Position while at PIL: PhD candidate in Statistics at Stanford University ![Chin](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/headshot_-_elizabeth_chin.jpg?itok=ZY34OmwU) Liz Chin was a graduate student in the Department of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University, advised by Euan Ashley and Trevor Hastie. The overarching goal of her research is to create targeted interventions to aid medically vulnerable and marginalized peoples, with a focus on incarcerated populations, to prevent poor health outcomes and the social determinants of these outcomes. Her work centers around integrating data from disparate sources using a variety of quantitative approaches such as machine learning, simulations, and inference. Dr. Chin is now an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. **Parsa Erfani** Position while at PIL: MD student at Harvard Medical School ![erfani](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/parsaerfani_photo_-_parsa_erfani.jpg?itok=mQqhMRyQ) Parsa Erfani was a MD student at Harvard Medical School and a Fogarty Global Health Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research and advocacy centers around strengthening health systems and bolstering policies that prioritize healthcare for underserved populations. He is committed to building inter-sectoral collaborations to advance intersectional health justice, locally and globally. On his free time, he enjoy cooking Persian stews and hosting dinners. He is now an internal medicine resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. **Rachel Pak** Position while at PIL: MPP student at Harvard Kennedy School ![rachelpak](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/screen_shot_2022-03-13_at_3.36.55_pm_0.png?itok=ZpL3b7EV) Rachel Pak has policy interests that lie at the intersection of migration and gender equity. She previously led press outreach at the Tahirih Justice Center, where she leveraged the power of storytelling to advocate for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence in the U.S. Rachel also lived and worked in Guatemala as a Princeton in Latin America fellow to strengthen healthcare access in rural communities. Currently, Rachel is a Government Innovation Fellow supporting Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services on strengthening home visiting programs for families. Her work focuses on strengthening family resiliency and healthy child development before crises emerge. **Natalie Sadlak** Position while at PIL: MD student at Harvard Medical School ![nsadlak](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/screen_shot_2023-03-02_at_2.43.02_pm.png?itok=SuDkIeX-) Natalie was a medical student at Harvard Medical School during her time at PIL. She is interested in the intersections between identity and health and is passionate about promoting health equity in marginalized populations. She was been a board member of the Harvard Student Human Rights Collaborative since her first year of medical school and aslo served as its the Research Coordinator. Natalie plans to pursue a career in obstetrics and gynecology and hopes to continue advocating for underserved populations including the LGBTQ+ community, racial/ethnic minorities, and immigrant populations. She is currently a resident in ob-gyn at Northwestern in Chicago. **Raquel Sofía Sandoval** Position while at PIL: MD student at Harvard Medical School and MPP student at Harvard Kennedy School ![ss](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/rss_headshot-min_-_raquel_sofia_sandoval.jpg?itok=79VreBWP) Raquel Sofía Sandoval is an immigrant from Colombia, who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016 and was a 2016-2017 Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. She was a MD/MPP student at Harvard and a 2020-2021 Zuckerman Fellow. She was a student organizer, creator of anti-racist medical education curricula and health equity researcher, focusing on the intersection of COVID, immigration, incarceration/detention, and Latinx communities. Her work has been published in STAT News, MedEdPortal, and Health Affairs. She is now a combined internal medicine and pediatrics resident at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. **Nishant (Nishu) Uppal** Position while at PIL: MD student at Harvard Medical School and MBA student at Harvard Business School ![uppal](/sites/g/files/omnuum5471/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/peelerimmigrationlab/files/headshot_final_-_nishu_uppal_1.jpg?itok=xp_rUSW2) Nishant (Nishu) Uppal was a MD/MBA student at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School. While in medical school, he noticed the challenges that patients, especially immigrant patients, face in affording their care and has taken leadership roles in the Massachusetts Medical Society to translate patient experiences into healthcare policy reform. In business school, he spent time studying how health systems can create clinical programs that better deliver value for underserved populations. He worked as a Summer Associate at Quantified Ventures, where he served as an intermediary between non-profit social service organizations and Medicaid managed care organizations to develop value-based contracts that sustainably enable access to food, housing, and other resources for vulnerable patients. He is now an internal medicine resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA and aspires to deliver holistic care by building a career that bridges health policy and clinical care.