Our mission is to support and advance the lifelong pursuit of anti-racism, equity, and racial justice as the organizing principles of medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS).
RBI x CAP Fellows will work closely with ISMMS leaders across all functional areas of the school of medicine and report directly to the co-Directors of the Center for Anti-Racism in Practice (CAP). Fellows will serve as an invaluable capacity-building resource for school and institution-wide anti-racism initiatives.
Meet the Fellows
Carina Seah
MD/PhD Candidate, Fourth-year Student
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I’m most looking forward to impacting how doctors and researchers are trained to generate new knowledge–asked, created, and communicated through an anti-racist, community-centered, and equity-first lens.“
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“Marie Curie, for her barrier-breaking science, commitment to equitable access of her discoveries, and her humility. I’d ask her for her thoughts on overcoming systems of power and oppression without succumbing to them.”
Daniella Nevid
MD Candidate, Second-year Student
Project: RBI Student Sphere
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I am most looking forward to working alongside my co-fellows to create new initiatives and programming that will activate the student body and sow both an excitement and an imperative among students to participate in antiracist work during their time at Sinai.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“I would ask Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel his advice because as a civil rights activist, I believe he would provide unique insight to help advance our work in RBI, and, as a philosopher, I imagine he would have a distinctly inspirational way of delivering it.”
Don Nguyen
MD/PhD Candidate, Sixth-year Student
Project: Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Revamp
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I am very excited to help revamp the medical school curriculum and hopefully make a positive impact on education of Anti-oppression for future generations of Mount Sinai medical students.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“I would seek advice from Audre Lorde and ask her how she balanced her commitment to activism with her own wellbeing and personal life.”
Edward Sarfo
MD Candidate, Second-year Student
Project: Situational Judgment Tests
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I am excited to learn and do my part in critically examining how this new AAMC PREview test would be utilized to not further aggravate racism and bias, and also to fulfill Sinai’s anti-racist mission. Despite the increasing number of methods for evaluating medical school applicants, it is essential that these methods are scrutinized through an equity lens.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“I choose Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president who liberated the country from British colonial rule. After Ghana’s independence, he had a vision for an African continent that was fully independent, united, and strong. Until his untimely death, he worked to restore the dignity that was eroded from Africans as a result of colonialism and the slave trade. In the same way that the black and white keys of a piano work together to create harmony, Dr. Nkrumah fought for equality and a world without racism. This world could use some of Dr. Nkrumah’s advice.”
Jerrel Catlett
MD/PhD Candidate, Third-year Student
Project: Situational Judgment Tests
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to create new paradigms for evaluating prospective students that gives greater weight to their commitment to dismantling racism and bias in the medical field.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“I would want to have a conversation with the prolific restaurateur and humanitarian José Andrés to ask for advice on how to leverage my disparate passions for medical research and culinary pursuits to improve the lives of communities of color within New York City.”
Marcia Lange
MD/PhD Candidate, Fourth-year Student
Project: Anti-Oppressive Curriculum Revamp
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I am looking forward to improving our medical curriculum and that of other schools so that we can as a profession learn how to better serve our patients, peers, and communities in a healthcare environment that takes into account the impact of power, inequality, and oppression on health and wellbeing.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“If I could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, it would likely be Dr Uche Blackstock, one of my idols! She is a trailblazer in the diversity, inclusion, and racial equity sphere in healthcare and I would love to get advice on what she believes are the highest priorities in terms of creating a workplace and learning environment free of bias and racism.”
Nasseef Quasim
MD Candidate, Second-year Student
Project: RBI Student Sphere
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I am most excited to learn more about anti racist work and how to put into action in a way that many students want to engage with.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“I would ask for advice from Matthieu Ricard. He’s been called the happiest person in the world, yet says he knows those that are even happier. Wouldn’t be bad to learn more about simple joy from him and others.”
Paloma Orozco Scott
MD Candidate, Fourth-year Student
Project: Equity Policy Audit
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I’m excited to apply all I’ve learned from RBI, Dr. Hess, Dr. Palermo, Dr. Leisman, Dr. Meah, Dr. Soriano, and the many other mentors I’ve had at Sinai towards analyzing Sinai medical education policy’s impact on equity, justice, and anti-racism. As a fourth year, this feels like a culminating moment where my experiences will help me leave a legacy of anti-racist and improved policies/processes for the students who come next.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“I would ask for advice from my maternal Grandmother, Antonia Ramirez. She developed Alzheimer’s before I could ask her this question, but I would ask how despite the massive adversities in her life she remained a positive person who exuded love of life and family?”
Rachel Kasdin
MD Candidate, First-year Student
Project: ART in MedEd
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“One of my top priorities in choosing a medical school was to ensure that my education would be defined by a commitment to scientific rigor and an institutional willingness to grapple with the historical and contemporary systems of oppression that shape medical education and medical care. While the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai stands out amongst its peers in its dedication to diversity and dismantling racism, its mission to do so remains urgent, challenging, and necessary. I am most looking forward to being a member of the Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education Team because of the platform it will give me to learn from ISMMS’s existing anti-racist practices, push the institution further towards its vision and, most importantly, share what we have learned thus far with peer institutions in the United States and Canada.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“Although perhaps not a historical figure, my paternal grandma is who comes to mind first. As I became an adult, she developed dementia and lost her ability to speak before passing away in 2019. I wish I could go back in time to when she was well enough to give me advice, or that she could give my adult-self advice. She directed a nursery school for years and was a central pillar in the communities she was a part of at this school, at her synagogue, among her friends, and in my extended family. She inhabited these roles, however, with a quiet confidence and fierce love/loyalty for those who she thought might need it most or who she noticed were pushed away by others. I often find myself pausing to wonder what wisdom she would share with me now if she could.”
Tracy Okine
MD/PhD Candidate, Second-year Student
Project: RBI Student Sphere
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“I am looking forward to many things including working with the faculty involved, serving the student sphere, and building on my skills in this area through mentorship while sharing my perspective via initiatives.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“This a tough one. For advice specifically, I think Dr. Maya Angelou or Dr. Santiago Ramon Y Cajal or my great grandmother!”
Wayland Chiu
MD Candidate, First-year Student
Project: ART in MedEd
What are you looking forward to most about your project?
“What I am looking forward to most about being part of the Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education project is helping to make a difference in the way medical institutions engage medical students to think critically about race from a structural and personal level, which I believe will ultimately elevate patient care by training students to become culturally competent physicians.”
If you could ask for advice from any historical figure, past or present, who would it be and why?
“If I could ask for advice from any historical figure, it would have to be from Zhuge Liang (also called Kong Ming) who is arguably the most brilliant mind in all of Chinese history. He is mostly known for being a legendary diplomat, advisor, and battle tactician during the Three Kingdoms period and was later immortalized in the Chinese novel/epic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which is one of the four great Chinese literary works. In addition to his political and military roles, Zhuge Liang was also an accomplished inventor, author, and philosopher with experience and expertise spanning a wide range of subjects. When faced with seemingly impossible challenges, he thoroughly analyzed the resources and circumstances around him to create elegant solutions. If I were to ever require advice, I would rely on his resourcefulness and breadth of knowledge to solve whatever problem I was facing.”
The RBI x CAP Fellowship could not be possible without the leadership of Medical Education, Racism & Bias Initiative (RBI), the Center for Antiracism in Practice (CAP), our project administrators across the School, and the advocacy and dedication of our students. The Fellowship ensures that students who participate in anti-racism efforts have an opportunity to be compensated for their work, and to be directly mentored by antiracism thought leaders at Icahn Mount Sinai.
Please join us in congratulating and welcoming our second cohort of Fellows as they commence their RBI x CAP Fellowship and take on a vital role at our school. If you have any questions about the RBI x CAP Fellowship, please email jay.johnson@mssm.edu. You can learn additional details about this year’s fellowship projects here.