47th MHC Planning Committee

The Minority Health Conference is a major undertaking led and organized by students and guided by a group of advisers.

Conference Co-Chairs

The co-presidents develop a vision for the Minority Health Conference, which includes the selection of a conference theme, setting the objectives and timeline for each of the sub-committees, and managing their progress throughout the planning process. They are responsible for general conference management, monitoring logistics, including registration, budget management, and communication with all key stakeholders.

Adriana Gaona | Conference Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Adriana Gaona is a second-year MPH student in the Health Equity and Social Justice concentration. She holds bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Neuroscience. Her research focuses on improving healthcare access and equity in rural and underserved communities. As a graduate student, Adriana supports community-engaged public health interventions and research across multiple departments, including health behavior, anesthesiology, pediatrics, and cancer screening.

Ngan Le | Conference Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Ngan Le is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pursuing degrees in Health Policy and Management and Economics with a minor in Chemistry. She serves as Conference Co-Chair for the 47th Annual Minority Health Conference. As a researcher, innovator, and advocate, Ngan is passionate about advancing health equity, sustainable entrepreneurship, and high-impact grassroots organizing by leading and scaling community-based initiatives like CompostMates.

Planning Committee Coordinators

They are responsible for all organizational elements of the Minority Health Conference and work closely with the Conference Co-Chairs and Committee Co-Chairs to ensure smooth operations and logistics. The Co-Coordinators oversee collaboration between all seven committees to ensure effective and efficient communication, including taking meeting minutes, making sure each committee is on track, and sending out reminders/action items. The Planning Co-Coordinators also manage the website and assist with other logistical tasks such as coordinating meeting times, booking meeting space, and organizing MHC social events. They play an important role in providing additional assistance to both Co-Chairs and the Committee Chairs throughout the planning process.

Lan Vy Phan | Internal Planning Co-Coordinator

Bio: Lan Vy (she/her) is a junior studying Community & Global Public Health, with double minors in Philosophy and Neuroscience. She is passionate about fostering inclusive communities, advancing cross-racial solidarity, and contributing to sustainable global health initiatives. In the future, she hopes to explore the intersection of her interests in health, ethics, and policy as a potential candidate for a Master’s in Public Health. In the meantime, she enjoys dabbling in arts and crafts, shooting film, and exploring nature.

Inaya Abubakari | External Planning Co-Coordinator

Speakers Committee 

The co-chairs oversee the work of the Speakers Committee, which includes developing break-out session topics and identifying speakers for the conference breakout sessions. They arrange and organize all logistics pertaining to the creation of breakout sessions. The co-chairs work with the NC Institute for Public Health and committee members to coordinate interesting, engaging, and interactive sessions.

Saanvi Veeramreddy | Speakers Co-Chair

Bio: Saanvi Veeramreddy is a third-year undergraduate student studying Health Policy and Management on the pre-medical track. She is currently an undergraduate researcher in the NERD Lab studying neuroendocrine reproductive mood disorders in women and adolescents. Saanvi is passionate about advocacy, health equity, and exploring how policy and practice come together to shape the health of diverse populations. In her free time, she loves to try new foods and recipes, binge TV shows, and do yoga.

Wehazit Mussie | Speakers Co-Chair

Bio: Wehazit Mussie is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, studying Medical Anthropology and History on a Pre-Dental track in hopes of becoming a pediatric dentist. She is dedicated to promoting healthcare equity through her activities, especially in the realm of nutrition. She is an undergraduate researcher at UNC’s Nutrition Research Institute to promote equitable nutrition interventions. In her free time, Wehazit enjoys making pottery, practicing yoga, and reading.

Communications Committee

The co-chairs manage the work of the Communication Committee, which includes developing and marketing promotional materials for the Conference (e.g., flyers, email blasts, etc.). They craft standard language and coordinate all communications about the conference, such as notices to listservs, calls for posters, registration reminders, and webcast announcements.  They also brainstorm, organize, and implement advertising campaigns for social media accounts and communications with both on-campus and community organizations. This committee also manages the graphic designer and has creative control over the graphics and look/feel of conference materials.

Andrew Nguyen | Communications Co-Chair

Pronouns: he/him/his

Bio: Andrew Nguyen is a third-year undergraduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health in Health Policy and Management and minors in Data Science and Business of Health. He serves as a Co-Chair of the Communications Committee and is passionate about combining data-driven analysis and policy insight to improve the efficiency and equity of health systems. In his free time, Andrew enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants, playing volleyball, and photography.

Darby McBride | Communications Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Darby McBride is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, double majoring in Community and Global Public Health and IDST Human Rights with a minor in Public Policy. Currently she is both a global health and public policy research assistant working on projects including historical analysis of the right to health in the U.S. and implications of race and gender in AI usage. She is passionate about health access in conflict zones, understanding art as a form of social change, and sustainable development and humanitarian aid.

Exhibitors Committee

The co-chairs work with their committee to identify groups, organizations, and companies that match the conference theme that will exhibit materials on the day of the conference. The co-chairs also serve as the primary contact for exhibitors in terms of communicating logistical information. The goals of the committee are two-fold: 1) to generate revenue, as committing exhibitors will be required to purchase table space, and 2) to give a platform to organizations whose work and mission are aligned with the conference theme or the conference’s broader goals.  

Shreeya Yarlagadda | Exhibitors Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Shreeya Yarlagadda is a senior majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology with a minor in Medicine, Literature, and Culture. Passionate about the health humanities, she explores the intersections of science, art, philosophy, and literature to enrich care. Her research in radiation oncology and neuroimaging examines head and neck cancer, quality of life, and reirradiation. Through clinical and creative projects, she aspires to be a compassionate physician and advocate for storytelling in medicine.

Amy Onyinye Okonkwo | Exhibitors Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Amy Onyinye Okonkwo is a second-year student at UNC Chapel Hill studying Environmental Health Sciences with a concentration in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. Her interests span environmental justice, value-based healthcare, and community health work as it pertains to closing healthcare gaps, primarily for black and brown and low-income individuals. She plans to pursue a career as a preventive medicine physician, standing at the intersection of patient advocacy and clinical practice.

Posters Committee

The co-chairs oversee the Poster Committee with responsibilities such as issuing a call for abstracts for poster presentations, reviewing and selecting poster abstracts for presentation at the conference, and serving as the primary contact for poster authors in terms of communicating logistical information.

Saron Tewelde | Posters Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Saron Tewelde is a third-year undergraduate student studying Health Policy and Management and Biology with a minor in Chemistry. She is passionate about advancing health equity and addressing disparities in care through research in cancer outcomes and implementation science. As a pre-health student, she hopes to bridge biomedical research and public health solutions to improve patient care. Outside of academics, Saron enjoys reading, trying workout classes on campus, and traveling with family.

Esha Agarwal | Posters Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Esha is a fourth-year student pursuing a BSPH in Environmental Health Science and minoring in Neuroscience and Medicine, Literature, and Culture. She is passionate about promoting health equity and studying the interdisciplinary health sciences; she aspires to become a physician. This is her fourth year on the MHC Planning Committee Board and is honored and excited to serve as Posters Committee Co-Chair. In her free time, Esha loves playing tennis, binging new TV shows, and trying new recipes!

Fundraising Committee

The co-chairs organize the duties of the Fundraising Committee, which solicits donations and sponsorships, both within UNC (e.g., departments, schools, and institutes) as well as from local and national foundations and corporations, in order to cover the cost of the Conference. They devise a plan that allows for potential donors to be solicited in a timely manner, assign tasks to committee members in order to maximize the number of solicitations, and research and identify new potential donors (i.e, individuals, organizations, departments, schools, etc.).

Raseel Jazairi | Fundraising Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Raseel Jazairi is a Biology major with a minor in Interdisciplinary Medicine, Literature, and Culture. Her interests center on the intersection of medicine, public health, and research. She aims to advance health equity by developing inclusive healthcare solutions that reduce disparities in maternal and population health, bridging science, culture, and technology to improve care systems.

Lucia Mulei | Fundraising Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Lucia is a junior majoring in Biostatistics with a minor in Chemistry on the pre-med track. She currently serves as Fundraising Co-chair for the 47th Annual MHC. Lucia works as a research assistant in the Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Ecology Lab (IDEEL) at the UNC School of Medicine and volunteers as an Advocate at the Community Empowerment Fund in Carrboro. In her free time, Lucia loves to sing in Carolina Choir, do yoga, and test out new recipes!

Evaluation Committee

The Evaluation committee designs, sends out, collects, compiles, and synthesizes evaluation information from attendees on the day of the conference, planning committee members, speakers, poster presenters, etc. They conduct interviews with key stakeholders to evaluate the processes and outcomes of the Minority Health Conference and generate an evaluation product for the use of next year’s conference Planning Committee. Most of the committee’s work happens just before and after the conference.

Kushaal Vaidya | Evaluations Co-Chair

Pronouns: he/him/his

Bio: Kushaal Vaidya is a first-year Master’s of Public Health student, with a concentration in epidemiology, who received his Bachelor’s of Science in Computational Biology from the University of Texas at Austin. His focus is on the application of statistics and data analysis to large-scale healthcare issues, and he is currently active in research related to the development of predictive modeling tools for the emergence of cardiovascular disease.

Abhilasha (Abhi) Bellapu | Evaluations Co-Chair

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Abhilasha (Abhi) Bellapu is an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing a BSPH in Health Policy and Management with minors in Chemistry and in Medicine, Literature, and Culture. Her research and career interests center on health system innovation, health equity, and digital health policy. Abhi intends to pursue a career in healthcare, combining policy, technology, and research to advance equitable care.

Minority Student Caucus Co-Presidents

The Minority Student Caucus (MSC) Co-Presidents advocate for issues of concern to students of color in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and promote research and programs aimed at addressing public health issues that affect people of color. Membership is open to all students of color in the School and anyone else who is interested in supporting the Caucus’s mission.

Surasya Guduru | Co-President 

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Surasya Guduru is a second-year MPH student at UNC Chapel Hill in the Health Equity and Social Justice concentration who studies how colonialism, culture, and trauma shape the ways we heal. Her research spans transnational ethics, mental health reform, and structurally competent clinical and public health education. She hopes to become a clinician–scholar building mental health systems that honor community, ancestry, and the fullness of human experience.

Madison Brown | Co-President 

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Bio: Madison Brown is a 2nd-year MPH Nutrition student and lactation student in North Carolina A&T’s Human Lactation Pathway 2 Program. From Los Angeles, CA, and a Howard University graduate, her research explores the intersection of nutrition, breastfeeding support, and maternal and infant health equity, with an emphasis on the first 1,000 days of life. Passionate about reproductive justice, she aims to become an OB-GYN dedicated to improving pre- and postnatal outcomes for Black women.