PROJECT: Work with community clinics to address gaps and disparities in maternal mental health, including developing a series of workshops for pregnant and recently pregnant women for education on peripartum mental health and recognition of symptoms.

Alma Lopez is a first-generation dual degree MD and Master of Public Policy student at UCLA, graduating in 2023. She was born and mostly raised in Los Angeles, where she noticed early on disparities in areas such as education, health, and housing across the city. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a minor in Anthropology at UCLA in 2017. During this time, she mentored and tutored elementary and high school students from historically marginalized backgrounds, conducted research in the genetics of neurodegenerative diseases, and danced with the Grupo Folklorico de UCLA. She subsequently took a gap year during which she worked as a scribe and volunteered as a medical Spanish interpreter.

In 2018, Lopez entered medical school with the Program in Medical Education — Leadership and Advocacy (PRIME-LA) at UCLA, which trains future physicians interested in addressing health disparities with a concurrent master’s degree. She has continued to mentor pre-medical students who are underrepresented in medicine and to engage in health disparities research. She hopes to complete a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology, during which she will continue pursuing her passions for reproductive justice, health equity, and policy advocacy through an intersectional lens.