Scott Orlov, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) of Thomas Jefferson University. Originally from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, he graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan in 2021, earning a Bachelor of Science in Public Health.
Maduka Gunasinghe, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at Rowan–Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine and National Health Service Corps Scholar, committed to family medicine in underserved communities.
Kimberly Ochoa Carrasco, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at California Health Sciences University, College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM). Raised in Ceres, California, in the heart of the Central Valley, she is the proud daughter of two Mexican immigrants. Growing up, she witnessed both the resilience and the struggles of her community, many of whom faced barriers to healthcare access.
Kathryn “Liz” Godwin, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a 4th-year medical student at East Tennessee State University’s (ETSU) Quillen College of Medicine, where she is also completing a Master of Public Health. Originally from North Carolina, Liz graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning a degree in Asian Studies (with a focus on Chinese) and Management and Society.
Hannah Rayala, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at East Carolina University (ECU) Brody School of Medicine. Her commitment to family medicine is deeply personal, rooted in her upbringing as the daughter of two dedicated family physicians. Born in the Philippines, where her parents completed medical school, she spent part of her early childhood in Michigan before her family eventually settled in North Carolina. Throughout these moves, she witnessed firsthand the relationships her parents built with their patients and the profound impact of primary care in shaping healthier communities. These early experiences instilled in her a deep respect for the specialty and a desire to follow in her parents’ footsteps.
Denise Jimenez-Tapia, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year dual-degree MD/MBA student in the PRIME-LA program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and UCLA Anderson School of Management. She is the proud eldest daughter of immigrant farmworkers, born and raised in Lakeport, a small agricultural town in Northern California. Surrounded by fields of grapes and pears, Lakeport has long been a home for farmworkers, like her parents, whose labor sustains both the community and her family’s livelihood.
Christopher Hernandez Salinas (he/him/el), a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year MD/MPH student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix, deeply committed to addressing healthcare disparities in marginalized communities. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, a Bachelor of Arts in Global Health, and a Bachelor of Arts in Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, along with a minor in Health Innovation.
Benjamin Popokh, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern (UT Southwestern) Medical School. Benjamin grew up in Plano, Texas, the son of hard-working immigrants who taught him the value of perseverance, community, and service. His path to medicine began with a deeply personal experience: his cousin Sasha’s battle with brain cancer. Witnessing Sasha’s courage and the dedication of his care team inspired Benjamin to pursue a career where he could combine skill and compassion for patients facing life’s most difficult moments.
Andrea Augustine, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at Duke University School of Medicine on the Primary Care Leadership Track. Born in Kerala, India, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia during early childhood. Growing up as a low-income, first-generation immigrant, uninsured for much of her life and intimately familiar with the fear of needing medical care, shaped Andrea’s path to medicine.
Ana-Sophia Chung, a 2025 Pisacano Scholar, is a fourth-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG). She graduated with honors in Biology and Spanish from the University of Georgia. After graduation, she worked as a medical scribe in Edinburg, Texas, serving predominantly Spanish-speaking patients. This experience strengthened her resolve to pursue family medicine and affirmed her commitment to improving access to care for marginalized populations.
