Spotlights
As the KU Medical Center community celebrates Native American Heritage Month, faculty, staff, students and alumni are sharing stories about their interests, hobbies and backgrounds. Learn more about some of our community members below.
Sara Ohadi-Hamadani
Student
KU School of Medicine-Kansas City
Sara Ohadi-Hamadani is a fourth-year student at the KU School of Medicine. She attended Wellesley, a women's college outside of Boston. She then worked to improve the livelihoods of service workers, including food service and healthcare workers as a researcher at two local unions within the Service Employees International Union in the Northeast U.S. when living in Baltimore and New York City. Sara decided she wanted to move from working for a health care workers union to being a health care provider, so she enrolled at the KU School of Medicine. She says her works experiences have very much informed her medical education.
Where did you grow up?
Wichita, Kansas. I am a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. I am also part Osage.
What are some of your hobbies?
I play roller derby with the Kansas City Roller Warriors and represented Team Kansas this past February at the Battle of the Allstars tournament. I also love to watch and play soccer and enjoy spending time with my family and our four rescue cats.
How does the Native American Month theme (T.R.U.T.H. - Transcendent, Resilient,
Uplifting, Transforming, History Makers) resonate with you?
I'm a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. I am also part Osage and part Persian. I would not be in medicine today had my ancestors and women before me not fought for justice and the right to higher education and to entering professions that were historically closed to minorities and women. I bring these values to others to push for more diversity in medicine and the health professions and to combat health, racial, social, economic and educational inequities that still exist generations later.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
I appreciate that that KU Medical Center listens to and values students' input to change and improve the education and curriculum and instill greater cultural competence and empathy in our students and providers.
Christina Pacheco, JD, MPH
Program Manager-Family Medicine
KU School of Medicine
She, Her, Hers
Christina Pacheco graduated from William Mitchell College of Law in 2008 with her Juris Doctor and earned her Master of Public Health degree from the KU School of Medicine in 2016, with a concentration in social and behavioral health. She is currently pursuing an Interdisciplinary doctorate in bioinformatics and public administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Pacheco has worked in the field of public health for more than 10 years, in the field of policy and law for more than 12 years, and in the field of social justice and racial reconciliation for more than 20 years. She has aided in the development of culturally tailored public health interventions particularly in the areas of tobacco, environmental health and healthy eating and physical activity. She is a community-based participatory researcher whose interests focus on health inequities faced by indigenous and Latino communities.
Where did you grow up?
Kansas City, Missouri. I am a member of the Cherokee and Quechua tribes.
What are some of your hobbies?
I enjoy hiking, fine arts, paddle boarding and spending time with my dog.
How does the Native American Month theme (T.R.U.T.H. - Transcendent, Resilient,
Uplifting, Transforming, History Makers) resonate with you?
The theme resonates with me as T.R.U.T.H. and reconciliation are necessary to honor
our ancestors and survivors. Truth is necessary for the reconciliation of past atrocities that have happened to many of our Indigenous Nations and peoples. As Indigenous peoples, we uplift our ancestors, relatives and our tribal ecological knowledge. We transform mindsets and provide holistic approaches. We make history but are not history, as we are resilient.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
I love the focus on community engagement and community health. I appreciate how KU Medical Center focuses on serving those with unmet needs.
Alisa Bridge
Alisa Bridge, M.D., is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the KU School of Medicine-Wichita. Her traditional family name is Sixkiller, which is part the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Dr. Bridge was the first in her family to earn a college degree. She went on to earn a master's degree and did basic science research in cell and tissue culture before attending medical school. Dr. Bridge has spent most of her career practicing medicine in rural areas and supporting pediatric care in rural hospitals. She is passionate about supporting rural health systems and protecting the health and safety of all children in Kansas.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in California, but moved to a farm in rural Butler County, Kansas, at the age of 10 and grew up there.
What are some of your hobbies?
Reading, knitting, gardening, baking and taking care of our dogs.
What or who inspires and motivates you?
I am inspired by those who can fight for change with grace and nonviolence. Recently, I have been reviewing all the work that Ruth Bader Ginsberg accomplished that has affected so many lives for the better in our country.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
I am encouraged by the university’s ongoing work to eliminate unconscious bias from the medical education and patient care systems.
Joseph Crain
Joseph Crain works as the manager and coordinator for the KU School of Medicine-Wichita's surgical simulation and skills lab, based at Ascension Via Christi-St. Francis Hospital in Wichita. Joseph has lived all over the country, but he still considers Texas home. He has a diverse background in health care that includes emergency medical services, critical care and organ and tissue donation and recovery. He also has experience in education and adult learning. Joseph is married with seven children and 21 grandchildren.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Kentucky, but I have also lived in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, California, Iowa and now in Kansas!
What are some of your hobbies?
I love studying the science of health care and health care education. Aviation is also a favorite hobby.
What or who inspires and motivates you?
I am motivated to do more for health care and education in the Native American/Indian tribal communities. I have significant Cherokee lineage and want to serve community health groups in these communities.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
The attitude of the people I work with. My immediate supervisors are among the very best I have ever had, and they are positive and forward thinking. The majority of people I have encountered are very amiable and professional.
Rachel DiTeresi
Rachel DiTeresi, M.D., has been a faculty member at the KU School of Medicine since 2014. She is the assistant director for the Murphy Society and assistant clerkship director for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the KU School of Medicine. She completed her undergraduate, medical training and OB/GYN residency at the University of Kansas. Her special interests include obstetrics, gynecology, minimally invasive surgery and preventative health care.
Where did you grow up?
Wichita, Kansas. I'm Choctaw, Maricopa and Hopi but enrolled with the Gila River Maricopa tribe.
What are some of your hobbies?
Playing softball, baking, playing board games and hanging out with my friends.
What or who inspires and motivates you?
My grandmother, who was a nurse, was my inspiration to become a physician. She was hard working, empathetic, wise and well-known in the Native American community.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
The commitment KU Medical Center has to our learners and the drive to improve their learning environment. I also really enjoy the friendliness of our staff here. I feel connected to people in all areas of the hospital and the School of Medicine.
Keisha England
Keisha England is a second-year medical student at the KU School of Medicine. She received the Indian Health Services Professional Scholarship. After earning her medical degree and serving her residency, she will work for the Indian Health Services in her community. As a student, Keisha has worked with the KU Palliative Care Team and KU Department of Pediatrics.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and lived there until I was 14 years old. Then I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and went to college in McPherson, Kansas.
What are some of your hobbies?
I enjoy exploring museums. One of my favorite places in Kansas City is the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
What or who inspires and motivates you?
My mother is someone who has always inspired me. She was born and raised on the Rosebud-Sioux reservation in South Dakota. She is someone who had to overcome a lot to be where she is today.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
I appreciate the ability of KU to change. During times like this, an institution needs to be receptive to feedback, and I feel KU has that ability.
Jordyn Gunville
Jordyn Gunville, MPH, is a doctoral student in health policy and management at KU Medical Center. She is also a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar. She worked at the Center for American Indian Community Health (CAICH) at KU Medical Center, from 2011-2020. Born and raised on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, Jordyn has gained firsthand experience on understanding health disparities and health barriers facing American Indians. Her goal is to reduce infant mortality among American Indians by researching prenatal and postnatal care interventions.
Where did you grow up?
The Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in White Horse, South Dakota.
What are some of your hobbies?
My hobbies include spending time with my children, traveling and reading.
What or who inspires and motivates you?
My grandparents and my children inspire me and helping my community is what motivates me.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
What I appreciate most about KU Medical Center is the supportive faculty and opportunity to work with my tribal community.
Sara Ohadi-Hamadani
Sara Ohadi-Hamadani is a third-year student at the KU School of Medicine. She attended Wellesley, a women's college outside of Boston. She then became a researcher at a health care workers' union, where she encountered health care workers struggling to support their families and care for patients while balancing their own health. She worked to improve the livelihoods of union members by supporting contract negotiations and organizing campaigns that improved staffing standards, wages and benefits. Sara decided she wanted to move from working for a health care workers union to being a health care provider, so she enrolled at the KU School of Medicine. She says her work experiences have very much informed her medical education.
Where did you grow up?
Wichita, Kansas. I am a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. I am also part Osage.
What are some of your hobbies?
I play roller derby with the Kansas City Roller Warriors and represented Team Kansas this past February at the Battle of the Allstars tournament. I also love to watch and play soccer and enjoy spending time with my family and our four rescue cats.
What or who inspires and motivates you?
My mom, sisters and grandmother inspire me. They have constantly pushed and encouraged me to strive to be my best and take on challenges that I would have never imagined that I could do until I tried and did them.
What do you appreciate most about KU Medical Center?
I appreciate that that KU Medical Center listens to and values students' input to change and improve the education and curriculum and instill greater cultural competence and empathy in our students and providers.