UCSF students and alumni, along with a registered campus organization, were presented with awards during the Jan. 23 Regents Meeting, recognizing their leadership, self-determination, and courage.
UCSF President Michael Drake, MD, presented the President’s Award for Outstanding Student Leadership to Allie Gomez-Ojeda, a fourth-year student at UCSF School of Medicine, and to UCSF School of Dentistry’s Student National Dental Association (SNDA). This accolade recognizes students for their courageous leadership and efforts to address the needs of their fellow classmates.
Gomez-Ojeda’s achievements include developing a novel group session in UCSF’s Anti Oppression Curriculum focused on Queer Trans Health and improving the curriculum’s efforts toward health equity, and is part of the PRIDE-Med student group. Upon receiving her award, she used her platform to talk about human rights issues that are important to her. "There has never been a more important time to use our collective power to support our LGBTQ+ communities, our undocumented and immigrant communities, our Black and Indigenous communities and other communities of color," she said.
Betty Birbo, a second-year dental student, accepted SNDA’s award and currently serves as its president. The student-run club at UCSF Dentistry inspires and educates minority and under-represented students looking to pursue a career in dentistry.
“As a pre-dental student myself, I found guidance through this remarkable organization, as do many pre-dental students from marginalized communities,” said Birbo. “It is an honor to have our efforts recognized by President Drake and his team with a UC-system-wide award, celebrating our hard work and commitment over the past year."
The UC Regents then presented the Regents Foster Youth Award to Kuanie Julin, MS, AGACNP-BC, a clinical nurse at UCSF Health. The award supports former foster youth pursuing graduate and professional degrees. Julin served as the first student ambassador for UCSF’s Guardian Scholars Program, providing a student’s perspective when developing the program. She continues to mentor new Guardian Scholars and first-generation UCSF students.
“Receiving this year’s Regents Foster Youth Award from the UC Board of Regents is not just a personal achievement, but a testament to the resilience and strength of all foster youth,” Julin said. “We are capable, we are ambitious, we have immense strength, and resilience to succeed when given the resources and opportunities.”
