Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) House Staff Council
Our Vision
Founded in April 2023, the BWH DEIB House Staff Council was established to create a safe, respectful, and supportive home for all members of all BWH departments to advance the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) with a primary focus on enhancing the experience of Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM), LGBTQIA+ members, and other historically marginalized community members. Through intentional and strategic initiatives, partnerships, innovation, and education, the DEIB House Staff Council will focus on mechanisms to support and empower the BWH diverse trainees to:
- Recruit, retain, and promote diverse trainees, faculty, and staff (Recruitment & Retention)
- Create a sense of belonging and community amongst and across affinity groups (Internal Community Building)
- Advocate for social justice through local community service and advancing care for our underserved populations (Social Justice, Community Service, & External Community Building)
- Utilize innovative methodologies to describe and advance DEIB education and research at BWH to impact the clinical training climate and equip our trainees and faculty with the tools needed to achieve health equity (Research, Health Equity, and Quality Improvement)
Our Mission
The mission of the BWH DEIB House Staff Council is to create a diverse and vibrant clinical training environment for all BWH departments where all members thrive and reach their utmost potential to benefit the community we serve.
Want to get involved or learn more? Fill out the General Interest form below or contact us: bwhcdi@bwh.harvard.edu
BWH DEIB House Staff Council General Interests & Working Groups Form
DEIB House Staff Council:
Leadership Team
Hometown: Humboldt, Tennessee, USA
Medical school: University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Undergraduate school: University of Tennessee
Cody Sain, MD (he/him/his)
DEIB House Staff Council Chair
PGY-2 Anesthesiology
As a descendant of American Chattel Slavery and a proud Black American, Cody deeply appreciates his cultural heritage and the struggles faced by his ancestors. As a queer individual hailing from the South, he also brings a unique perspective and an understanding of the challenges faced by marginalized communities. Cody is passionate about inclusion and equity within anesthesiology and increasing the recruitment and retention of underrepresented individuals in academic medicine. Cody’s clinical interests include acute pain management, obstetric anesthesiology, and palliative care, recognizing the importance of compassionate and comprehensive healthcare across various patient populations. Cody has a strong passion for combatting systemic racism as a vocal advocate for his underrepresented peers and mentees nationwide.
Cody was drawn to a leadership position with the Diversity House Staff Council due to his deep-rooted desire to advance workplace psychological safety for all marginalized trainees. Cody’s professional journey has been underscored by a drive to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion and work towards belonging for minorities throughout medicine and justice for our patients. To improve health equity, having underrepresented voices in healthcare is crucial. It is no secret that minority patients benefit from more effective care when treated by minority physicians. Cody’s goal is to utilize his career to improve minority representation in academic medicine and pursue a career as an academic anesthesiologist who continues to advance DEIB initiatives at the community and scholarly levels.
Cody is a determined, powerful advocate for a more inclusive and supportive environment in medicine. His diverse background and commitment to social causes make him an invaluable asset to our team as we strive for a better, more equitable future.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Cody is a self-proclaimed Beyoncé Stan and appreciates the cultural impact artists can have on the world through music, innovative artistry, and creative self-expression.
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Medical school: Stanford University School of Medicine
Undergraduate school: Williams College
Areli Valencia, MD (he/him/his)
Recruitment & Retention Chair
Latinx/Hispanic/Spanish-Origin Affinity Group co-Chair
PGY-2, Anesthesiology
Dr. Areli Valencia was born and raised in Chicago, and his family is from Mexico. After growing up in a city, he wanted to try something different, so he attended Williams College nestled in the Berkshires of rural western Massachusetts. Areli became the first person in his family to graduate from college after completing his degree in chemistry with honors. After graduating, he taught high school students in Chicago, and volunteered in the evenings as a Spanish medical interpreter at
a free local clinic where he became more interested about pursuing a career in
medicine. Areli decided to pursue a two-year post-baccalaureate research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD where he was reassured towards medicine.
Areli attended Stanford University for medical school where he led the Latino
Medical Student Association (LMSA). As the co-chair of the chapter, he led a
team of medical students to the LMSA National Policy Summit to advocate for
immigrant health rights on Capitol Hill, and he also served as the Vice-President of Conference at the LMSA West Regional Board where he coordinated the LMSA West Regional Conference hosted at Stanford University and attended by more than 500 undergraduate, underrepresented students to increase diversity in medicine.
At BWH, Areli is part of the anesthesiology residency program. He aims to continue his work in DEI as part of the DEIB HSC with the goal of creating an inclusive, diverse environment that will help recruit future trainees and maintain a sense of community amongst current trainees. Outside of medicine, Areli loves playing tennis, reading, cooking, hiking, walking his dog, and spending time with his partner and cat.
Hometown: Hamilton, New Jersey, USA
Medical school: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Undergraduate school: Rutgers University – New Brunswick
Murka Jeancharles, MD (she/her/hers)
Social Justice & Community Service Chair
PGY-3, Anesthesiology
Dr. Murka Jeancharles is a proud, first-generation Haitian American. She is currently a PGY-3, CA-2 in the BWH Department of Anesthesiology and the DEIB Anesthesiology Resident Co-Chair. She received her B.S. from Rutgers University and M.D. from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Her interests include global health, urban health, and work related to diversity/equity in medicine. She is committed to the advancement of underrepresented minorities in medicine.
Being a black woman in medicine motivates her to work in DEIB. She believes that creating a diverse healthcare workforce, one that is reflective of the diverse backgrounds of the patients we care for, allows us to provide the best care for some of our most vulnerable patients. She is also passionate about creating and implementing service-based initiatives in marginalized communities. She was an Executive Board Member of The Rutgers NJMS Student National Minority Association, for which she received a Pozen Community Service Scholar award for creating the SNMA clinical skills workshop, which helped introduce minority college students to several different fields of medicine. She was also the President of O’darah Outreach: Project B.E.A.M (Beyond Education Academics in Medicine), which creates and teaches educational curriculum to improve health literacy amongst Newark high school students in NJ. Lastly, she was on the Executive Board of PUMA (Public Understanding of Medicine in Action), for which she received a Pozen Community Service Scholar Award. PUMA is an initiative to empower individuals transitioning out of the criminal justice system by providing educational, housing, and financial resources.
When Murka is not in the hospital she enjoys traveling internationally, hiking, playing tennis, and spending time with her loved ones.
Hometown: Houston, Texas, USA
Medical school: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Undergraduate school: Vanderbilt University
Ramael Ohiomoba, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)
Research, Health Equity, and Quality Improvement Chair
PGY-2, Internal Medicine
Ramael Ohiomoba is a second year in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Internal Medicine residency program. She received her medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is also a graduate of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where she completed a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. Ramael’s prior research centered on the biological and social risk factors for cardiovascular health and the global transmission of disease. She is also passionate about improving access to healthcare and eliminating health inequities in resource limited communities. After completing residency, she will pursue cardiology fellowship.
Hometown: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Medical school: Weill Cornell Medicine
Undergraduate school: University of Calgary
Ruth Moges, MD, MSc (she/her/hers)
Black Affinity Group Chair
PGY-3, Internal Medicine
Dr. Ruth Moges is a third year internal medicine resident interested in oncology and global health. She has an interest in taking care of underserved populations both in the US and around the world. Ruth’s family is from Ethiopia and she was raised abroad, lending to a deep appreciation of what can be done beyond our boarders. As part of the BWH DEIB HSC, she hopes to help build community and ensure Brigham becomes a more diverse and equitable place. Her hobbies include biking, board games, exploring new places and things, plant parenthood, and TV (would literally watch and talk about anything if given the opportunity)!
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Medical school: Medical College of Wisconsin
Undergraduate school: Marquette University
Javier Mora, MD (he/him/his)
Disadvantaged Backgrounds Affinity Group Chair
PGY-3, Radiation Oncology
Dr. Javier Mora was born, raised and educated in Milwaukee, WI by blue-collar, Mexican immigrant parents. He is a first-generation high school, college, and medical doctorate graduate. Currently, Javier is a resident in the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program. He is excited to join the BWH DEIB HSC as First-Generation/Low-Income (FLGI) lead. Javier’s goal is to develop mentor-mentee relationships and programming for our FLGI students interested in medicine. He believes that we need doctors who grew up and come from the same neighborhoods as their patients, as this improves health outcomes, and that physician workforce diversity is patient quality of care. Outside of work, Javier enjoys participating in trivia, watching NBA and soccer games, and discovering new restaurants.
Hometown: El Paso, Texas, USA
Medical school: Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Science Center
Undergraduate school: University of Texas at El Paso
Andres Santos, MD, PhD (he/him/his)
Latinx/Hispanic/Spanish-Origin Affinity Group co-Chair
Clinical Fellow, Neuropathology
Dr. Andres Santos is a Mexican-American who was raised in the border town of El
Paso, Texas. He is a bicultural and bilingual aspiring neuropathologist
currently doing research in viral immunotherapies for treating brain tumors
such as glioblastoma. Dr. Santos’s additional interests include modifying
current residency training programs, which are designed to educate English
speakers only and underutilize the potential impact bilingual residents can
have on local, national, and international healthcare initiatives for achieving
health equity. He aims to create educational interventions to improve
Latinx/Hispanic/Spanish-Origin trainees’ medical vocabulary and prepare them to
communicate efficiently with patients and other Spanish-speaking providers in
the U.S. and other Spanish-speaking countries. He strongly believes these
interventions will help promote diversity among the BWH residents and expand
BWH’s global medicine efforts to countries in Latin America.
Hometown: Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Medical school: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Undergraduate school: Clemson University
Megan F. Hunt, MD (she/her/hers)
LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group Chair
PGY-3, Anesthesiology
Megan is a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community. She is a passionate advocate for equity in medicine with prior political advocacy involvement in access to HIV care, women’s health funding and gender affirming care policies. She is working with the Center for Gender Affirming Surgery (GAS) to optimize the anesthesia experience for patients. Her research efforts are focused on anesthesia techniques for GAS, lung protective ventilation, ECMO, and operative pulmonary intervention strategies in pregnancy. Outside of medicine, she has a lively 3-year old German Shepard mix, is working on perfect her espresso technique, and enjoys running the many parks and waterways in Boston.
Hometown: Buffalo, New York, USA
Medical school: Upstate Medical University
Undergraduate school: Stony Brook University
Cameron Bosinski, MD, MS (he/him/his)
Native American Affinity Group co-Chair
PGY-3, Anesthesiology
Dr. Bosinski is a CA-2 in the research track at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During residency, he has made contributions to research, education and advocacy. He serves as a contributor to the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) Daily Dose, which highlights the important takeaways from the IARS annual conference. In addition, he is the webmaster for the Early-Stage Anesthesia Scholars (eSAS), which serves as a community for emerging researchers in anesthesiology. Over the past year, he has published two articles on medical education, specifically regarding medical school clerkships and bedside procedures performed by residents. Recently, Dr. Bosinski was involved in a multi-institutional collaboration that emphasized the importance of pipeline programs for increasing the diversity of the medical field. This work culminated in a two-day Health Equity Conference that brought together leaders in Native American healthcare to discuss their impact on this subject. This is a continuation of his work with the Association of American Indian Physicians to bring a Preadmission Workshop (PAW) to Upstate Medical University.
Hometown: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA
Medical school: University of Oklahoma College of Medicine – Tulsa (School of Community Medicine)
Undergraduate school: Oklahoma State University
Victoria Thomas, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)
Native American Affinity Group co-Chair
PGY-4, Pathology
Dr. Thomas is a resident in anatomic and clinical pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA and a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School. She is mixed-race with Native (Cherokee) and Scots Irish ancestry. The public and community health initiatives showcased at the annual Cherokee National Holidays inspired her to pursue a career in medicine and public health. While completing her Master of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma (OU), Dr. Thomas worked as a graduate research assistant as part of the OU-Culinary Medicine team to develop, implement, and evaluate a healthy nutrition and cooking skills curriculum for medical residents as part of Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Communities Phase II. Her practicum focused on nutrition education curricula for pediatric medical residents and school aged children. During this time, she also participated in community-based participatory research with a Native community to stimulate thinking and questions around culture, built environment, and risks of chronic disease. Her current research efforts focus on medical microbiology and infectious disease. Dr. Thomas plans to pursue a career in medical microbiology and medical education. Outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time with her horse and quilting.
Hometown: Rijeka, Croatia
Residency: Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Internship: Duke University Medical Center-GME
Medical school: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Undergraduate school: Mount Holyoke College
Faculty Advisor
Morana Lasic, MD, MEd
Associate Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer
Dr. Morana Lasic is an anesthesiologist, Associate Program Director of the BWH anesthesiology residency program, Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and inclusion, and BWH Medical Director of Peer Support. She received her B.A. degree from Mount Holyoke College, M.D. degree from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and M.Ed. degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Lasic is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School. Her clinical training includes a surgical internship at Duke University Medical Center and an anesthesiology residency at BWH, which she completed in 2002 when she joined as BWH faculty. In addition to departmental leadership roles, she has served on the HMS Admissions Committee. She has run departmental recruitment efforts for faculty and trainees, focusing on recruiting more women, underrepresented minorities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
