President
Brandon Prunty
Des Moines University
Hi! I’m Brandon, a 4th-year medical student at Des Moines University, College of Osteopathic Medicine in Des Moines, IA. I was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV, and I graduated from Southern Utah University summa cum laude in Nutrition. While I obviously love the study mental health, I am also passionate about the study of leadership. For fun, I enjoy creative writing, exploring new restaurants, and reviewing products via Amazon Vine. This year, I am excited to help PsychSIGN partner with various organizations so we can provide the best opportunities for all interested students throughout our network.
President-Elect
Sebastian Acevedo
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Sebastian is a third-year medical student at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He received his Masters in Public Health, from the Rutgers School of Public Health. He was born in Medellin, Colombia and is the first in his family to graduate college and attend medical school. His areas of interest within psychiatry include policy, improving access to culturally competent psychiatric care, and destigmatizing mental health. Sebastian is the proud parent of a French Bulldog named Dino who is currently training to become a therapy dog.
Region 1: MA, ME, NH, RI, VT, CT, Canadian Provinces: ON, QC, NS, NL, PE, NB
Serra Sozen
University of Vermont
Serra is a third year medical student at the University of Vermont. She attended college at Rice in Houston, Texas and graduated with degrees in neuropsychology and French studies. Serra hopes to pursue a career in psychiatry with a focus in addiction and public policy. She has really enjoyed researching and volunteering within the fields of mental health and substance use — her clinical interests revolve around maternal/neonatal opioid use disorder, contingency management, and accessibility of medicated assisted treatments for vulnerable populations. Right now, she volunteers as a SMART facilitator for those in recovery and spearheads a project investigating opioid overdoses in mothers receiving OUD pharmacotherapy. Serra is very excited to expand upon these interests as Region 1 chair while forming meaningful connections across members in the region. When she’s procrastinating being a medical student, you can find her looking for the best boba shops, going to concerts, and sewing/designing her own clothes.
Region 2: NY
Priyanka Algu
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Priyanka Algu is a fourth-year medical student at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. She is a NY-native—born in Queens, raised in Long Island, and attended CUNY Brooklyn College with a BA in Linguistics. Dedicated to connecting with her community, she joined Peer Health Exchange, becoming a mental health educator to high school students in Brooklyn, and hosted fun events for pediatric patients as a child life volunteer. She developed her interest in psychiatry in medical school when she discovered the capacity to improve quality of life for patients often suffering from stigmatized illnesses. She hopes to facilitate accessibility to care through digital psychiatry and community advocacy, particularly in working with children and adolescents. In her free time, she can be found bringing her next crochet animal to life, leveling up her videogame characters, or vegan food adventuring with her partner.
Region 3: DC, DE, MD, NJ, PA
Gracie Jenkins
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
Gracie is a third year medical student at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine (HMSOM). She earned her BS in Neuroscience from Fordham University. During college, she worked in psychology research studying non-suicidal self-injury and suicide. Prior to medical school, Gracie worked as a clinical research assistant in a child and adolescent psychiatry neuroimaging research program at Brown University/Bradley Hospital, and later McLean Hospital. There, she studied pediatric bipolar disorder, irritability, non-suicidal self-injury, and suicide using fMRI. At HMSOM, she has served as a student leader of the Harm Reduction and Addiction Medicine interest group and a peer mentor. She is looking forward to serving as Region 3 Chair for PsychSIGN. Gracie plans to pursue a career in Addiction Psychiatry. In her free time, she enjoys playing soccer and tennis, running, baking, and reading.
Region 4: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI
Madeline Schmiedeknecht
Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Madeline (Maddie) is a third-year medical student at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a pharmaceutical research engineer in Philadelphia, PA for three years. During her time at Marian, she helped foster a program that allows medical students to shadow and present psychoeducational presentations to an Intensive Outpatient Group Therapy Program. Maddie is leading wellness research at her medical school and has presented this research at the APA Conference in May of 2023. Maddie loves going to comedy shows, cute coffee shops, and volunteering with her community garden. She is the proud mother of two kittens.
Region 5: AL, AK, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, PR and Uniformed Services
Ananya Roy
Ananya Roy is a fourth year medical student at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. She attended UT Austin and graduated with degrees in Neuroscience and Plan II Honors. During her third year of medical school, Ananya completed her Master’s of Public Health. Ananya is interested in working with transition in age youth, first episode psychosis, and the interaction of social media usage and self diagnostic behavior. In her spare time, Ananya performs in an improv troupe at her local theatre, enjoys thrifting and owning numerous houseplants.
Region 6: CA
Esha Aneja
California Northstate University College of Medicine
Esha is a second-year medical student at California Northstate University College of Medicine. She earned her B.S. in Nutritional Science, Physiology and Metabolism with a minor in Disability Studies at UC Berkeley. At her medical school, Esha holds several leadership positions. She is Clinic Manager for a nonprofit student-run free clinic that provides basic medical care to underserved communities. She also serves on her school’s student government as Executive Administrator to advocate for better mental health policies at the state-level and as President of ACEing Autism to teach tennis to children with autism. Esha’s love for psychiatry stems from working with the California Department of Health Care Services on policies improving access to mental health services for 14 million low-income families in California. This experience led her to help create a statewide trauma-informed care screening program to address ACEs with the California Surgeon General, Dr. Nadine Harris, so children have earlier access to mental health resources to help them thrive. Additionally, hearing the challenges of individuals with disabilities in accessing mental health services through her Disability Studies minor, made her interested in spearheading research studies to improve care for them. Esha hopes to continue generating and publishing more evidence-based research for novel therapies available to individuals with both physical and developmental disabilities. These experiences have made her passionate about pursuing psychiatry and advocating for destigmatized and accessible mental health for all regardless of socioeconomic status, identity, or background. In her free time, Esha loves horseback riding, playing tennis, spending time with friends/family, and watching reality tv shows.
Region 7: AK, AZ, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY, Canadian Provinces: AB, BC, MB, SK
Priscilla Jones
Western University of Health Sciences COMP-NW
Hi everyone! I’m Priscilla, a 3rd year medical student at Western University of Health Sciences COMP-NW in Lebanon, OR. I lived in Alabama until I attended college at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA and have loved living in the PNW since then! My interest in psychiatry stems from my personal experiences with mental health and supporting close friends and family with mental illness and addiction. My main interests are addiction and cross-cultural psychiatry, however I hope to provide the students in Region 7 with opportunities in all areas of psychiatry. On my days off, I enjoy going to the farmers market, rock climbing, and exploring the forests of Oregon with my fiancé.
International Chair
Manal Mukhtar
St. George’s University School of Medicine
Manal is a fourth-year medical student at St. George’s University School of Medicine. She grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, and graduated with high distinction from the University of Toronto with a double major in biology for health sciences and sociology. Coming from a South-Asian background, learning about the perceptions of mental health in her ethnic community sparked her interest in cultural psychiatry, including the impact it has on children and adolescents. In her free time, she enjoys watching shows on Netflix, admiring the sunset with a cup of tea, and spending time with her family. She’s very excited to join PsychSIGN as the international chair and hopes to connect with aspiring psychiatrists around the world, collaborate and hold interesting and informative events, and advocate for mental health awareness.
Media Outreach Chair
Apoorva Polavarapu
UIC College of Medicine
Apoorva is a fourth-year medical student at St Georges University. She completed her clinical training in her home state of New Jersey and is currently completing fourth year clinicals in New York City. Specifically, she is interested in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, policy work aimed at increasing access to mental healthcare for children, and destigmatizing mental healthcare in the South Asian community. In her free time Apoorva loves to explore the city, try new food, and visit art exhibits!
Forum Moderator
Julia Jacob
Ponce Health Sciences University, SOM
Julia is a second-year medical student at Ponce Health Sciences University, SOM, in Puerto Rico. She received her B.S. in Biology and Psychology from UC Riverside in Riverside, California, where she conducted research regarding the roles that social support plays in individuals’ perceived health outcomes. Julia is a passionate mental health advocate who is pursuing a career in psychiatry, with a particular interest in community health. In this position, she aspires to facilitate conversations among students as the field of psychiatry continues to expand and evolve. When she’s not catching up on sleep, Julia enjoys discovering new restaurants, geeking out over Greek mythology, and spending time with loved ones.
Mentorship Chair
Luigi Loizzo
Kansas City University in Missouri
Luigi is a third year medical student at Kansas City University in Missouri. He is originally from Chicago, where he attended Loyola University Chicago for both undergraduate and graduate studies. Before starting medical school Luigi worked managing clinical research trials focused on Inflammatory Bowel Disease Management at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and participated in community initiatives around the city that highlighted the importance and need for mental health support and access. He first became interested in the field of psychiatry after witnessing the medical and psychiatric co-management of his grandfather throughout his Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, amplified by his experience leading weekly support groups for trauma survivors as they navigate their individual healing journeys. Luigi has greatly benefited from mentorship in the medical space from fellow students, residents, and other psychiatrists, and is excited to work towards ensuring mentorship opportunities for interested students. These experiences motivated him to start his own mentorship program to help pre-med students from smaller universities throughout Kansas and Missouri find additional guidance and support from current medical students while applying to medical school. Luigi is interested in the intersection of medicine and psychiatry, especially when managing memory, movement, and seizure disorders. In his free time, he likes to read, bake focaccia, and try our new coffee shops throughout Kansas City.
Research Co-Chair
Alicia Leong
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Alicia is a scholarly/research year medical student (Class of 2026) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, passionate about making medical student involvement in psychiatry research more accessible. She was born in Singapore and grew up in California. She graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in cognitive sciences and a minor in poverty, justice, and human capabilities. She is working towards becoming a well-rounded child and adolescent psychiatrist and child advocate committed to collaborating with caregivers, researchers, policymakers, social workers, educators, and other stakeholders to advocate for systemic changes that will empower children and families exposed to trauma. As a first-generation Asian American, she also aims to help increase access to culturally and linguistically representative mental health care for immigrant communities and communities of color. Her research interests focus on community-centered approaches to mental health care, particularly for immigrant youth and youth in immigrant families. She has conducted original qualitative and quantitative research, in addition to systematic reviews, on psychotherapy in community mental health settings, inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry, language access equity, medical humanities, pediatric nutrition, and pediatric tuberculosis treatment. In addition to serving as a research co-chair at PsychSIGN this year, she is carrying out a research project on the mental health and identity development experiences of BIPOC and immigrant visual artists. In her free time, Alicia enjoys painting, baking, jump roping, creating podcasts with friends, and catching up with family members in Singapore.
Research Co-Chair
Pooja Amin
Des Moines University
Pooja is a second year medical student at Des Moines University interested in triple board and child and adolescent psychiatry. She is originally from Massachusetts and earned her Bachelors in Biology and Economics from Northeastern University before going on to obtain her Masters in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh. Following graduation, she worked in a neurophysiology lab at Pitt for two years, studying which parts of the brain are active during various types of stimulated nausea. Following her first year of medical school, she became a pre-doctoral research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh, studying ADHD risk markers in early childhood. This experience sparked her passion for child and adolescent psychiatry and research in the field. She is especially passionate about de-stigmatizing mental health in the South Asian community. Pooja is excited to bring her skills with networking to the research co-chair position to help bolster the PsychSIGN’s approach to helping connect students to research both at their institutions and beyond. In her free time, she loves to dance, try new foods, and do yoga.
Residency Application Chair
Julia Versel
Loyola Stritch School of Medicine
Julia is a fourth-year medical student at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Julia grew up in Dakar, Senegal before moving to the United States for university, where she studied Neurobiology at Harvard University. She also holds an MSc in Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience from the University of Oxford. She loves getting to know other people, and also enjoys baking and cooking, improv comedy, and camping. She is thrilled to be a part of the PsychSIGN community as the Residency Application Chair, and looks forward to learning more about the incredible field of psychiatry, continuing to explore her passion for mental health advocacy, and connecting with other PsychSIGN/APA members!
Wellness & Burnout Prevention Chair
Sonia Chen
Penn State College of Medicine
Sonia is a second year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine. She fell in love with psychiatry during her undergraduate years at NYU through the Child & Adolescent mental health studies department. She was lucky enough to have had practicing child & adolescent psychiatrists as her professors and was captivated by their passion along with the depth of the field. Since then, psychiatry has been her singular passion and driving force for being in medical school. While she is interested in all aspects of psychiatry, she is especially passionate about ADHD, neuromodulation, and medical student wellness. Outside of med school, she enjoys traveling, eating food, petting good dogs, embroidery, and is currently working towards her scuba diving certification!
Podcast Chair
Arazoo Shwany
Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine
Arazoo is a third-year medical student at Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine. She earned her BS in Human Biology and Society at UCLA. She developed an interest in behavioral health while volunteering as a crisis counselor at UCLA. During the pandemic, she co-founded the Kurdish Refugee Relief Foundation, a nonprofit organization sustainably addressing menstrual inequity in refugee camps. She is the host of Get Psyched and The D.O. Diaries podcasts. In her free time, Arazoo enjoys reading for fun and pilates.
AMA MSS Delegate
Amanda Block
Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine
Amanda is a second-year medical student at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University. She is originally from Los Angeles, CA and earned her B.A. in Public Health from Brown University in 2020. Prior to medical school, she conducted research on treatment for opioid use disorder. In the American Medical Association Medical Student Section, Amanda served on the Committee for Disability Affairs and currently serves as the Region 3 co-Policy Chair. She co-authored a resolution on gun violence prevention and on protecting youth access to gender-affirming care, both of which were successfully adopted by the House of Delegates in 2023. Amanda is drawn to psychiatry for the deep connects formed with patients and their families, and to advocate for the rights and health of those who are most vulnerable. In her free time, she loves to bake, see live music, and cultivate house plants.