Master of Arts & Certificate in
Presentation of Graduates
Message from the Director
It is a very important time to graduate with a degree focused on health equity, justice, ethics, and structural marginalization. Those of us in the health care field are called upon, in this era, to make clear where we stand. Do we speak up for marginalized patients and communities, near and far, when their access to health care is being attacked, abridged, or denied? Do we join the system with a critical eye, noting the ways that a system meant to do good can also perpetuate harm? Do we attend to our own personal development, so that when we encounter individuals we can keep ourselves regulated, despite our own baggage and biases?
I hope that you’ve developed answers to these questions and more, throughout your time in this program. Our goal is to cultivate scholars and practitioners who are equipped to advance justice, even at some personal risk. Knowing many of you and watching your journeys—I think we have achieved that.
I hope you will stay in touch with us, as we continue to build the intellectual community of Center faculty, staff, students and alumni—you are now in the latter category. We will watch your careers with excitement and cannot wait to see what you do to advance justice and ethics in your corners of the world. Congratulations!
Prof. Nicolle Stand
Associate Professor, Center for Health Justice and Bioethics Director, Center for Health Justice and Bioethics
Message to Graduates
During your time in this program, you’ve engaged directly with some of the most urgent ethical, structural, and social challenges facing health and healthcare today. You’ve examined how race, class, incarceration, immigration, language, disability, and place shape the conditions of health and illness. And you’ve done so with humility, integrity, and purpose. You haven’t just studied these issues— you’ve lived them, questioned them, and worked to transform them. You’ve asked whose voices are heard and whose are silenced.
The world needs ethical leaders who can speak hard truths, build bridges across difference, and advocate for those too often left out of our systems of care. We believe that’s exactly who you are. The degree you’ve earned is more than a credential—it is a commitment. You now join a growing community of scholars and practitioners who are trained not only to interpret the world, but to change it. Your work affirms that health justice is not a solitary pursuit—it is collective, courageous, and ongoing. We are so proud of what you’ve achieved—and even more excited to see what’s next.
Dr. Brian Tuohy, PhD
Assistant Professor of Bioethics and Sociology
Co-Director of Education
Center for Health Justice and Bioethics
Dr. Brendan Hart, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Co-Director of Education
Center for Health Justice and Bioethics
Presentation of Graduates
Master of Arts
August 2024
Joseph S. Capalbo, MD
The Ethical Dilemma of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
Tiffany Anise Cooke, MD Patient and Provider Breastfeeding Discourse
Hugh Alexander Davis, MD
Reimagining the Transplant Evaluation Process: A Review of the Ethical and Evidentiary Basis Behind the Psychosocial Evaluation of Lung Transplantation
Kerith Duggan
Sembrando Juntas: A MixedMethods Exploration of Gardening's Therapeutic Potential for Adolescent Latinx Females with Mood Disorders
Angie Polanco, MD
A Framework for Creating TraumaInformed Spaces in Medical Education Centering Intimate Partner Violence
December 2024
Janhavee Suneel Deshpande, MD
Harm Reduction in Opioid Use Disorder - The Role of Safe Injection Facilities
Priyanka Kolli, MD
Psychiatric Care for Undocumented Immigrants and Their Families: Ethical Frameworks and Clinical Approaches
May 2025
Zachary Alexander Manuel Bides
A New Framework for How the Physical and Built Environment Affects Stroke Care and Recovery
Caitlyn Brenner
Access to Life: Advanced Heart Failure Therapies for Undocumented Immigrants
Jenna Meredith Collazzo
Intersecting Inequities: Multiple Sclerosis, Postpartum Depression, and the Ethical Imperative to Support Black Women in the Postpartum Period
Maria Tsegaye Gebreyesus Overlooked Barriers Faced by Underrepresented Students Pursuing Plastic Surgery: An Urban Bioethics Perspective
Allison Elizabeth Hand Barriers to Abortion Care Access in North Philadelphia: A Call for Bottom Up Change
Katherine Hanna Challenges and Public Health Concerns of Chronic Disease Management in United States Prisons
DeMario Malone
Fighting for Our Health: Barriers and Pathways to Increase Primary Care Participation in African American Men
Carlos Martin Martinez
Navigating the Urban Bioethical Landscape of Incidental Findings Within Radiology: A Look at Disparities
Joseph S. Capalbo, MD
The Ethical Dilemma of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
Joe Capalbo completed the Master of Arts in Urban Bioethics program during his Internal Medicine residency at Temple University Hospital. His thesis focused on the ethical considerations of artificial intelligence in medicine. A graduate of the Drexel University College of Medicine, he will continue to focus his career on the care of the greater Philadelphia community as a Hospitalist at Cooper University Hospital.
Jenna Meredith Collazzo
Intersecting Inequities: Multiple Sclerosis, Postpartum Depression, and the Ethical Imperative to Support Black Women in the Postpartum Period
Jenna Collazzo is a fourth-year medical student at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, pursuing a dual MD/MA degree in Urban Bioethics. She is a member of both the AOA Honor Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Her research focuses on the intersection of neurology, women’s health, and structural inequities in care. Her thesis, Intersecting Inequities: Multiple Sclerosis, Postpartum Depression, and the Ethical Imperative to Support Black Women in the Postpartum Period, examines systemic barriers in postpartum neurological care. Jenna will begin her neurology residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center following graduation.
Tiffany Anise Cooke, MD
Patient and Provider Breastfeeding Discourse
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brian Tuohy
Dr. Cooke is a community pediatric hospitalist within the CHOP Care Network. She is also a certified lactation counselor and was awarded the Pennsylvania Resource Organization for Lactation Consultants Advocate of the Year award in 2024. She is currently the chair of the PA -AAP DEI Committee. Her research interests include health inequities and community-based participatory research. In September 2024, she will be the Medical Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital.
Hugh Alexander Davis, MD
Reimagining the Transplant Evaluation Process: A Review of the Ethical and Evidentiary Basis Behind the Psychosocial Evaluation of Lung Transplantation
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brian Tuohy
Hugh Davis is currently a first year pulmonary/critical care fellow at Georgetown University. He completed his master's degree while completing his internal medicine residency at Temple University Hospital. His clinical and research interests include the ethics around lung transplantation as well as mental and physical sequalae bore from ICU stays.
Kerith Duggan
Sembrando Juntas: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Gardening's Therapeutic Potential for Adolescent Latinx Females with Mood Disorders
Thesis Advisors: Dr. Nora Jones and Dr. Brian Tuohy
Keri Duggan is a pediatric nurse practitioner in North Philadelphia where she has been providing primary care to her patients for the past seven years. As a Pincus Fellow in the Center for Urban Bioethics, she investigated the power of alternative mental health interventions by inviting adolescent females with mood disorder diagnoses to participate in a pilot study gardening club at her clinic. She continues to be passionate about adolescent mental health and the importance of equitable access to mental health care.
Maria Tsegaye Gebreyesus
Overlooked Barriers Faced by Underrepresented Students Pursuing Plastic Surgery: An Urban Bioethics Perspective
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brian Tuohy
Maria Gebreyesus is a fourth-year medical student at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, where she also completed a dual MA in Urban Bioethics. She is passionate about anesthesiology, health equity, and immigrant health. Her research focuses on Safe Haven laws and supporting postpartum women. Maria is the co-founder of a nonprofit serving orphaned children in Ethiopia and a volunteer health escort for refugees. She plans to begin anesthesiology residency this summer, where she hopes to continue serving underserved communities and advocating for patient-centered care.
Allison Hand
Barriers to Abortion Care Access in North Philadelphia: A Call for Bottom Up Change
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Laura Igarabuza
Allison Hand is a Colorado native graduating the Lewis Katz School of Medicine as a dual degree student earning an MD and a Master's in Urban Bioethics. Allison's research interests include urban bioethics, health disparities, reproductive justice, and reproductive health care. Following graduation, Allison is excited to pursue Family Medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago starting in July 2025.
Katherine Hanna
Challenges and Public Health Concerns of Chronic Disease Management in United States Prisons
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brian Tuohy
Katherine is a fourth-year medical student from northern Virginia. She attended the University of Virginia for her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Sociology. Upon graduation from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine in May 2025, she will be completing residency in Internal Medicine at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Katherine is graduating as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society and is looking forward to a career focused on health equity, compassionate patient care, and medical education.
Brianna Huang-Talbot
Graduate Certificate
Brianna is excited to start as a resident in St. Luke's Rural Psychiatry program this year. A 2013 graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, she worked as a published researcher in Boston prior to medical school. Her interests include advocacy, community outreach, holistic and integrative medicine, health impacts of trauma, and collaborative patient care models. She is currently working on a QI project at St. Luke’s to improve mental healthcare access through direct collaboration between PCPs and psychiatrists. Brianna hopes to one day establish an integrative behavioral health practice in an underserved rural area.
DeMario Malone
Fighting
for Our Health: Barriers and Pathways to Increase
Primary Care Participation in African American Men
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Cornelius Pitts
DeMario is DeMario Malone is a 4th-year medical student from St. Louis, Missouri. Before coming to Temple University, DeMario received his BS in Biology with minors in Psychology and Black Studies at the University of Missouri. DeMario has held many roles at LKSOM, including Community Service Chair of the Temple Student National Medical Association, Political Support Chair of the Student Diversity Council, and a member of the class of 2025 honor board. After Temple, DeMario will begin his family medicine residency at Delaware Valley Community Health in Philadelphia, where he hopes to continue to advocate for underrepresented communities.
Carlos Martin Martinez
Navigating
the Urban
Bioethical Landscape of Incidental Findings Within Radiology: A Look at Disparities
Thesis Advisor: Prof. Nicolle Strand
Douglas Truman Moss III
Carlos Martinez is a 4th year dualdegree LKSOM medical student completing the MAUB program and was inducted into AOA. He received a B.A. in Environmental Biology from Columbia University. His passion for ecology evolved into an interest in social determinants of health and in the intricate connections between broader technological influences on health outcomes. While at LKSOM, he created a novel elective at NYU-GSOM (Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Foundations and Ethics) and completed his thesis on disparities within radiology on the management of incidental findings. Next, he will be attending NYU for Diagnostic Radiology Residency.
Wounds that Echo: Intergenerational Trauma and the Development of Cluster B Personality Disorders
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Peter Simonsson
Douglas Moss is a candidate in Urban Bioethics at Temple University and is currently pursuing an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Georgia State University. His research explores the intersection of intergenerational trauma and structural violence, with a focus on ethical, trauma-informed public health interventions. He is also interested in zoonotic spillover mapping and infectious disease epidemiology in carceral settings. Douglas aims to advance community-based public health strategies that address behavioral health disparities and systemic inequities, and plans to continue his work at GSU.
Brittany Opokwu
The Pediatric Mental Health Crisis: Urban Cities and Its Effects on Behavioral Outcomes in Black Children
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brian Tuohy
Angie Polanco
Brittany Opokwu is a native of Pottstown, Pennsylvania and a proud graduate of Temple University. Before graduating with her Bachelor's of Science in Biology in 2018, Brittany established herself as an advocate for minorities in medicine. Today, Brittany is enrolled as a dual-degree student at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), simultaneously pursuing her Doctor of Medicine degree as well as a Master of Arts in Urban Bioethics. At LKSOM, she previously held leadership positions as the co-President of Local Affairs of the Student National Medical Association, the President of the Pediatric Interest Group, and a committee member of the annual Racism In Medicine Conference. She is currently the social media manager of the Student Diversity Council. Brittany has a strong passion for pediatric health care and has dedicated her master's thesis work to exploring the nuances of pediatric mental health in urban Black youth. With the utmost gratitude, she has recently matched into her desired pediatric residency at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, TX. As a result of her various impactful experiences, she ultimately plans to continue her passion for the promotion of Black students in medicine, and learn new ways in which she, as a soon-to-be physician, can begin to practice patient advocacy and achieve healthcare equity at the local, national, and international level.
A Framework for Creating Trauma-Informed Spaces in Medical Education Centering Intimate Partner Violence
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Whitney Cabey
Angie Polanco is a first-year emergency medicine resident physician at Cook County Health in Chicago, IL. Originally from the Bronx, NY, and as a nontraditional career changer, she received her medical degree from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in May 2024. She was inducted as a member of the national medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha in 2023. Her research interests include trauma-informed care practices and applications in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education, focusing on urban patient populations.
Brianna S. Spell
Graduate Certificate
Brianna Spell holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and is completing her Graduate Certificate in Urban Bioethics, where she has examined the intersection of ethics, health, and social justice. She will earn her Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences in Summer 2025 and begin her Master of Social Work at Rutgers University in Fall 2025. With a strong interdisciplinary foundation and a passion for mental health, health equity, and community empowerment, Brianna is committed to bridging the gap between research and ethical, compassionate care. She aims to drive meaningful change through advocacy, education, and socially responsible practice.
Kristell Michelle Taylor
Ethics of Medical Management of Chronic Pain in Patients With Substance Use Disorder
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Brendan Hart
Kristell M. Taylor is a fourth-year medical student enrolled in the dualdegree M.D./Master of Arts in Urban Bioethics program at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. Previously she earned a Master's of Science in Clinical Research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research interests include pain management and disability. Kristell will be beginning her residency training in 2025.
Daniel James Volpone
Treatment Decision-Making in Black Men with Prostate Cancer Treated at Temple University Hospital: An Interview Study
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Melanie Cosby
Tia Walker
Daniel is a fourth-year medical student graduating with an MD and MA in Urban Bioethics. He previously went to the University of Pittsburgh, where he majored in Neuroscience and Psychology and minored in Sociology and Chemistry. Next, he will begin Psychiatry residency at the University of Maryland.
Medical School Pipeline Programs: A Solution to Improving Diversity in Medicine and Enhancing Local Education in Philadelphia
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Melanie Cosby
Tia Walker is a fourth-year medical student at Temple University. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology, with a minor in Spanish, from Penn State University. Her thesis was inspired by a program she developed at a high school in North Philadelphia, aimed at introducing students to careers in medicine. Tia has been recognized for her academic excellence and compassion in care through induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. She will be pursuing a residency in General Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York.