2023-24 Academic Year
Haley Dougherty, Co-President
Haley is a 2L at Harvard Law School. After graduating from Trinity College, Haley joined the New York City Urban Fellows Program, during which she worked with the Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access. Prior to law school, she worked as the Public Policy Associate at Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts in Albany, NY.
Hannah Rahim, Co-President
Hannah is a JD/MPH candidate from Vancouver, Canada. She spent the past summer working in the Health Care Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. Before beginning law school, she worked in management consulting at Boston Consulting Group. She graduated from the University of Calgary with a degree in Biomedical Sciences and has published research papers on transplant immunology, birth tourism in the Canadian healthcare system and global COVID-19 serology. At HLS, she is also a student fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center and a member of SALSA and MLSA. She enjoys running, volunteering, and playing piano.
Ben Haward, Treasurer
Ben is a 1L from Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He graduated from McGill University with an undergraduate degree in Psychology. Before law school, Ben worked as a Research Coordinator at the Lady Davis Institute of Medical Research in Montreal, Canada, contributing to research on vaccine hesitancy and cancer screening motivation. He is interested in the intersections of behavioral science, economics, and public health law. Outside of law school, he enjoys playing and watching soccer, cooking, and finding new cafés!
Jessica Samuels, Events Director
Jess is a JD/MPH candidate from San Diego, California. This past summer she was in Washington D.C., interning at the Department of Justice, Civil Division’s Office of Vaccine Litigation. Before her first year of law school, she worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She graduated with a degree in Human Biology and Society from UCLA and has conducted research at MDAnderson Cancer Center, UCSD Moores Cancer Center, and the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics. Within the HLS community, Jess is also a member of JLSA and WLA and the Mississippi Delta Project last year. Outside of classes, you can find her attending sculpt yoga classes and taking long walks around the Cambridge neighborhoods.
Katie Gu, Events Committee Member
Katie is a 3L from Northern California. She graduated from Stanford University with undergraduate degrees in Biology and English Literature and a master’s in Bioengineering. Prior to law school, Katie worked at Genentech’s Regulatory Policy and Diagnostic Development departments. At HLS, she is involved in JOLT, APALSA, and the Petrie-Flom Center. Katie spent her past summers working in life sciences technology transactions and health privacy. She enjoys running along the Charles and visiting local used bookstores.
Conner Huey, Events Committee Member
Whitney Peng, Events Committee Member
Whitney is a first year MPH Nutrition student at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. After her undergraduate studies at Emory as a pre-med concentrating in business, she has leveraged her health sciences background to work in biopharma, biotech, and venture investment fields to promote technological innovations that aim to improve the current food supply chain. Throughout the past two years, she has been working closely with food law attorneys and regulatory agencies in China, Singapore and Japan to compile a Novel Food Application dossier for cultivated meat. Whitney is passionate about the broader spectrum of how food, health, and sustainability are interconnected and how to change one knob (food) while simultaneously promoting the others (health + sustainability).
Hannah Shin, Events Committee Member
Hannah is a sophomore at Harvard College from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She plans to study a mix of Government, Economics, and Social Anthropology. Currently, her main interests include narrative medicine, hospital management, and global affairs. At the college, Hannah serves as Co-Director of the Harvard Undergraduate Legal Committee and as Co-President of Harvard Undergraduate International Relations on Campus. Hannah enjoys spending time with family and friends, going on nature walks, exploring Boston, reading, and traveling.
Chen Wang, Events Committee Member
Chen is a first-year SM2 in Epidemiology student at Harvard School of Public Health. She graduated from medical school in Taiwan in 2022. She volunteered at a home healthcare company in Taiwan, where she became familiar with the nation’s healthcare services regulations and insurance coverage. She also attended a Business Engineering and Surgical Technologies Innovation Course held by IHU Strasbourg France and IRCAD Taiwan, where she was introduced to health laws behind biotechnology design, clinical trials, and marketing. Chen looks forward to knowing more about the strategy behind health systems, insurance plans, and regulations in the biomedical field. Outside of academics, she enjoys traveling and singing.
Esin Gumustekin, Outreach Co-Director
Esin is a 1L at Harvard Law School and is from San Diego, California. She graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a degree in neuroscience. She is a third year medical student at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and is taking a leave of absence to attend HLS as she is passionate about health policy and healthcare reform. In her free time, Esin loves trying out new restaurants (since she grew up in her family’s restaurant!), playing basketball and practicing the piano.
Meghana Sai Iragavarapu, Outreach Co-Director
Meghana is a first-year MPH candidate at Harvard Chan and graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in the “Intersection of Food Availability, Nutrition, and Health Outcomes,” a major she designed as part of Duke’s Program II. Meghana’s research background is inspired by a belief that “food is medicine,” and spans nutrition science, health behavior change, and public policy solutions. She spent the past two years working at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in the NICU on an NIH study to understand the impact of breast milk fortification on preterm infant growth. Outside of school and work, Meghana loves cooking, designing workout plans for friends and family, and singing.
Sravya Chary, Outreach Committee Member
Sravya is a 1L at Harvard Law School and previously received her master’s in Bioethics from Harvard Medical School and a master’s in Supply Chain Analytics from Rutgers Business School. Concurrently, she spent the past five years at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and was most recently a drug pricing manager. During her master’s, Sravya was a student fellow at the Petrie-Flom Center, where she assessed the comprehensiveness of the risk/benefit assessment prong within section 564(c) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. She also contributed regularly to Petrie-Flom’s Bill of Health blog to shed light on the barriers that prevent low-income communities from accessing medicines and to propose solutions. In her free time, Sravya enjoys skiing, hiking, and watching reality TV shows.
Fatima Khan, Outreach Committee Member
Fatima is an LL.M. candidate from Lahore, Pakistan. For the past few years, she was serving as the Founder and Director of Legal Aid Bureau with the aim of providing pro-bono legal assistance to victims of domestic violence in Pakistan. Fatima has also led projects advocating for legislative reform in the field of gender justice and sexual harassment at the workplace. Her undergraduate thesis consisted of a policy paper on the alternative methods of evidence collection for victims of sexual violence in light of the recent judicial ban on virginity testing in Pakistan. At HLS, Fatima is involved with the Harvard Human Rights Journal and the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project. In her free time, Fatima enjoys playing Catan and watching true-crime documentaries.
Monica Lange, Outreach Committee Member
Monica is a 1L at Harvard Law and comes from Calgary, Canada, where she obtained her Bachelor of Nursing degree at the University of Calgary. She’s worked as a registered nurse for over three years, gaining experience in oncology, bone marrow transplant, hospice/palliative care, and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. She’s also been involved in oncological and medical educational research at the Foothills Medical Centre campus in Calgary, Alberta, and has particular interest in bioethics and health care policy. She enjoys skiing, hockey, and historical costuming, and looking forward to getting involved with Harvard Law’s intramural sport programming.
Rex Manglicmot, Outreach Committee Member
Rex Manglicmot is a candidate for the Master of Science in Health Data Science Program at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Rex is from the lush and beautiful islands of Hawaii, where he spent the majority of his childhood and adult years in the sun enjoying the fresh seafood and occasionally wandering the white sandy beaches nearby. Rex worked in a supply chain capacity at a non-profit hospital, where he worked with many stakeholders on key supply issues needed to provide the best optimal care for patients. Afterward, Rex pursued further studies, obtaining a master’s in Globalization at Dartmouth College. He eventually came to Harvard University to continue and narrow his studies in hopes of becoming a well-informed future public health leader knowledgeable of many facets of healthcare, including law, policy, and education. Rex enjoys reading, exploring the Boston area, and eating at various places New England has to offer.
Carolyn Daly, Alumni Relations Director
Carolyn is a 1L at Harvard Law School and graduated from Rice University in Houston, TX with majors in Social Policy Analysis and History. While in Texas, Carolyn and three other students helped pass a law in the Texas legislature banning non-consensual pelvic exams in the medical system. After graduation, she worked in nonprofit consulting at Bridgespan and helped philanthropists make multi-million dollar investments in mental health. Carolyn is excited to learn more about health law and policy while at HLS. In her free time, Carolyn loves playing soccer, hiking, and trying new ice cream places.
Nikhil Vytla, Tech Director
Nikhil is a first-year SM Health Data Science student at Harvard School of Public Health. He graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Statistics. While in North Carolina, Nikhil developed predictive convolutional neural networks to identify early-stage Alzheimer’s disease indicators, built wearable sensors to assist with chronic ankle instability, and integrated new fall-prevention policies for a state-wide health system. Nikhil is excited to explore the intersection of health law and digital accessibility while at HSPH. In his free time, Nikhil loves rock climbing, playing soccer, and finding new food spots.
Mariam Khursheed, Communications Co-Director
Mariam is an MPH-65 healthcare management candidate at the Chan School of Public Health. She started off her journey as a software engineer and soon tapped into analytics-based healthcare consulting. She worked as an analytics consultant with McKinsey and QuantumBlack along with a few other firms deployed advanced analytics solutions for leading healthcare systems across North America and the Middle East. Apart from analyzing people, numbers and situations, she is an avid baker, dabbles in improv, and finds fulfillment in volunteering to mentor the younger generation. Mariam is excited to explore health law, particularly from a humanitarian perspective. Her journey is guided by a genuine desire to make a lasting impact on the lives of children, and women of destitute communities.
Zazai Owens, Communications Co-Director
Zazai is a first year MPH-45 student at Harvard School of Public Health. She graduated with both a Bachelors and Master’s degree in Education at Wayne State University in Michigan. She has worked as a Public School Educator for 21 years, and concurrently as a Behavioral Health technician for 28 years. She was a volunteer research assistant at The Think Lab, a neuroscience lab at Wayne State University’s medical school studying how trauma affects the brains of youth and adolescents. She also has performed over 15+ extracurricular activities ranging from tutoring refugees, Children librarian attendant at Children’s hospital of Detroit, Co-leader of the Evaluations Committee with the American Medical Women’s Association, etc. She sits on the board of directors for Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children, and My Place for Wellness based in Michigan. Zazai is a member to over 10+ professional organizations including International Reading Association, National Association for the Education of Young Children, American Public Health Association, etc. Zazai is the President of Harvard Chan Professional Part-Time Student Collective, Health Disparities Student Journal Club at Harvard Chan, and Harvard Chan Students of Color in Public Health. Zazai’s hobbies include international travel, and hiking with her dog. Zazai plans to apply and matriculate into a dual MD/MBA program upon completion of her public health degree.