Four members of the Class of 2024 and one faculty member at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine served as Aequitas Health Honor Society fellows this academic year, focused on improving health equity in the community. Brandon Ganjineh, LB Canary, Alex Miner, and Nneoma Edokobi, along with faculty fellow Badr Ratnakaran, were the school’s second Aequitas Health cohort.

Founded in 2021, the national society recognizes a group of fellows dedicated to the cause of health equity and to working toward eliminating health disparities in all forms. In 2023, the society was the recipient of the prestigious McNulty Catalyst Fund, which is awarded to young organizations that are driving worldwide change.

Upon receiving the award, national Aequitas Health co-founder Ben Hsu said, “Physicians need to work on the front lines delivering compassionate, effective care, but they also need to lead fundamental change in the system and in their communities to achieve health equity.”

Virginia Tech Carilion is one of 11 medical schools in the country with Aequitas Health chapters.

“Teaching our students about health inequities and highlighting what we can do to correct them is an important part of our work in medical education,” said Azziza Bankole, the school’s chief diversity officer. “Health inequities lead to worsened health outcomes, therefore, finding ways to minimize and potentially eliminate them is better for our patients and community.”

The medical school's Aequitas Health Honor Society fellows are selected on evidence that they are dedicated to health equity. They are charged with carrying out a project that addresses disparities within the local community. This year’s study  addressed the effectiveness of interpreters in the ob-gyn unit at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital and was a continuation of last year’s project.

Next year’s fellows are: Bria Hall, Merley Konathapally, Gemma Porras, and Nancy Wu from the Class of 2025 along with faculty fellow Jaclyn Nunziato.

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